Men's Basketball Faces First Road Test At South Dakota State

Friday, November 8

Brookings, S.D.

8:15 p.m. CT

Long Beach State University

South Dakota State

Photo by: John Fajardo

Men's Basketball Faces First Road Test At South Dakota State

11/6/2024 11:31:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes - South Dakota State

The two 1-0 teams will play Friday evening.

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

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State will face their first major test on Friday, hitting the road for the first time under new head coach Chris Acker to face South Dakota State. That game is scheduled for a 6:15 p.m. tip, and will be live streamed through the Summit Network.

Game:.................... Long Beach State at South Dakota State
Date:...................................................... Friday, November 8
Time:................................................................. 8:15 p.m. CT
Location:...................................................... Brookings, S.D.
Arena:................................ First Bank & Trust Arena (5,000)
TV:............................................................... Summit Network
TV Talent:....................................................................... TBA
Webcast:..................................................... Summit Network
Radio:.............................................................................. N/A
Live Stats:.............................................. beachlivestats.com

RIGHT AWAY
• Long Beach State kicked off the season with an impressive victory over La Verne, winning 93-48 in front of the fantastic fans inside of the Walter Pyramid. Devin Askew had 20 points with 5 assists, TJ Wainwright added 18 and Derrick Michael Xzavierro recorded his first double-double in his first opportunity with 12 points and 12 rebounds. That came on the heels of an exhibition win over another SCIAC opponent in Caltech, who the Beach defeated 103-35 in another preseason tuneup.

• 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.

• Creating a schedule with solid balance, Long Beach State will have four non-conference home games in addition to the CalTech exhibition. The Beach will also return to Henderson, Nev. to take part in the Ball Dawgs Classic against UNC Greensboro, UTEP and San Jose State and will also face five West Coast Conference teams in the preseason in San Francisco, Portland, San Diego, Pepperdine and Gonzaga.

• South Dakota State also enters Friday's contest unbeaten, after opening the season with a 80-73 win over McNeese State in the Field of 68 Showcase. Redshirt Freshman Joe Sayler led the Jackrabbits with 18 points while Washington State transfer Oscar Cluff had a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

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 No. 1 and No. 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, some of the lowest returning numbers in the nation.

THE STAFF
• Chris Acker has assembled a dynamic staff that includes a number of familiar faces from around the Big West and West Coast basketball with extensive experience in multiple roles.

• 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.

PLAYER NOTES
• Redshirt sophomore Jason Hart Jr. is the elder statesman of the returners, coming back for his third season at the Beach. After redshirting in 2022-23, Hart Jr. had a breakout defensive game on the road at UC Riverside in a massive second half comeback, and made his first career start against UC Santa Barbara in that season. Other high points included big games against Life Pacific and Sacramento State.

• Varick Lewis appeared in 31 games as a true freshman for Long Beach State, making 13 3-pointers off of the bench as an offensive threat. Lewis played a season high 16 minutes against Life Pacific and scored 12 points in that win, sharing the scoring lead in the 88-66 home victory.

• Redshirt freshman Eli Djordjevic also returns for Long Beach State. Djordjevic had two points aganist Louisiana and made six rebounds against Life Pacific, but played just one minute of conference action before the turn of the new year and received a medical redshirt for the season.

• Long Beach State will get a veteran presence with the addition of six Division I transfers who will have the ability to impact the program immediately with various levels of eligibility remaining from one to three years.

• Senior guard Devin Askew has one of the highest profiles of the newcomers to the Beach. One of the top recruits in the nation out of high school in Sacramento, Askew started 20 games as a true freshman with Kentucky in 2020-21. Getting a year back due to COVID, Askew then played one season at Texas before going to Cal. Askew was very effective with the Golden Bears when healthy, averaging 15.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game as a junior but saw both of his seasons in Berkeley end prematurely.

