Long Beach State Men's Basketball Hosts Illinois State In Home Opener

Sunday, November 16

Long Beach, Calif.

4 p.m.

Long Beach State University

Illinois State

Photo by: John Fajardo

Long Beach State Men's Basketball Hosts Illinois State In Home Opener

11/15/2025 12:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes - Illinois State

The Beach will host the Redbirds for the second time in program history.

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

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Long Beach State will finally begin the home portion of their schedule, hosting Illinois State at 4 p.m. on Sunday, November 16 with live coverage on ESPN+.

Game:.............................. Long Beach State vs. Illinois State
Date:......................................... Sunday, November 16, 2025
Time:............................................................................ 4 p.m.
Location:.................................................. Long Beach, Calif.
Arena:............................................... Walter Pyramid (4,200)
TV:.............................................................................. ESPN+
TV Talent:........................... Jason Schwartz, Devin Hudson
Webcast:.................................................................... ESPN+
Radio:............................................................. 22 West Radio
Live Stats:....................... beachlivestats.statbroadcast.com

RIGHT AWAY
• The contest is expected to be held in the Walter Pyramid; if necessary the game would be moved to the Gold Mine, where the teams had one of their two prior meetings, an 88-63 win for the Beach in February of 1972. Illinois State won the last meeting between the team in 2023 in the Gulf Shore Showcase in Fort Myers.

• The Beach led for over 25 minutes of their last road game at Pacific and held the Tigers to 42.3 percent shooting, but Pacific rallied for a 69-66 win in Stockton. True freshman Gavin Sykes had his best game yet, scoring 20 points and adding seven rebounds against the Tigers.

• Long Beach State again got off to a strong defensive start, but were unable to keep up with a strong stretch of second-half shooting from Fresno State in an 82-62 defeat to the Bulldogs on Saturday. Freshman Gavin Sykes led the Beach with 11 points, while Rob Diaz III and Isaiah Lewis also both finished with double-figure scoring.

• Syracuse transfer Petar Majstorovic has been an early key for Long Beach State. The sophomore leads Long Beach State in rebounding with 7.7 per game and is adding 9.3 points per game after playing a key rotation role as a true freshman for the Orangemen last season.

• In a return to San Diego State for Chris Acker, Majstorovic had a strong debut for the Beach, recording his first career double-double in his first game at Long Beach State, scoring 13 points with 10 rebounds, but the Aztecs proved to be too much for the Beach on the night in a 77-45 loss to open the season.

• Long Beach State for the second straight season faced a massive rebuild, bringing back just one player while adding 13. The team has a higher percentage of returning points, minutes and rebounds than last season despite having two fewer returners, as starting forward Derrick Michael Xzavierro renewed his commitment to the team as a starter.

• Xzavierro ranked in the Top 5 in rebounding last season for the Big West, leading Long Beach State at 6.8 per game. "DMX" started 21 games in total and averaged 5.2 points per game, finishing with four double-doubles in his first season with the Beach after transferring into the program from Grand Canyon.

• Acker returns for his second season at Long Beach State. The Beach, led by Honorable Mention All-Big West selection Devin Askew, had a strong December that saw the Beach grab road wins over San Diego and Pepperdine as well as Big West victories against Cal State Fullerton, but ultimately ended the season 7-25 overall.

• Long Beach State's staff remains intact from Acker's first year, with John Montgomery, Anthony Santos and Philip Scott as the assistant coaches supported by director of basketball operations Ali Tavakol and Jacob Eyman, the director of player relations.

• In addition to the opener against San Diego State, Long Beach State will play another marquee opponent, traveling to Iowa State to face the Cyclones for the first time in program history. Outside of that game and league play to Hawai'i, Long Beach State will remain in California, playing 16 home games and hosting a neutral contest as part of the Battle at the Beach in November, hosting Nobel and Montana State.

