Big Nights From Messiah Thompson, Aboubacar Traore In Defeat At UC Santa Barbara

Saturday, January 13

Santa Barbara, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

11-7,3-3Big West

UC Santa Barbara

10-6,3-3Big West

Long Beach St.

UC Santa Barbara

Big Nights From Messiah Thompson, Aboubacar Traore In Defeat At UC Santa Barbara

1/13/2024 9:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score - UC Santa Barbara

Thompson had a season-high 23 points while Aboubacar Traore was a rebound shy of a triple-double with 18 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds.

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

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Senior Messiah Thompson made seven 3-pointers on the way to a season-high 23 point performance, while Aboubacar Traore finished with 18 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds but UC Santa Barbara's AJ Mitchell finished with 26 to pace the Gauchos to an 85-76 win in Santa Barbara Saturday.

                Long Beach State (11-7, 3-3 Big West) finished with 18 assists on 23 made shots and were 50% from three on the night, but UC Santa Barbara (10-6, 3-3 Big West) shot 52% from the field and 85.2% from the line to hold off the Beach on Saturday.

                Establishing the inside game early as part of 32 points in the paint, Long Beach State opened up a 9-4 lead, and LBSU led for the majority of the first half. The Beach closed the half scoring the last two baskets on layups from Aboubacar Traore and AJ George, and led 35-30 at the half.

                UC Santa Barbara went on a 7-1 run to start the second half, and the game was back-and-forth from there. Long Beach State rallied with a run of their own, and opened up a six-point lead at 50-44. The Gauchos made the next counter-move to tie the game at 53-53 and retake the lead shortly after that.

                A final Thompson three tied the game at 63-63 with just under eight minutes remaining, but the Gauchos rallied with a 5-0 run to retake the lead, and UC Santa Barbara closed out the game primarily from the line, making 23 of 27 total free throws to the 12 attempted by Long Beach State on the night.

                Aboubacar Traore need just one rebound to become the first Long Beach State player since 1990 to record a triple-double, and was just the fourth Beach player since 2010 to finish with 10 or more assists in a game. Thompson's seven 3-pointers were also the most in a game for Long Beach State this season.

                Long Beach State has just one game next week, hosting Hawai'i in the Walter Pyramid on Thursday, January 18. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.