Long Beach State Faces Utah Valley for MGM Resorts Main Event Middleweight Title

Wednesday, November 21

Las Vegas, Nev. (Cox Pavilion)

2:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Utah Valley

Tickets

Photo by: John Fajardo

Long Beach State Faces Utah Valley for MGM Resorts Main Event Middleweight Title

11/20/2018 6:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Complete LBSU Game Notes

The Beach will look to secure the 2018 MGM Resorts Main Event Middleweight Bracket championship on Wednesday in Las Vegas with a 2 p.m. matchup against Utah Valley at Cox Pavilion.

By: Tyler Hendrickson, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Game: Long Beach State vs. Utah Valley
Date: Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Arena: Cox Pavilion (2,454)
TV: None
TV Talent: None
Radio: 22WestMedia.com
Radio Talent: Jason Schwartz
Webcast: bdglobal.inplayer.com
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com

RIGHT AWAY
• Junior guard Ron Freeman delivered a game-winning bucket as time expired to lift Long Beach State to a thrilling 86-85 victory over Iona. The Beach led for the vast majority of the game, but needed some late heroics to knock off the Gaels. Freeman's bucket gave him a career-high 14 points for the Beach as he was 6/10 from the floor with six rebounds.

• Senior Temidayo Yussuf had a game-high 18 points in the win over Iona, and three players behind him had 14 each: Freeman, Deishuan Booker and KJ Byers. It was a double-double performance for Byers, who added 10 rebounds to record his second career double-double. He had the 14 points on just six shots and also added in a team-leading three steals in the win.

• Booker added a season-high seven assists to his 14 points, and was 6/6 at the free-throw line for the Beach. The senior point guard also had four rebounds and played 34 minutes in the win.

SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
• Utah Valley snapped a three-game losing streak on Monday with a 72-65 win over Hartford in the other semifinal. Conner Toolson led UVU with 23 points on 9-13 shooting with seven rebounds in the win.

• Three other Wolverines finished in double figures as the team shot 57.1 percent from the field. The Wolverines turned the ball over 20 times and were just 8-16 from the free-throw line, but held Hartford to 35.5 percent shooting to secure the victory.

• UVU is led by a couple Toolsons. Jake is the team's leading scorer at 13.4 per game, and he's shooting over 47 percent from beyond the arc this season. Conner, meanwhile, averages 12.6 points per game. Baylee Steele leads the team inside with 8.8 rebounds per game.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS?
• Long Beach State will be playing its first games in Las Vegas since visiting UNLV for the 2005-06 season opener on Nov. 18, 2005. That game resulted in a 108-73 win for the Runnin' Rebels.

• This is the fifth year of the MGM Resorts Main Event, which was previously held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The event has always featured eight teams split into a Heavyweight and Middleweight Bracket. Last season's winners were UNLV and Prairie View A&M, respectively.

• The Beach went 1-3 in neutral site games last season, with the victory coming over Oregon State at the Advocare Invitational in Orlando, Fla.

HOME BOOKING
• Point guard Deishuan Booker returns to his hometown for a pair of games in Vegas this week. The senior is Long Beach State's leading scorer with an average of 15.6 points per game on the season, led by a career-best 31 points in the season opener at No. 21 UCLA.

• Booker also led the Beach in scoring with 19 points against Menlo, going 11/12 from the free-throw line to set a new career high in free throws made in a game. He had 15 of Long Beach State's 28 first-half points to keep the team in front after 20 minutes.

• Few players across the country have done a better job than Booker of getting to the free throw line and converting this season. He is 35/37 (94.6%) at the charity stripe so far this season, and those 35 made free throws rank ninth in the nation through Monday's 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 5.8 points per game, with six averaging between 5.8-8.8 points. Against Mississippi State, nine different players scored within the first 14 minutes of the game as the Beach held a 28-21 lead over the Bulldogs.

• Additionally, all 13 eligible players have appeared in every game for the Beach this season, and all of them are averaging at least 4.4 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. Entering the season, the Oakland native had appeared 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.

• 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.