Aboubacar Traore Makes More History As Long Beach State Moves On To The Big West Finals

Friday, March 15

Henderson, Nev.

6 p.m.

Long Beach State University

20-14,10-10Big West

(1) UC Irvine

24-9,17-3Big West

Long Beach St.

UC Irvine

Photo by: John Fajardo

Aboubacar Traore Makes More History As Long Beach State Moves On To The Big West Finals

3/15/2024 9:53:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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The junior became the 26th player in Long Beach State history to score 1,000 career points in the win.

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

HENDERSON, Nev. – Long Beach State advanced to the Big West Championship game for the second time in the last three years, knocking off top seeded UC Irvine 83-79 in the third matchup of the Black and Blue Rivalry in 2023-24.

                Junior Aboubacar Traore finished with 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists, close to another triple-double while passing 1,000 career points, joining Jadon Jones in the exclusive club of 26 Long Beach State greats in the win over UC Irvine (24-9).

                Long Beach State (20-14) led through most of the contest getting contributions up and down the lineup in the epitome of a team win. The Beach had five players in double-figures, led by Aboubacar Traore, while Lassina Traore was one point shy of another double-double with 9 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

                The Beach finished with 16 assists to just nine turnovers, and had six blocks on the night, with three coming from Amari Stroud, who had a major impact in addition to his 11 points.

                3-pointers from Marcus Tsohonis and Jadon Jones helped Long Beach State push out to an early eight-point lead at 20-12. UC Irvine rallied to get within two points at 40-38, but the Beach closed the half on a 7-0 run, capped by a fast break dunk just before the buzzer from Stroud on a length of the court assist from Jones.

                UC Irvine got off to a great start in the second half, and pulled within two points at 52-50 before Long Beach State timeout helped still the Anteater momentum. The Eaters would take a 65-62 lead with just under nine minutes remaining, but Jones hit a big three to put the Beach back on top 68-66.

                Down two with 2:43 to play at 73-71, Aboubacar Traore hit two free throws to tie the game, the first two of eight he would make over the final three minutes to carry the Beach across the line for the win over the top seed. Traore finished the night 12-of-13 from the line for the Beach.

                Long Beach State will play the winner of (2) UC Davis and (3) Hawai'i in the Big West Championship Match on Saturday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live nationally on ESPN2.