Men's Basketball Hosts Hawai'i Thursday On ESPN3

Long Beach, Calif. -- Long Beach State will face Hawai'i for the second time in a week, hosting the Rainbow Warriors on Thursday night in the Walter Pyramid at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, with Trent Rush and Bill Herenda on the call.

Game:...................................... Long Beach State vs. Hawai'i
Date:.......................................... Thursday, February 7, 2019
Time:....................................................................... 7:00 p.m.
Location:.................................................. Long Beach, Calif.
Arena:............................................... Walter Pyramid (4,200)
TV:.............................................................................. ESPN3
TV Talent:................ Trent Rush, Bill Herenda, Olivia Phelps
Radio:.................................... 22 West Radio, HD FM 88.1-3
Radio Talent:.............................................. Jason Schwartz
Webcast:........................................................... WatchESPN
Live Stats:.............................................. beachlivestats.com

RIGHT AWAY
• Last Thursday, Long Beach State faced the Rainbow Warriors in Honolulu, and despite a career-high 18 points from forward Mason Riggins, Hawai'i came away with the win 74-57.

• After seven games in conference play, Booker is averaging 25.9 points per game, best in league play, and starts the week leading the nation with 159 made free throws. The senior is shooting nearly 90% from the line on the year, one of the country's leaders in that category as well.

• 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.

• The all-time series between Hawai'i and Long Beach State is close, with the Beach leading 15-12 in all meetings. The series has been dominated by the home team, however, with Hawai'i going 9-4 in Honolulu, while Long Beach State is 10-1 against the Rainbow Warriors in Long Beach, and have won six straight in the Walter Pyramid.

• 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.

• Booker continues to lead the team in scoring, averaging 17.9 points per game while guiding the offense, leading the team with 103 assists this season, averaging 4.7 per game, third in the Big West this season.

• Senior center Temidayo Yussuf has been a beast inside for the Beach. The Oakland native scored in double-figures in seven straight games, including two 20-point games prior to his six-game absence. The senior made his return against Hawai'i in limited minutes, and scored eight points with five rebounds in 15 minutes against UCI.

• 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 907 points scored in his career as he seeks to become the 25th member of the 1,000-point club at Long Beach State. With 9 games left on the regular season schedule, Yussuf would need to average just over ten points per game to reach the milestone.

• Senior forward Mason Riggins has been in the starting lineup in each of the last 12 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. Most recently, Riggins set a new career-high scoring 18 points with seven rebounds at Hawai'i.

• Riggins leads the Beach in field goal percentage this season, making 59.8 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 10.4 points per game, and has made a team-leading 50 3-pointers, shooting 37.3 percent.

• The remaining seniors on the team include x-factor KJ Byers, who is averaging 8.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game along with 27 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.

• Sophomore Edon Maxhuni has scored in double-figures nine times on the year, and is shooting a team-best 46.8 percent from three. He is currently fifth on the team in scoring at 7.7 points per game.

• Other sophomores making an impact this season include Jordan Roberts, a second-year player at the Beach who's averaging 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, as well as sophomore transfer Drew Cobb who has made eight straight starts for the Beach as a defensive stopper.

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Players Mentioned

Bryan Alberts

Deishuan Booker

KJ Byers

Drew Cobb

Edon Maxhuni

Breamon Richard

Mason Riggins

Jordan Roberts

Temidayo Yussuf

Long Beach State University Athletics