Long Beach State Closes Ball Dawgs Classic Against San Jose State

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State will wrap up their time at the Ball Dawgs Classic on Wednesday, taking on San Jose State at 7 p.m. on FloCollege in the final game of the tournament.

Game:......................... Long Beach State vs. San Jose State
Date:........................................... Wednesday, November 27
Time:............................................................................ 7 p.m.
Location:.................................................... Henderson, Nev.
Arena:........................................ Lee's Family Forum (6,000)
TV:........................................................................ FloCollege
TV Talent:..................................................... Tony Cordasco
Webcast:.............................................................. FloCollege
Radio:.............................................................................. N/A
Live Stats:.............................................. beachlivestats.com

RIGHT AWAY
• Renewing a former conference rivalry, the Beach and the Spartans have played 62 times, the eighth-most played opponent for LBSU but the teams have not squared off since the 2006 season. Long Beach State won that matchup 76-67 behind 20 points from Kejuan Johnson as the Beach would head to March Madness in the 2006-07 campaign.

• The tournament will be held in the Lee's Family Forum, a venue Long Beach State is familiar with and has great memories in. Playing host to the Big West Championship for the last three years, the Beach had a thrilling last-second win over UC Santa Barbara in 2022 to reach the finals, and finished off the job last year, defeating both the (1) and (2) seeds in Henderson last season to advance to March Madness, claiming the Big West Championship title with a 74-70 win over UC Davis.

• Long Beach State has been led by their guard play. Devin Askew has immediately taken on a leadership role and is shining for LBSU, averaging 15.5 points and 3.8 assists per game. TJ Wainwright is also averaging 11.4 points per game and is leading the team with 13 steals while shooting 32.5 percent from three.

• Cam Denson is giving the Beach a veteran presence as well. The versatile senior is third on the team at 6.8 points per game, and was the co-leader in scoring for LBSU against Portland. Denson is also averaging 5.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 56.8% from the field, including 50.0% from three this season.

• On the glass, Long Beach State has three forwards all averaging over five rebounds per game, headlined by Derrick Michael Xzavierro, who recorded a double-double in the season opener and is grabbing 5.9 rebounds per game. Austin Johnson is leading the squad at 6.4 per game and Cam Denson is contributing 5.3 per game.

NEWS AND NOTES
• Long Beach State made the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24, reaching March Madness for the 10th time in program history, and the first since the 2011-12 season. Coming off of a five-game losing streak entering the Big West Championship, Long Beach State responded by winning three straight, including victories over the (1) and (2) seeds to reach the NCAA Tournament, where the program fell to No. 9 Arizona in the first round.

• The Beach returns three players from that postseason run, and turned to the transfer portal heavily while recruiting 12 newcomers to fill out the roster. Chris Acker and his staff brought in six Division I transfers, three junior college transfers and three high school recruits to complete the 2024-25 Long Beach State squad.

• The team faces a true rebuild, with 12 newcomers and just three returning players. Long Beach State returns less than 5% of its scoring, rebounding and minutes played from the 2023-24 team, ranking in the Top 10 fewest nationally in all three categories. Only 15 programs have less minutes continuity than the Beach, but Long Beach State went big in their rebuild, with the 16th ranked roster based on average height in the country.

THE STAFF
• Chris Acker enters his first Division I head coaching role with the Beach, having spent the last five seasons as an assistant coach at San Diego State and playing a crucial role in the recent success of the Aztecs. In the last five seasons with Acker as an assistant, SDSU posted a 134-34 overall record and reached four straight NCAA tournaments, the 2023-24 Sweet 16 and the 2022-23 NCAA Championship Game.

• John Montgomery comes to the Beach after nine seasons at Hawai'i, where he spent the last three as the Associate Head Coach for the Rainbow Warriors. Acker and Montgomery served on the same staff for two seasons, including the program's 2015-16 NCAA Tournament run where UH won their first ever NCAA game and won a program-record 28 games.

• Anthony Santos also comes to the Beach with plenty of Big West experience after spending 12 years at Cal State Fullerton. Santos worked his way up through the ranks, starting as a manager and ending his time with the Titans as the program's Associate Head Coach under Dedrique Taylor.

• Phillip Scott is the program's other assistant coach, coming to the Beach after a long history of collaborating with Acker in player development. Ali Tavakol joined Acker in making the move from San Diego State, and will serve as the program's Director of Basketball Operations, and Jacob Eyman, a former team captain with Portland State will work as the program's Director of Player Relations, beginning his coaching career after playing overseas.

Calendar

Long Beach State Closes Ball Dawgs Classic Against San Jose State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Devin Askew

Cam Denson

Austin Johnson

TJ Wainwright

Derrick Michael Xzavierro

Long Beach State University Athletics