Black And Blue Rivalry Next As Men's Basketball Heads To Irvine

Thursday, January 8

Irvine, Calif.

7 p.m.

Long Beach State University

UC Irvine

Black And Blue Rivalry Next As Men's Basketball Heads To Irvine

1/7/2026 10:01:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Game Notes - UC Irvine

The Beach continues Big West play with two games this week.

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

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Conference play continues with a full week for Long Beach State. First up in the Black and Blue Rivalry, as the Beach travels to Irvine for a Thursday night matchup with UC Irvine simulcast on Spectrum SportsNet. The Beach will then host Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday afternoon from the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid.

Game:.................................... Long Beach State at UC Irvine
Date:........................................... Thursday, January 8, 2026
Time:............................................................................ 7 p.m.
Location:............................................................ Irvine, Calif.
Arena:........................................ Bren Events Center (5,000)
TV:......................................................... Spectrum SportsNet
TV Talent:............................................................ Trent Rush
Webcast:.................................................................... ESPN+
Radio:........................................................................ AM 830
Live Stats:.............................................. ucirvinesports.com

RIGHT AWAY
• Long Beach State dominated the majority of the action in their first game of the new year, leading for nearly 38 minutes in a 74-66 win over Cal Poly. Petar Majstrovoic was the key for the Beach, recording his second double-double of the season with a career-high 25 points with 10 rebounds and 3 assists on 75% shooting from the field. That followed another big win, 113-66 over Lincoln on December 30.

• True freshman Gavin Sykes is having an outstanding first season with Long Beach State. Through 15 games, Sykes is along the elite scoring freshmen in the country, joined in the Top 10 in scoring by Cameron Boozer of Duke, AJ Dybantsa of BYU, and Caleb Wilson of North Carolina among others.

• Against San Diego, freshman Gavin Sykes led the way with 30 points, becoming the first freshman since program legend Lucious Harris in 1990 to score 30 as a freshman, part of a strong start to the season for Sykes. Sykes has now scored 20 points or more seven times and is leading Long Beach State in scoring at 17.8 points per game.

• Syracuse transfer Petar Majstorovic has been another early key for Long Beach State. The sophomore leads Long Beach State in rebounding and is averaging double figure scoring at 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Majstorovic played a key rotation role as a true freshman for the Orangemen last season, and had a strong debut recording his first career double-double in his first game at Long Beach State with 13 points and 10 rebounds at San Diego State.

FRESHMAN PHENOM
• Gavin Sykes is averaging 20.0 points per game through three league games, ranking fifth in the league in scoring in Big West conference games. Long Beach State lost their first two games over Week 0, but opened 2026 with a commanding 74-66 win over Cal Poly as Petar Majstorovic had 25 points and Sykes added 16 in the win.

• Sykes had a breakthrough game against Pacific, scoring 20 points to lead Long Beach State, and after scoring 30 points against San Diego is leading Long Beach State in scoring at 17.8 points per game. Sykes is also among the team leaders in rebounding at 3.2 boards per game. As a senior in high school, Sykes averaged over 20 points per game with Modesto Christian HS, and was one of the top guard recruits in the state of California.

• Sykes starts the week ranked ninth in the country in scoring among freshmen, and is closing in quickly on becoming just the sixth freshman in program history to score 300 points in a season with 267 points through the first half of the season in 2025-26. He would join an elite list of Long Beach State greats in that achievement.

NEWS AND NOTES
• 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 24-25 starter.

• DMX returned to the team after spending two weeks on International duty, representing Indonesia at the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, helping them claim a Bronze Medal in 5x5. Xzavierro averaged 15.8 points and 11.8 rebounds per game over the tournament.

• 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 and Hawai'i, 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.

PLAYER NOTES
• 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 leads Long Beach State on the glass at 6.4 rebounds per game and is averaging 14.3 points per game after transferring from Syracuse. Majstorovic set a new career high with 25 points in a double-double against Cal Poly, matching a career-best with 10 rebounds while going 12-for-16 from the field.

• 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, and set career highs in scoring in back-to-back games including 10 points against Nobel. Levillain had a strong game at Iowa State, finishing with 6 points and 6 rebounds while adding a block and two steals.

• 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 6.5 points per game and is leading the Beach with 44 assists with a 3:1 assist/turnover ratio, making his first start against Lincoln.

• The top incoming scorer for Long Beach State is graduate transfer Shaquil Bender. 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 third on the team in scoring at 9.3 points per game, including a season-high 19 on the road at UC Santa Barbara, and is less than 200 points away from reaching 1,000 points scored in his Division I career.

• 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, and made his first appearance of the year against the Knights, scoring four points.

• Isaiah Lewis has been a key figure for the Beach in the early part of the season, third on the team in minutes played while starting 13 games this season at point guard. Lewis is averaging 5.8 points per game while handing out 39 assists and adding 20 steals during the year.

• 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. He suffered a significant injury with a collapsed lung just before his first season, costing him his 2022-23 campaign and affecting his first competitive season with GCU, but "DMX" had a strong debut season for the Beach, leading LBSU in rebounding and blocked shots while starting 21 games with four double-doubles, ranking in the Top 5 in the Big West in rebounding last season. Xzavierro is averaging 3.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game 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 each game so far for Long Beach State, and is now averaging 7.4 points per game.

• 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 16.6 minutes per game so far with the Beach and has had two blocks in a game now three times, most recently against San Diego.

• Another member of Long Beach State's freshman signing class, Dallas Washington was a top-rated recruit and has contributed early with the Beach, averaging 3.1 points and 1.5 rebounds per game as another key player in the Beach rotation. Washington was a four-star recruit, rated in the Top 100 nationally by ESPN. Washington has missed the last six games with an injury suffered against the Toreros.

• 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. Jones is averaging 3.4 points and 1.6 rebounds for the Beach 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. Chaikovsky is now averaging 8.6 minutes per game off of the bench, and had six points and three blocks against Lincoln.