Saturday, March 2
Irvine, Calif.
7 p.m.
Long Beach State University
18-12,10-8Big West
61
at
82
UC Irvine
22-8,15-3Big West
1
2
F
Long Beach St.
31
30
61
UC Irvine
43
39
82
Long Beach State Falls At UC Irvine In Black And Blue Rematch
3/2/2024 10:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Marcus Tsohonis returned for Long Beach State and had 19 points to lead the Beach.
IRVINE, Calif. – Long Beach State struggled to get going offensively on the road at UC Irvine despite the return of Marcus Tsohonis, and the Beach fell to the league leaders 82-61 on Saturday night.
Long Beach State (18-12, 10-8 Big West) got a lift from the return of Tsohonis, who had a game-high 19 points on the night after missing the last two games with injury. The Beach got just four points from the bench contrasted with 34 for UC Irvine (22-8, 15-3 Big West) who used their depth to their advantage.
Even at 10-10 after the opening five minutes, the Anteaters went on a 7-0 run to grab an early edge. Jadon Jones hit a three to cut the lead to four, part of 12 points for the junior in the first half. The 'Eaters pushed back out in front, leading by as many as 14 points in the first half and taking a 43-31 lead into halftime.
Tsohonis scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, and gave the Beach a spark as LBSU cut the UC Irvine lead to 56-49 with just over 11 minutes remaining. Dylan Thoerner answered with a 3-pointer for UC Irvine, and the Beach never again cut the lead to under 10 points.
Long Beach State was even on the boards on the night, led by 16 rebounds from Lassina Traore and 10 rebounds from Aboubacar Traore. AJ George joined Tsohonis and Jones in double-figures with 11 points.
Long Beach State will close out the regular season at home next week, hosting UC Santa Barbara Thursday night before hosting UC Davis in a critical matchup on Senior Day, with tipoff at 3 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Long Beach State (18-12, 10-8 Big West) got a lift from the return of Tsohonis, who had a game-high 19 points on the night after missing the last two games with injury. The Beach got just four points from the bench contrasted with 34 for UC Irvine (22-8, 15-3 Big West) who used their depth to their advantage.
Even at 10-10 after the opening five minutes, the Anteaters went on a 7-0 run to grab an early edge. Jadon Jones hit a three to cut the lead to four, part of 12 points for the junior in the first half. The 'Eaters pushed back out in front, leading by as many as 14 points in the first half and taking a 43-31 lead into halftime.
Tsohonis scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, and gave the Beach a spark as LBSU cut the UC Irvine lead to 56-49 with just over 11 minutes remaining. Dylan Thoerner answered with a 3-pointer for UC Irvine, and the Beach never again cut the lead to under 10 points.
Long Beach State was even on the boards on the night, led by 16 rebounds from Lassina Traore and 10 rebounds from Aboubacar Traore. AJ George joined Tsohonis and Jones in double-figures with 11 points.
Long Beach State will close out the regular season at home next week, hosting UC Santa Barbara Thursday night before hosting UC Davis in a critical matchup on Senior Day, with tipoff at 3 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Team Stats
LBSU
Irvine
FG%
.308
.484
3FG%
.167
.318
FT%
.643
.722
RB
43
43
TO
11
10
STL
5
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
Guard
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