Men's Basketball Back In Action Saturday At UC Riverside

Photo by: John Fajardo

2/22/2019 11:10:00 AM | Men's Basketball

The Beach will play the Highlanders twice in the final four games of the season.

By: Roger Kirk, Assistant Athletics Director, Athletic Communications

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The Beach will play their last two road games of the season in the next two games, starting with a trip to UC Riverside on Saturday. Tipoff is earlier than normal, scheduled for 5 p.m. at the SRC Arena in Riverside.

Game:............................. Long Beach State at UC Riverside
Date:........................................ Saturday, February 23, 2019
Time:....................................................................... 5:00 p.m.
Location:...................................................... Riverside, Calif.
Arena:..................................................... SRC Arena (2,753)
TV:................................................................................. None
TV Talent:..................................................................... None
Radio:.................................... 22 West Radio, HD FM 88.1-3
Radio Talent:.............................................. Jason Schwartz
Webcast:.............................................................. BigWest.tv
Live Stats:.............................................. gohighlanders.com

RIGHT AWAY

The other great thing about scholarships? They live on past one player. Watch how one scholarship becomes two, rewarding another great student-athlete, @Drew_Cobb33. #GoBeach @marchmadness pic.twitter.com/aXmTKOrZll
— LBSU Mens Basketball (@LBSUhoops) February 22, 2019

• Thanks to a wrinkle in the schedule, Long Beach State will play UC Riverside twice in the team's final four games, starting with Saturday's game. The Beach has won six straight games against the Highlanders as well as two straight in Riverside, and holds a 38-11 overall lead in the series. Seven of UCR's 11 wins all-time have come at the SRC Arena.

• In Big West play, senior Deishuan Booker is averaging 23.1 points per game for second in the conference and also leads the nation with 206 made free throws. The senior is shooting 90% from the line on the year, one of the country's leaders in that category as well.

• Already Long Beach State's single season record-holder in free throws made, Booker is closing in on the conference record as well. UNLV's Larry Johnson, Booker and Cal State Fullerton's Leon Wood are the only three players in league history to make over 200 free throws in one season, and Booker can tie Wood for the all time record at 211 with five more makes.

• 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 as well as making 19 of 20 free throws in that contest. The Beach followed with a road win at UC Irvine, taking down the Anteaters 80-70.

• Long Beach State continues to play exciting, up-tempo basketball, ranking the nation's Top 30 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.

• Booker continues to lead the team in scoring, averaging 18.1 points per game while guiding the offense, leading the team with 122 assists this season, averaging 4.5 per game, fourth in the Big West this season.

• The Beach has a tremendous record producing point guards, with LBSU's primary ball-handler earning either first or second-team All-Big West in eight of the last nine seasons.

• Senior center Temidayo Yussuf has been a beast inside for the Beach. The Oakland native scored has scored in double-figures in four of the last five games, coming back into form after his six-game absence. The senior made his return at Hawai'i in limited minutes, but scored 18 points with six rebounds in the second meeting against the Rainbow Warriors and put up a double-double in the win at Cal Poly.

• 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.

• Yussuf now has 967 points scored in his career as he seeks to become the 25th member of the 1,000-point club at Long Beach State. With 4 games left on the regular season schedule, Yussuf would need to average just over eight points per game to reach the milestone.

• Senior forward Mason Riggins has been in the starting lineup 20 times this season and has gotten more involved for the Beach in league play. Setting a new career-high with 18 points against Hawai'i, Riggins is averaging 9.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in conference play.

• Riggins leads the Beach in field goal percentage this season, making 62.2 percent of his shots from the floor. He leads the conference in shooting percentage in league play, and recorded his second double-double of the season at UC Davis.

• 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 10.4 points per game, and has made a team-leading 61 3-pointers, shooting 38.6 percent. Most recently, Alberts scored 20 points with 6 3-pointers made in the team's win at CSUN.

• The remaining seniors on the team include x-factor KJ Byers, who is averaging 7.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game along with 30 blocks as a strong defensive presence and double-double threat. Also returning is a fellow junior college transfer Breamon Richard, who starred for two seasons at Long Beach City College before joining the Beach and earning a scholarship this season.

• Sophomore Edon Maxhuni has scored in double-figures 11 times on the year, and is shooting a team-best 43.0 percent from three. He is currently fifth on the team in scoring at 7.5 points per game.

• Other sophomores making an impact this season include Jordan Roberts, a second-year player at the Beach who's averaging 6.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, as well as sophomore transfer Drew Cobb who has made 12 starts for the Beach as a defensive stopper.

• Long Beach State had a record-breaking performance in their final non-conference game, routing Bethesda 124-52, setting a new school record for margin of victory in the 72-point win. Leading the way in that game was Bryan Alberts, as the senior scored 35 points and set a new school record with nine 3-pointers in one game.