Men's Basketball Continues Homestand Saturday Against Cal Poly

Saturday, February 5

Long Beach, Calif.

4 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Cal Poly

Photo by: John Fajardo

Men's Basketball Continues Homestand Saturday Against Cal Poly

2/4/2022 2:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes - Cal Poly

Long Beach State has won seven straight, the longest streak in nine years.

By: Roger Kirk, Associate Athletics Director, Communications & Broadcast

See attachment for complete Long Beach State game notes.

Game:.................................... Long Beach State vs. Cal Poly
Date:.......................................... Saturday, February 5, 2022
Time:....................................................................... 4:00 p.m.
Location:.................................................. Long Beach, Calif.
Arena:............................................... Walter Pyramid (4,200)
TV:.............................................................................. ESPN+
TV Talent:............................... Jason Schwartz, Bill Herenda
Webcast:.................................................................... ESPN+
Radio:............................................................. 22 West Radio
Live Stats:.............................................. beachlivestats.com

RIGHT AWAY
• Long Beach State continues their current homestand on a seven-game winning streak, hosting Cal Poly at 4 p.m. on Saturday on ESPN+.

• Long Beach State's 74-65 win over CSU Bakersfield on Thursday combined with other results around the league moved the Beach into a three-way tie for first place. Colin Slater scored a game-high 23 points while Aboubacar Traore finished with his fourth double-double of the year in the win.

• True freshman Aboubacar Traore set a modern-era record in rebounding for LBSU in the team's game at UC Riverside, grabbing 23 boards in the win. It was the third-most rebounds in a game in school history, and the most since 1961. In the process, Traore became the third player in the country this season to record multiple games of 20 rebounds, joining elite company in Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky and Armando Bacot of North Carolina. The 23 rebounds was also the second most in a game this season, just behind Tshiebwe.

• Long Beach State is now 9-0 this season when holding their opponents under 70 points, and has averaged 72.6 points per game during the six-game winning streak. Most importantly over that stretch, the team is holding opponents to 22.9 percent shooting from three and averaging 8.5 steals per game while holding foes to 62.7 points per game.

• It's been a block party as Long Beach State now leads the Big West in blocked shots, averaging 3.8 per game, led by a pair of freshmen as Aboubacar Traore has 30 on the year while Jadon Jones has made 20.

COVID-19 NEWS AND NOTES
• If you are coming to the Walter Pyramid this season, please allow for extra time to enter the venue due to COVID-19 protocols as well as parking. Parking payment can be done in two ways, either at the parking machines on site or via the Parkmobile App.

• After 23 days off, Long Beach State finally returned to action on January 5, hosting Westcliff in the Walter Pyramid for a 90-64 victory. Colin Slater led the Beach with 23 points in the win. The stretch without games was longer than even the longest stretch for the team in 2020-21, as LBSU had six consecutive games canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.

PLAYER NOTES
• Joel Murray has transitioned seamlessly to the Division I game, currently leading the team in scoring at 16.0 points per game. Murray ranks second in the Big West in scoring, and was the Big West Player of the Week for Jan. 24, the first LBSU player to win the honor since Deishuan Booker in the 2018-19 season. A strong defender as well, Murray was a two-time All-American at West Texas A&M, where he guided the team to the Division II NCAA Championship Game last season as the team's point guard.

• Joe Hampton recorded his first career double-double against Wright State, and is now third on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game while averaging 3.5 boards in his second season at the Beach, but is sidelined currently due to COVID protocols. A starter throughout last season, Hampton is a sixth man of the year candidate while serving as a high-profile player due to his association with Netflix's Last Chance U: Basketball showcasing his time at East LA College.

• Colin Slater has had a strong start to the season as well. Now in his sixth year of college basketball, Slater is averaging 13.3 points per game this season, second on the team. Slater scored a career-high 27 points at UCLA, the first of five times he's scored 20 or more this season. He is now the active D1 leader in points scored on the team combined with his time at Tulane, and is leading the team in 3-pointers made on the year while shooting 40.8 percent from distance.

• Jordan Roberts has been a consistent presence in the Long Beach State lineup over the last five seasons. Since 2017-18, Roberts has played in 128 games for Long Beach State, sixth-most in school history, and is tracking down a trio of Beach Legends in Casper Ware, TJ Robinson and Eugene Phelps next. He is also Long Beach State's active career leader in every category other than 3-pointers made, and is averaging 8.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game this season, second most on the team.

• A defensive stalwart, Drew Cobb started the first seven games this season for the Beach and is averaging 4.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while traditionally guarding the opposing team's top perimeter player. Cobb returned to action against CSU Bakersfield and had a typically solid performance with four points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and no turnovers in 22 minutes.

• Those three players that chose to come back for an additional season, Drew Cobb, Colin Slater and Jordan Roberts are serving as the team's captains this season.

• Freshman Jadon Jones is a local product made good, in his second season at the Beach coming out of St. Anthony High School in Long Beach. Now having started 16 games in a row, Jones is averaging 9.0 points per game while sitting second on the team with 34 3-pointers made on 35.1% shooting. Jones set a career-high in scoring in the rematch against No. 5 UCLA, scoring 27 points to lead the Beach, and earned All-Big West Tournament honors a year ago in a breakout performance.

• Aboubacar Traore has made an immediate impact with the Beach. A true freshman, Traore is averaging 8.1 points and leading the team at 8.2 rebounds per game while making a team-high 30 blocks. He recently set a career-best with 19 points against UC Irvine, and has recorded three double-doubles this season. He is leading the Big West in rebounding in league play at 11.1 rebounds per game.

• Romelle Mansel continues to play a key role for Long Beach State. Now having started 30 games in his career, Mansel is averaging 2.7 rebounds per game and is in his third year at the Beach. After missing one game, Mansel returned with a strong game at #16 USC, scoring 10 points off the bench with seven rebounds.

• Tobias Rotegaard has played in every game this season for Long Beach State as a redshirt freshman from UAB. Rotegaard set a career-high with 10 points at UC Davis and is now fourth on the team in 3-pointers made this season. RJ Rhoden is another redshirt freshman who is receiving increased minutes in the latter stages of Big West action.

• Other available players for the Beach include Eddie Scott, a graduate transfer from Penn, true freshman point guard AJ Neal in his first season with the program and veteran big man Jeffrey Yan who is in his fourth year at the Beach.

• Trever Irish played in all 18 games last season, one of just three players on the squad to feature in every game. The 7-footer averaged 4.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game a year ago while increasing his minutes to 13.8 per game and making nine starts over the course of the season. The big man missed the Naples Invitational due to injury however and has yet to return.