Beach Basketball Hits The Road Thursday

2/7/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Feb. 7, 2017

Long Beach, Calif. -

Game: Long Beach State at UC Riverside
Date: Thursday, February 9, 2017
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Riverside, Calif.
Arena: SRC Arena (2,753)
TV: ESPN3
TV Talent: Trent Rush, Richie Schueler
Radio: KBEACH.org; HD 88.1-3
Radio Talent: Anthony Masterson
Webcast: WatchESPN
Live Stats: gohighlanders.com

RIGHT AWAY
• After a critical win last Saturday against UC Irvine, Long Beach State continues Big West play with two road games this week. The travels begin on Thursday, when Long Beach State will face UC Riverside at 7 p.m. on ESPN3. The Beach will then face Cal State Fullerton on the road at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, again on ESPN3.

• The Beach continues to lead the conference in scoring during league play, and are averaging 83.4 points per game as a team. Long Beach State is the only team in conference play averaging over 80 points per game.

• That team output has been relatively balanced for Long Beach State, who has five players averaging double-figures in conference play, and four rank in the league's top 15 scorers. Evan Payne is averaging 16.6 points per game, just in front of Justin Bibbins who is contributing 16.1 points per game. Roschon Prince is averaging 14.9 points and a league-leading 10.2 rebounds per game, while Noah Blackwell (13.0) and Temidayo Yussuf (11.7) are also putting up double-figure averages.

• A transfer from LMU, Evan Payne has helped carry the scoring load in the early part of the season, leading the team in scoring 12 times and averaging 15.3 points per game, best on the team. Payne passed 1,000 points scored between his time at LMU and LBSU in week one, and is the career leader in Division I scoring on the team, now with over 1,300 points in three seasons.

• Roschon Prince has really come on of late. The junior has now has seven double-doubles this season after scoring 21 points with 12 rebounds last Thursday at CSUN. In Big West play, Prince is the league's leading rebounder at 10.2 boards per game, and the junior has double-figure rebounds in seven straight games, putting up five double-doubles in that time.

• LBSU has been fantastic from the free throw line in 2016-17, now shooting 73.5 percent from the charity stripe. That would be the second-best single-season mark in school history. Payne, Bibbins and Prince all rank in the Big West's Top 15 individually this season.

THE PLAYERS
• Junior point guard Justin Bibbins is second on the team in points scored, averaging 12.6 points per game, while averaging 4.5 assists and adding 3.3 rebounds per game. Bibbins is also on the Lou Henson Award watch list, an honor presented at the end of the year to the Mid Major Player of the Year, and was also preseason All-Big West selection. The junior is also closing in on becoming the 14th 49er with 300 career assists, needing two more to reach the milestone.

• Long Beach State has played without Noah Blackwell in February, who is out indefinitely with a foot injury. His absence marks the second starter unavailable for the Beach along with Gabe Levin. Blackwell was leading the conference in 3-pointers made, and averaging 13.0 points per game in Big West play.

• Temidayo Yussuf has solidified the other frontcourt position alongside Prince, starting in eight consecutive games. Yussuf has now scored in double-figures in five of his last eight games, and is averaging 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in 2016-17 after missing last season on a medical redshirt. Yussuf's numbers are even better in league play, averaging 11.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, and the sophomore scored a career high 25 points against UCSB.

• Long Beach State's trio of freshmen are continuing to press for more time on the court this season. Loren Jackson is averaging 6.1 points and 1.6 assists per game as the primary backup point guard to Justin Bibbins, and is averaging 17.7 minutes per game. Guard Jordan Griffin is averaging nearly four points per game in his first season, while Javonntie Jackson has started nine games in his first year at the Beach, averaging 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds per game as a versatile defensive presence.

• The Beach welcomed back LaRond Williams in the team's fifth Big West game against UCSB, who tied a career-high with three blocks in his first game back after missing the previous four with an eye injury. Williams leads the team with 15 blocks on the year.

• Junior college transfer Barry Ogalue has been a sparkplug off of the bench. The Yuba CC transfer scored a career high 21 points against the Master's, and is now averaging 4.4 points and 1.3 rebounds per game in an average of under 10 minutes per game.

• Among the reserves, the team's lone senior, Anson Moye is back for his fourth and final season and has started three times this year. Two-sport athlete Quentin Shropshire will also continue to play forward with the Beach after previously competing with the Big West Champion Men's Track and Field program. Both have taken on increased minutes with injuries on the Beach roster.

• Junior Gabe Levin had an outstanding start to the season, putting up three double-doubles, including two against back-to-back ranked opponents in North Carolina and Louisville. Scoring in double-figures in 12 games, Levin led the team in rebounding, but suffered a knee injury prior to conference play and is out for the season after undergoing successful surgery. Levin was one of seven players selected for the preseason All-Big West team before the start of the season.

• Long Beach State announced the signing of Jordan Roberts in November period; a 6-8 guard out of Ridgeview High School in Bakersfield. An athletic wing player with Ridgeview High School, Roberts averaged just under 14 points and nine rebounds per game while adding 3.6 assists and 2.7 steals per game for the Central Section finalists that finished the 2015-16 campaign with a 28-3 overall record.