Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara Face Rematch In Big West Tournament Semifinals

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State will take part in the upcoming Hercules Tires Big West Tournament, presented by the Hawaiian Islands as the top seed after claiming the program's 15th Big West championship. The Beach is 11-4 as the top seed in the BWT, and has won the tournament on five occasions, most recently in the 2011-12 season. Long Beach State is seeking the program's 10th NCAA appearance.

Game:......... (1) Long Beach State vs. (5) UC Santa Barbara
Date:................................................. Friday, March 11, 2022
Time:............................................................................ 6 p.m.
Location:.................................................... Henderson, Nev.
Arena:......................................... Dollar Loan Center (6,000)
TV:................................................ ESPN+ | ESPNU Delayed
TV Talent:............................ Roxy Bernstein, Corey Williams
Webcast:.................................................................... ESPN+
Radio:..................................................................... Sirius XM
Live Stats:.............................................. beachlivestats.com

RIGHT AWAY
• The Gauchos and LBSU meet for the eighth time in Big West Tournament history on Friday. UCSB knocked out the Beach in the quarterfinals of the tournament last season, and the teams memorably met in the finals in three straight seasons from 2010-12, with LBSU coming out on top for their last trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2012.

• Senior Colin Slater was named the Big West Player of the Year, recognizing his all-around game as well as his leadership in helping the Beach, picked eighth prior to the season, win the regular season championship. Slater is the 10th player in LBSU history to claim the top honor for the conference, and the 13th time overall the LBSU has had the player of the year. Slater also earned first-team All-Big West honors.

• Freshman Jadon Jones was named the Big West Defensive Player of the Year, the third for the Beach. Jones finished the conference season in the league's Top 5 in both steals and blocks, while also contributing heavily on the offensive end. A Long Beach native, Jones is third on the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game, and his averaging 4.1 rebounds, second-best on the team while making 58 3-points on 37.9 percent shooting. Jones earned All-Tournament honors one season ago in his COVID year, and will aim for another strong tournament after earning Honorable Mention All-Big West.

• The Beach leads the conference in scoring at 74.2 points per game, and playing exciting, fast-paced basketball, ranking 18th in the nation in average tempo per Ken Pomeroy.

NEWS AND NOTES
• Tickets are still available through the Long Beach State Box Office if you would like to join us in Henderson, Nevada for the Big West Tournament! The tournament is the inaugural sporting event in the brand-new Dollar Loan Center, and fans are encouraged to join us for the official pregame headquarters at the PKWY Tavern for all LBSU games, men's and women's, throughout the tournament.

• Long Beach State is now 14-0 this season when holding their opponents under 70 points, and averaged 72.9 points per game during their 11-game winning streak. Most importantly over that stretch, the team held opponents to 25.6 percent shooting from three and forced an average of over 15 turnovers while holding foes to 62.7 points per game. It was the longest winning streak for the program since the 2011-12 season, the last time LBSU went to the Big Dance.

• It's been a block party as Long Beach State leads the Big West in total blocks with 102, averaging 3.4 per game, led by a pair of freshmen as Aboubacar Traore has 41 on the year while Jadon Jones has made 28. Traore now ranks in the Top 10 in single season blocks as a true freshman.

PLAYER NOTES
• Joel Murray has transitioned seamlessly to the Division I game, earning first-team All-Big West honors in his first year at Long Beach State. Murray leads LBSU at 16.5 points per game as well as in steals with 46 on the year. The Big West Player of the Week on Jan. 24, Murray came to the Beach as 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.

• Joel Murray and Colin Slater became the first duo selected to the first-team for Long Beach State since Mike Caffey and James Ennis were both selected in 2013.

• True freshman Aboubacar Traore has made an immediate impact with the Beach, earning Honorable mention All-Big West honors in his first season. Traore is averaging 8.5 points and leading the team and the Big West at 8.3 rebounds per game while making a team-high 41 blocks, second-best in the Big West. He recently set a career-best with 19 points against UC Irvine, and has recorded seven double-doubles this season, most recently with 14 points and 14 rebounds Thursday against UC Davis. His seven double-doubles in the regular season were second-most in the Big West.

• 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 is one of just four players in the country this season to record multiple games of 20 rebounds, joining elite company in Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky, Fardews Aimaq of Utah Valley, and Armando Bacot of North Carolina. The 23 rebounds was also the third most in a game nationally this season.

• 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 135 games for Long Beach State, and has now represented the Beach in more games than any other player in school history. He is also Long Beach State's active career leader in most categories, and is averaging 8.7 points and 4.2 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 4.3 points and 3.4 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.

• Romelle Mansel continues to play a key role for Long Beach State. Now having started 32 games in his career, Mansel is averaging 3.2 points and 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 29 games this season for Long Beach State as a redshirt freshman transfer from UAB. Rotegaard was pressed into his first start against UC San Diego, and had a huge game, scoring a career-high 17 points with five rebounds and three assists to help led the Beach to the win.

• Long Beach State's other bench players played a big role in the home win against the Tritons as well. Freshman AJ Neal had a career-high seven points in 16 minutes, while Eddie Scott played 24 minutes and also scored seven points. Jeffrey Yan also played 11 minutes, and then made his first career start at UC Irvine.

• Joe Hampton recorded his first career double-double against Wright State, and averaged 9.1 points per game while averaging 3.2 boards in his second season at the Beach. A starter throughout last season, Hampton was a Big West 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. The senior broke his wrist at Hawai'i, however, and will miss the rest of the season.

Calendar

Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara Face Rematch In Big West Tournament Semifinals

Players Mentioned

Drew Cobb

Joe Hampton

Jadon Jones

Romelle Mansel

Joel Murray

AJ Neal

Jordan Roberts

Tobias Rotegaard

Eddie Scott

Colin Slater

Aboubacar Traore

Jeffrey Yan

Long Beach State University Athletics