Long Beach State Basketball Opens Season at No. 20 UCLA

Friday, November 9

Los Angeles, Calif.

8:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UCLA

11/8/2018 10:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Complete LBSU Game Notes

Long Beach State begins a stretch of three games in four days with a tough season-opening test at Pauley Pavilion, taking on No. 20 UCLA.

By: Tyler Hendrickson, Associate Athletic Communications Director

Game: Long Beach State at No. 20 UCLA
Date: Friday, November 9, 2018
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Arena: Pauley Pavilion (13,800)
TV: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Jim Watson (PA) & Bill Walton (Color)
Radio: 22WestMedia.com
Radio Talent: Jason Schwartz
Webcast: Pac-12.com
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

RIGHT AWAY
• Long Beach State will open the regular season on the road for the second straight season after picking up a season-opening win at San Francisco, 83-71, to begin the 2017-18 campaign. LBSU will take on UCLA at Pauley Pavilion for the fourth time in the last five seasons, with the Bruins winning all three previous meetings.

• The Bruins have won the last four games against the Beach overall, since Long Beach State's 79-68 victory on Nov. 29, 2009 at the 76 Classic in Anaheim.

• Friday's matchup will pit two longtime coaching rivals, Dan Monson and Steve Alford, against one another. While Alford was at New Mexico, he defeated Monson and Long Beach State in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament in Portland, Ore.

• Long Beach State will be seeking its 12th "Power 6" victory of the Monson era after winning two such games last season. The Beach earned a pair of Pac-12 victories in 2017, defeating Oregon State on a neutral site before beating Stanford at Walter Pyramid.

• UCLA opened its season on Tuesday evening with a 96-71 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne. The Bruins won the rebounding battle 52-28 and shot over 54 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Kris Wilkes led the Bruins with 27 points while adding 10 rebounds. Freshman center Moses Brown also posted a double-double with 19 points and 17 boards. Sophomore guard Jaylen Hands added 18 points and a team-high seven assists.

THE PLAYERS
• 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 senior point guard Deishuan 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.

• The frontcourt will also be bolstered by senior KJ Byers, who played in 33 games in his debut season at Long Beach State. He averaged 5.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest while leading the team with 32 blocked shots.

• The sixth and final senior is guard Breamon Richard, who is also in his second season on the Beach roster after transferring from Long Beach City College. Richard will be the final player to wear No. 20 at Long Beach State after it is retired in honor of Glenn McDonald.

• Versatile sophomore Jordan Roberts had a strong close to his freshman season, starting 14 of the final 15 games for the Beach. He recently had 14 points and 10 rebounds in LBSU's 73-70 exhibition win at Cal State Bakersfield on Oct. 27.

• Sophomore Edon Maxhuni also figures to be a key member of the backcourt after a strong freshman campaign. During the offseason, he played for Finland's U20 National Team at the European Championships, averaging 15.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game in the competition.

• Junior Jordan Griffin was one of the team's most lethal three-point marksmen last season, shooting at a 38.4 percent clip.

• Among the newcomers expected to make an impact is Ron Freeman, who redshirted last season after transferring from Northwest Florida State College. The talented guard started his Division I career at Kansas State and he brings length and athleticism to the perimeter.

• Other incoming transfers from the JUCO ranks are defensive-minded guard Drew Cobb (Fresno City) and gritty forward Breyon Jackson (Cloud County). The lone freshman among the incoming class is wingman Demetrius Mims from Baltimore, an explosive athlete who will look to make an immediate impact for the 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 will enter 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.