Career Night From Aboubacar Traore Leads Beach Past Cal Poly

Thursday, January 4

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

10-5,2-1Big West

Cal Poly

4-11,0-3Big West

Long Beach St.

Cal Poly

Photo by: John Fajardo

Career Night From Aboubacar Traore Leads Beach Past Cal Poly

1/4/2024 10:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score - Cal Poly

Aboubacar Traore scored a career-high 30 points while Lassina Traore added 20 points, 19 boards.

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

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – It was another dominant night from the Traores on the road, as Aboubacar Traore finished with a career-high 30 points and Lassina Traore had a massive double-double with 20 points and 19 rebounds to guide the Beach past Cal Poly 89-82.

                Long Beach State (10-5, 2-1 Big West) dominated inside, putting up 50 points in the paint and out-rebounding the Mustangs 55 to 30. Cal Poly (4-11, 0-3 Big West) kept close with the long ball, making 13 out of 29 3-pointers, finishing the night at 44.8 percent from distance.

                One hot streak for the Mustangs came straight from the tip, as Cal Poly took a 12-7 lead in the opening minutes. Long Beach State rallied with a 9-0 run to take the lead. The Beach would hold the lead the rest of the half, opening up an edge as large as nine points, but the Mustangs rallied in the closing seconds of the half to trail by one, 38-37.

                The Mustangs kept the momentum going in the start of the second half, retaking the lead at 45-43 and eventually opening up a seven-point lead at 53-46 with just over 13 minutes remaining.

                Long Beach State responded by working inside again, going on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 55 and then taking the lead on a Messiah Thompson 3-pointer at 60-59 with just under seven minutes to play.

                Continuing to push, two straight baskets from Aboubacar Traore helped push the lead to 72-64, and the Beach would close out the game primarily from the line or on the fast break, closing out the win 89-82.

                For Aboubacar, the 30-point performance was the 26th 30-point game in the Dan Monson era, and the second time in three games the junior set a new career-high in scoring. Lassina's 20 points and 19 rebounds were both season-highs for the junior, while Marcus Tsohonis added 19 points.

                Thompson, making his second start of the season, scored nine points and passed 1,000 points scored in his Division I career across Campbell, Alabama A&M and Long Beach State. AJ George also neared a double-double, scoring eight points with nine rebounds while working as the primary defender on Cal Poly's leading scorer Kobe Sanders. Jadon Jones missed the contest due to injury.

                Long Beach State returns to the Walter Pyramid for their next game as the Beach hosts UC Riverside. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. on ESPN+.