Long Beach State Battles No. 17 Mississippi State on Friday Night

Game: Long Beach State at No. 17 Mississippi State
Date: Friday, November 16, 2018
Time: 6:00 p.m. PT
Location: Starkville, Miss.
Arena: Humphrey Coliseum (10,575)
TV: SEC Network
TV Talent: Kevin Fitzgerald (PxP) & Pat Bradley (Analyst)
Radio: 22WestMedia.com
Radio Talent: Jason Schwartz
Webcast: WatchESPN
Live Stats: HailState.com

RIGHT AWAY
• Long Beach State dropped its second road game of the season, suffering a 90-58 setback at Arizona State. A slow start did the Beach in as LBSU shot just 18.8 percent in the first half, going just 2-15 from beyond the arc to trail 38-16 after 20 minutes.

• LBSU got things going offensively in the second half, hitting seven 3-pointers after halftime. Those triples were key in sparking a 14-2 run that pulled the Beach within 15 of the Sun Devils at 49-34, but the Beach could not pull any closer.

• Junior Jordan Griffin hit three triples in the second half to lead the Beach in scoring with nine points. Bryan Alberts, Deishuan Booker and Ron Freeman each chipped in eight points for Long Beach and senior Mason Riggins added six points and six boards.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
• Mississippi State has collected a pair of comfortable home wins so far this season, defeating Austin Peay (95-67) and Hartford (77-59) on opening weekend. MSU will have five days between games after playing its last game on Sunday.

• Senior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon leads the Bulldogs with 21.5 points per game so far this season. He was a Second Team All-SEC selection last season and entered the 2018-19 campaign as a Preseason All-SEC player. He has opened the year with a pair of 20-point games and also had six steals in the win over Hartford.

• The Bulldogs finished in the middle of the pack in the SEC last year, placing seventh out of 14 teams. MSU went on to an appearance in the semifinals of the NIT, where they fell to Penn State. Mississippi State was picked fourth in the SEC's Preseason Poll, behind a trio of Top 10 teams in Kentucky, Tennessee and Auburn.

NOW YOU SEC ME...
• Long Beach State will be playing its third nationally-televised game of the year on Friday, as SEC Network provides coverage of LBSU's fourth contest of the 2018-19 season. LBSU previously appeared twice on the Pac-12 Network, playing on the road at UCLA and Arizona State.

• This will be Long Beach State's fifth game against an SEC opponent during the Dan Monson era. The Beach are 1-3 against the SEC during that time, including a 64-43 victory over Auburn on Dec. 24, 2011. Long Beach State's last SEC test came last season against Missouri as part of the Advocare Invitational in Orlando.

COOK, BOOK
• Senior point guard Deishuan Booker led the Beach in scoring with 19 points against Menlo, going 11/12 from the free-throw line, helping the Beach to an eighth consecutive win on Homecoming. He had 15 of Long Beach State's 28 first-half points to keep the team in front after 20 minutes.

• That performance followed up his career-high 31 points at No. 21 UCLA in the season-opener. Booker was 5/7 from the 3-point line, which established a new personal best in three's made.

• The Las Vegas, Nev. native is 25/27 (92.6%) at the free-throw line this season, making close to half of Long Beach's 57 made free throws as a team. His 25 made free throws rank fourth in the country through three games.

BALANCE BEACH
• Behind Booker's standout scoring, Long Beach State has shown solid depth and balance in the early part of the season. Seven players are averaging over 5.7 points per game, with six averaging between 5.7-7.3 points.

• Additionally, all 13 eligible players appeared in both games for the Beach, and all have averaged at least 6.3 minutes per contest.

SIX SENIORS
• Long Beach State boasts a six-player senior class, giving LBSU an older roster, but not necessarily one with a ton of experience. Only two of the six seniors (Temidayo Yussuf and Mason Riggins) have spent more than two seasons at the Beach, with the other four transferring in from the junior college ranks.

• LBSU returns a pair of All-Big West honorees from a season ago. Both Yussuf and Booker were Honorable Mention All-Big West selections.

• Yussuf is in his fifth season at Long Beach State, after redshirting his sophomore campaign. The Oakland native has played in 97 games during his career and has a chance to become the 24th member of the 1,000-point club at Long Beach State, needing to score 297 points during his final season to reach that mark.

• Booker led the Big West in assists last season and will look to build on that during his second year at the Beach. He scored in double-digits 18 times as a junior and had three games with 10 or more assists.

• Also in the senior class, Bryan Alberts should be one of the leading perimeter weapons for the Beach in his second and final season in Long Beach. The Gonzaga transfer had an immediate impact at the start of last season before an injury caused him to miss a month of action. The three-point marksman was second on the team in scoring last season, averaging 11.3 points per game and was in double-figures a dozen times.

• Fellow senior Mason Riggins is in his fourth year at the Beach, making him another frontcourt mainstay to go with Yussuf. His first game of the 2018-19 season will represent his 100th appearance for the Beach and he's made 42 starts over his previous three years. Riggins led the team with a field goal percentage of 62.4 percent, a statistic he's improved each season in Long Beach.

THIS AND THAT
• With a 70-69 win at UC Santa Barbara on Mar. 1, 2018, Long Beach State earned the 1,000th win in program history. Dan Monson is responsible for 185 of those wins, making him the winningest head coach in Long Beach State history.

• Departed senior Gabe Levin was a First Team All-Big West selection after leading the Beach in scoring (18.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg) in 2017-18. Levin is set to begin his professional playing career in Israel with Bnei Rav-Bariach Herzliya.

• On Thursday, Nov. 8, Long Beach State basketball legend Casper Ware entered the Long Beach State Athletics Hall of Fame. Ware was at the Beach from the 2009-12 seasons, helping the Beach to the NCAA Tournament as a senior. He was a two-time Big West Player of the Year and is currently a member of Melbourne United in the National Basketball League in Australia.

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Long Beach State Battles No. 17 Mississippi State on Friday Night

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Players Mentioned

Bryan Alberts

Deishuan Booker

Ron Freeman

Jordan Griffin

Gabe Levin

Mason Riggins

Temidayo Yussuf

Long Beach State University Athletics