Long Beach State University Athletics
LBSU Men's Basketball Closes Week At CSUN
1/26/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Long Beach, Calif. -
Game: Long Beach State at CSUN
RIGHT AWAY
• LBSU will look to keep pace with a win on Saturday at the top of the Big West Standings, as LBSU has five wins, the most in the league. The Beach is one game behind Hawai'i in the loss column, but also has the tiebreaker currently with the Rainbow Warriors after an 89-81 win to kick off Big West play. • Gabe Levin scored a career-high 29 points with nine rebounds to lead the Beach to an 80-70 win in the Walter Pyramid during the teams' first meeting this season back on January 10. LBSU now leads the all-time series 38-24. • Long Beach State's 81-73 win over Cal State Fullerton was the 350th victory for Long Beach State head coach Dan Monson, another milestone in his 21st season. With prior stops at Gonzaga and Minnesota, Monson has the most career wins of any coach in the Big West. • Senior Gabe Levin is averaging over 20 points per game in Big West conference action, including scoring a career-high 29 points January 10 and is the top scorer in league play. Over one season at LMU and two-plus at LBSU, Levin has now scored 1,190 points, and has pulled in 652 rebounds. • Long Beach State has been easily the quickest paced team in the Big West through the first half of the season. A top-50 tempo team in the country per Ken Pomeroy, LBSU's up-and-down style in 2017-18 sees the Beach scoring 80.0 points making 7.9 steals per game in league play, leading the conference in both categories. THE PLAYERS
• Senior Gabe Levin is climbing the career ladders at Long Beach State, highlighting his production in 70 total games played at LBSU. Levin has an opportunity to become the twelfth player in school history to reach the 1,000 point/500 rebound club, and has recorded eight double-doubles in his career, including three against ranked opponents. • Booker and Levin became the first two 49ers to each record a double-double in the same game since the 2012-13 season, as Levin finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds and Booker had 15 points with his 12 assists in the final game of the Advocare Invitational against Nebraska. KJ Byers became the third player this season to record a double-double for the Beach, setting career highs at UC Riverside with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Temidayo Yussuf has joined the group with back-to-back double-doubles in the last two games. • Temidayo Yussuf missed the first four games of the season, but came into form in perfect timing for the beginning of league play. Scoring in double-figures in seven of the last nine games, including three games with 18 points or more, Yussuf is now averaging 9.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. • Mason Riggins continues to be a solid presence in the post for Long Beach State, and has played in 91 straight games for the Beach. The junior is averaging 5.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, while adding 19 blocks and shooting 62.2 percent from the field in 2017-18. The junior also set a career-high against UC Riverside, grabbing 14 rebounds to lead the team. • Edon Maxhuni has also contributed at the point guard position, as the true freshman has scored in double-figures in seven games, including two 16-point efforts, and is fourth on the team in scoring in league play at 9.3 points per game. Maxhuni has extensive international experience, playing for the Finland Youth National Team in multiple competitions. • KJ Byers continues to showcase his complete game in his first year at Long Beach State after transferring in this season. Byers is one of the team's leaders defensively, with 22 blocks and 23 steals, and is averaging 5.3 points and 4.5 rebounds on the year. His rebounding numbers in league play have been especially impressive, third on the team at 6.6 per game. • Jordan Roberts has stepped up in league play, making five starts and contributing 5.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 48.5 percent from the field. The freshman is providing a strong defensive presence while averaging 22.7 minutes per game in Big West games. • Sophomore Jordan Griffin made his first start of the season against Stanford, and responded with a career-high 21 points, leading the Beach to the win over Cardinal. Griffin is sixth on the team in scoring at 6.6 points per game, has scored in double-figures seven times, and is shooting 40.2 percent from 3-point range on the season. • Bryan Alberts set a new career high with 25 points against Southern Utah, and has led the team in scoring six times in 2017-18. Now averaging 13.2 points per game, the Gonzaga graduate transfer is second on the Beach in scoring this season, and returned to action against Cal Poly after missing nine games. • Junior Breamon Richard made his Division I debut against Texas A&M International, playing 19 minutes and scoring four points with two assists. A star across town at Long Beach City College for two seasons, he joins his high school teammate Quentin Shropshire with the 49ers. Shropshire, a former high jumper with the track and field team, is in his second season with the men's basketball program.
Date: Saturday, January 27, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Northridge, Calif.
Arena: The Matadome (2,000)
TV: None
TV Talent: None
Radio: AM 830, 22 West Radio
Webcast: BigWest.TV
Live Stats: gomatadors.com
• Long Beach State finishes the first half of conference play on the road at CSUN, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. Fans can follow the action live on AM 830.
• Junior Deishuan Booker has been putting up outstanding passing numbers in his first season at the Beach. Leading the Big West with 5.1 assists per game, Booker is eight assists away from joining the single-season top 10 at the Beach. Booker tied the Advocare Invitational record with 27 assists, and is the first player since Long Beach State great Ed Ratleff to have 11 or more assists in back-to-back games. Booker is also first player since Billy Walker in 1988 to have two games with 12 or more assists in his career. Not to be left behind in scoring, Booker is also third on the team averaging 10.3 points per game.