• Austin Johnson is a name that will resonate with fans of the Big West, as the graduate transfer played three seasons with Black and Blue Rivals UC Irvine. In his final season with the Anteaters, Johnson averaged 5.8 points per game and 6.0 rebounds, while leading the conference in clocked shots with 61, averaging 2.4 per game, while LBSU's Aboubacar Traore ranked second. Following that season, Johnson spent one season at North Carolina A&T, averaging over five rebounds and points per game while again leading the team in blocks.

• A Compton native, Cam Denson is also preparing to close out his collegiate career at the Beach. A versatile and tough defender, Denson played 64 games over the last two seasons at Pacific and averaged 8.5 points per game while leading the Tigers in rebounding and blocked shots last season. Denson spent two years in Stockton after playing two years of juco ball where he reaced the NJCAA semifinals with Triton CC.

• TJ Wainwright makes his return to California after two successful seasons at Robert Morris, a Horizon League school in Pennsylvania. Wainwright averaged 10.0 points per game as a sophomore, including a career-high 30 points scored against Detroit Mercy last season. Wainwright also played in all 33 games for the Colonials as a true freshman after winning a prep national championship at Monteverde Academy.

• The first Division I scholarship player from Indonesia, Derrick Michael Xzavierro transferred to the Beach with three years of eligibility remaining from GCU. Xzavierro (or DMX) suffered a significant injury with a collapsed lung just before his first season, costing him his 2022-23 campaign and affecting his time with the Lopes last season as well. DMX played 14 games for the 30-5 GCU team that reached the NCAA Tournament. DMX was also identified as a youth prospect from Indonesia, playing with the NBA Global Academy in Australia.

• Long Beach native Ramel Lloyd Jr. returns to the Beach after a pair of redshirt seasons at Nebraska. A Top 100 recruit nationally out of Sierra Canyon High School, Lloyd Jr. redshirted during his first season at Nebraska before suffering a season-ending injury prior to his first game action with the Huskers.

• Giving Long Beach State an additional lift are three junior college transfers, each with two remaining years of eligibility remaining.

• Christian Richardson gives Long Beach State a true seven-footer as the 7-1 rim protector who comes to the Beach after spending two seasons at Butler College in Kansas. Averaging over a block per game in each of his two seasons at Butler CC, Richardson averaged 7.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting over 70 percent from the field as a sophomore. Richardson was a standout of the team's preseason exhibition against Caltech, putting up a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

• Cory Curtis Jr.is a proven junior college scorer who had a breakthrough season as a sophomore, ranking eighth nationally in scoring at Independence College in Kansas at 23.2 points per game. Also adding 4.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game, Curtis Jr. scored 30 points or more points five times and scored fewer than 14 just once. Curtis Jr. also played one season at junior college powerhouse Panola College, going 28-5 in 2022-23.

• Grant Martin is Long Beach State's final junior college addition to the roster this season. Martin played for two seasons at Citrus College, and started 15 games as a sophomore as the Owls posted a 21-8 overall record, averaging 5.4 points per game and coming in second on the team in rebounding at 4.9 boards per game. Citrus College is also where head coach Chris Acker got his coaching start in 2008.

• Filling out the roster are three high school freshman who will look to make an impact in their first season at Long Beach State in Kam Martin, Andrew Nagy and Zach Buley.

• Kam Martin originally signed with the prior coaching staff during his final year at Blue Ridge School, and the freshman recommitted to Acker and his staff to join Long Beach State. A promising prospect, Martin averaged 10.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game, and also averaged over a steal per game as a senior.

• Andrew Nagy signed with Long Beach State as a true freshman following the coaching transition in the November window. Coming out of Anaheim, Nagy played high school basketball at Orange Lutheran High School before playing in the Nike EYBL with Veritas Academy, averaging 11.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. His numbers on the glass ranked in the Top 10 in the EYBL.

• Zach Buley was the final addition to the roster. A unique case as Buley was already enrolled at Long Beach State, the four-year letterwinner at Palm Springs High School was added to the team as its 15th member after earning a pair of Desert Empire League MVP awards and averaging 23 points per game as a senior.