Rivalry Week For Long Beach State Starts Wednesday With Black And Blue Rivalry

Wednesday, January 16

Irvine, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UC Irvine

Photo by: John Fajardo

Rivalry Week For Long Beach State Starts Wednesday With Black And Blue Rivalry

1/15/2019 12:03:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes - UC Irvine

The Beach will then host Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.

By: Roger Kirk, Assistant Athletics Director, Athletic Communications

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- It's rivalry week for Long Beach State with two critical games ahead for the Beach. On Wednesday, the Beach travels to UC Irvine for the Black and Blue Rivalry, and then hosts Cal State Fullerton on Saturday in the Walter Pyramid. Both games will tip at 7 p.m., with Wednesday's contest against the Eaters being broadcast live on ESPN3.

Game:.................................... Long Beach State at UC Irvine
Date:..................................... Wednesday, January 16, 2019
Time:....................................................................... 7:00 p.m.
Location:............................................................ Irvine, Calif.
Arena:........................................ Bren Events Center (5,000)
TV:.............................................................................. ESPN3
TV Talent:............... Tim Becwar, Bill Herenda, Olivia Phelps
Radio:.................................... 22 West Radio, HD FM 88.1-3
Radio Talent:.............................................. Jason Schwartz
Webcast:........................................................... WatchESPN
Live Stats:.............................................. ucirvinesports.com

RIGHT AWAY
• Long Beach State opened conference play with an impressive home win, downing defending champions UC Davis 82-77 in the Walter Pyramid. Senior Deishuan Booker scored a career-high 32 points and set a school record at the line, making 19 of 20 free throws, breaking the old record of 17 makes in one game.

• Sophomore Drew Cobb made his second straight start in that game, while three other players along with Booker finished in double-figures, with Edon Maxhuni scoring 15 off of the bench, Jordan Roberts chipping in 11 and KJ Byers adding 10.

• Wednesday's game marks the first meeting for basketball this season in the Black and Blue Rivalry, with just one point separating the schools in the annual competition after the conclusion of the fall sports.

• Long Beach State leads the all-time series between the teams, 58-44, but the Aggies have won three straight, as well as three straight in the Bren Events Center since an 88-82 win in the 2014-15 season.

• Long Beach State continues to play exciting, up-tempo basketball, ranking the nation's Top 50 in tempo according to Ken Pomeroy. The Beach also features the 11th most experienced roster in the nation, and ranks in the Top 25 in minutes continuity.

PLAYER NOTES
• Long Beach State boasts a six-player senior class, giving LBSU an older roster. 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 other schools, though all six played during the 2017-18 season for the Beach.

• LBSU returns a pair of All-Big West honorees from a season ago. Both Temidayo Yussuf and Deishuan Booker were Honorable Mention All-Big West selections one season ago, and are again leading the Beach in scoring this season.

• Senior center Temidayo Yussuf has been a beast inside for the Beach. The Oakland native has scored in double-figures in seven straight games, including two 20-point games. He has also recorded double-doubles in three of his last six games and in back-to-back contests against Pacific and Pepperdine. He was held out for the last two games.

• Yussuf established a new career high with 28 points at San Diego on Dec. 1. He was an impressive 10-of-13 from the field and 8-for-10 at the free throw line to lead the Beach.

• With 193 points scored through 15 games this season, Yussuf now has 896 points scored in his career as he seeks to become the 25th member of the 1,000-point club at Long Beach State. With 15 games left on the regular season schedule, Yussuf would need to average just over six points per game to reach the milestone.

• Booker continues to lead the team in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per game while guiding the offense, leading the team with 72 assists this season, averaging 4.5 per game, fourth in the Big West this season.

• Senior forward Mason Riggins has been in the starting lineup in each of the last six contests and has gotten more involved for the Beach. He has made multiple field goals in each of those games, and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field against Bethesda, matching a career-high in his first double-double of the season.

• Riggins leads the Beach in field goal percentage this season, making 65.4 percent of his shots from the floor.

• Also in the senior class, Bryan Alberts has been one of the leading perimeter weapons for the Beach in his second and final season in Long Beach. The Gonzaga transfer is third on the team in scoring with 10.8 points per game, and has made a team-leading 42 3-pointers, shooting 40.8 percent.

• The remaining seniors on the team include x-factor KJ Byers, who is averaging 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game along with 14 blocks as a strong defensive presence. Also returning is a fellow junior college transfer Breamon Richard, who starred for two seasons at Long Beach City College before joining the Beach.

• Sophomore Edon Maxhuni has scored 36 points over his last two games, and is shooting a team-best 43.5 percent from three, and is fourth on the team in scoring at 7.8 points per game.

• Other sophomores making an impact this season include Jordan Roberts, a second-year player at the Beach who's averaging 5.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, as well as sophomore transfer Drew Cobb who has made two straights starts for the Beach.