PLAYER NOTES
• The first Division I scholarship player from Indonesia, Derrick Michael Xzavierro is Long Beach State's lone returner, a junior with two years of eligibility remaining. DMX suffered a significant injury with a collapsed lung just before his first season, costing him his 2022-23 campaign and affecting his first competitve season with GCU, but Xzavierro had a strong debut season for the Beach, leading LBSU in rebounding and blocked shots while starting 21 games with four double-doubles.

• Petar Majstorovic has been a key starter for Long Beach State in the front court this season. Opening the year with a double-double at San Diego State, Majstorovic has led Long Beach State in rebounding in all three games this season and is averaging 9.3 points per game after transferring from Syracuse, where the sophomore was a major part of the rotation through the majority of ACC play for the Orangemen.

• Born in Serbia, Majstorovic spent the majority of his life in France, and has played a mentorship role for another Frenchman in Leopold Levillain, a true freshman joining the Beach out of Montpellier. Levillain last played for the semipro club Cholet Basket, and averaged 9.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game for the club's U21 team as a relatively new convert to basketball after originally playing rugby in France. Levillain had his first start against Fresno State, scoring six points.

• True freshman Gavin Sykes had a breakthrough game against Pacific, scoring 20 points to lead Long Beach State and is now tops for the Beach in scoring at 10.3 points per game while trailing only Majstorovic in rebounding at 4.3 boards per contest. Sykes averaged over 20 points per game last season with Modesto Christian HS.

• The other member of Long Beach State's freshman signing class, Dallas Washington was a top-rated recruit and has impressed early with the Beach, averaging 4.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game as another key player in the Beach rotation.

• The top incoming scorer for Long Beach State is graduate transfer Shaquil Bender. Bender played two seasons of junior college basketball before joining Manhattan, where he starred for two seasons with the Jaspers. Bender averaged 11.2 points per game and made 63 assists while helping Manhattan with a 10-game turnaround after leading the team in scoring as a junior in 2023-24.Bender is now fourth on the team at 8.0 points per game after putting up 13 on the road at Pacific.

• Long Beach State added a pair of brothers in Isaiah and Immanuel Lewis, who will be playing on the same team for the first time since their days at Taft HS in Southern California. Isaiah joins the Beach from Division I Little Rock, where he averaged 9.4 points per game and made 99 assists, while Immanuel averaged 6.2 points per game with Nobel, a 2025-26 opponent of Long Beach State.

• Isaiah Lewis has been a key figure for the Beach in the early part of the season, leading the team in minutes played while starting the first three games of the season at point guard. Lewis is second on the team at 9.77 points per game while leading the squad in assists this season.

• Another Division I transfer in Cole Farrell joined Long Beach State from Portland State. Farrell spent two seasons with the Vikings, and averaged 6.5 points per game while shooting 37.7% from three last year. Farrell has started three games so far for Long Beach State.

• Shay Johnson Jr. is very familiar with Acker, having spent three seasons with him as an assistant coach at San Diego State. The 6-10 senior will join the program after having primarily played as a backup with the Aztecs during a number of successful seasons. Johnson is averaging 11.3 minutes per game so far with the Beach.

• Rob Diaz III is another transfer, but one coming from Division II after two strong seasons at Cal Poly Humboldt. Diaz was the CCAA Freshman of the Year in 2023-24 after averaging 12.5 points per game, and then earned First Team All-CCAA honors after leading the Lumberjacks in scoring, averaging 16.0 points per game and shooting 36.5 percent from behind the arc. Diaz is averaging 5.3 points per game and is second on the team in assists this season.

• Pulling from within the conference, Long Beach State also added forward JJ Chaikovsky, who redshirted last season at CSUN after playing nine games as a true freshman with NJIT in 2023-24. Chaikovsky made his first appearance for the Beach at Pacific, with a solid stretch in the front court against the Tigers.

• Long Beach State also added one junior college transfer in 6-4 guard Christian Jones. Jones spent last season at Angelina College in Texas, where he averaged 10.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game while shooting 45.6 percent from three, going 28-7 overall and reaching the NJCAA national quarterfinals while leading the team in scoring.