See attached file for full Long Beach State game notes.
Play:……………………Long Beach State at California Baptist
Date:………………………………………. Monday, November 7, 2022
Weather:………………………………………………….. .. …………………….. 19:00
Location:………………………………………………….. .. …. Riverside, Calif.
Sand:…………………………………………………CBU Events Center (4,200)
TV:………………………………………………….. .. ……………………….ESPN+
TV talent:………………………………………………….. .. … Pep Fernandez
Webcast:………………………………………………….. .. ………………. ESPN+
Radio:………………………………………………….. .. .. Sports Fox 1350 AM
Live statistics:…………………………………….. beachlivestats.com
IMMEDIATELY
• Long Beach State opens the 2022-23 season on the road with two tough tests. The Beach will kick off with a rematch against California Baptist on opening day, when the teams meet for the third time. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm from Riverside, with live coverage on ESPN+.
• The teams last played in the heart of the pandemic in one of the first games back for both teams, a meeting in January 2021 that was controlled by the Lancers in a 96-75 victory. That is the only official meeting of the teams in the modern era: The Beach scored a victory in the first meeting between the teams that occurred in 1956.
• After Monday night’s game, Beach will remain on the road to face No. 8 UCLA for the sixth time in the last seven years. Long Beach State is still looking for its first victory at Pauley Pavilion, but has put pressure on the Bruins, including a four-point loss in the 2019 campaign.
• Three starters return to Long Beach State from a team that captured the 2021-22 Big West regular season title. Senior Joel Murray was the leading scorer in the Big West a season ago after averaging 16.7 points per game, and he will be the team’s leader on the perimeter next season. Joining him from the starting lineup are sophomores. Jason Joneswho returned as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year a season ago and rebounding wizard Aboubacar Traore.
• Long Beach State will have an exciting series of games to kick off the season. After the two road games to start the season, Long Beach State will host its first home game, part of “Basketball Opening Weekend,” as parking will be free on campus. Montana State, a 2021-22 NCAA tournament team, will come to Long Beach to take on LBSU as part of a home and away with the Bobcats.
• Long Beach State University and Athletics would like to remind fans that there are no remaining COVID-19 restrictions on entering the Walter Pyramid. The Long Beach State Fan Guidelines and Clear Bag Policy are still in effect; Anyone who attends Long Beach State men’s basketball games can find that information at www.longbeachstate.com/fanguidelines.
NEWS AND NOTES
• Long Beach State was picked to finish third in the Big West in the preseason coaches’ poll as announced by the conference office this week. The Beach earned a first-place vote and were at the top of the poll in total points with preseason favorites UC Santa Barbara and just behind Hawai’i, who were chosen to finish second.
PLAYER NOTES
• Joel Murray was named to the six-man preseason All-Big West team, highlighting this year’s high expectations for the senior. The league’s leading scorer a season ago with 16.7 points per game, Murray also averaged 3.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Beach, leading the team in scoring 17 times. Those efforts led to him being selected to the All-Big West First Team last season, as well as becoming the first LBSU player since Nick Faust in 2016 to be selected for NABC All-District honors, one of ten players recognized of the Big West and the WCC.
• Jason Jones he was named Big West Defensive Player of the Year, the third for the Beach. Jones finished the conference season in the Top 5 of the league in both steals and blocks, while also contributing heavily on the offensive end. A Long Beach native, Jones was third on the team in scoring with 10.5 points per game, and he averaged 4.3 rebounds, tied for second on the team while shooting 66 3-pointers on 37.1 percent shooting. Jones also earned All-Big West Honorable Mention, and is three 3-pointers away from becoming the 18th player in LBSU to make 100 3-pointers.
• Aboubacar Traore was the beach standout a season ago as a true freshman, earning All-Big West Honorable Mention honors. Averaging a league-best 9.9 rebounds per game, the best in the Big West, Traore finished the year averaging 8.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game along with a team-high 41 blocks. His seven double-doubles were the second-most in the Big West.
• Traore set a modern-era record for rebounds for LBSU in the team game at UC Riverside, grabbing 23 rebounds in the win. It was the third-most rebounds in a game in school history, and the most since 1961. Traore was one of only five players to record multiple 20-rebound games in the nation last year, joining the National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky. and Armando Bacot from North Carolina along with two others.
• Tobias Rotegaard is the other returning regular for Long Beach State. A sophomore, Rotegarrd played in 32 games a season ago, and was fourth on the team in 3-pointers made on the year, shooting 33.3 percent from behind the arc. Starting for the first time against UC San Diego a year ago, the Norwegian set a career high with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists in an iconic performance.
• Returning through the beach is also Jeffrey Yan. Long Beach State’s oldest player, Yan returns for his fifth season with the program in the best shape of his career and looking to contribute even more than last season, where he appeared in a career-high 16 games for Beach .
• An interesting twist of fate reunites one of Long Beach State’s two Division I transfers with a teammate and high school friend, when Lassina Traore joins Aboubacar Traore on the beach. Lassina played for the midfield power Saint Louis last season, but the big man will come to the beach with three seasons of eligibility remaining to play for his compatriot from the Ivory Coast and his hometown more than 7,000 miles away.
• The Beach also brings in a veteran Division I shooting guard in Marcus Tsohonis. Tsohonis previously played at two schools, spending the 2021-22 campaign with VCU after playing two seasons in Washington. A proven scorer, his best season came in the 2022-21 season, when he played in 23 games for the Huskies and averaged 10.4 points per game while shooting 44.7 percent from the field.
• Along with Division I transfers, Long Beach State has brought a trio of impact high school transfers. Tone Hunter is a prolific scoring shooting guard from Las Vegas, who averaged 17.8 points per game as a freshman at Garden City CC. Chayce Polynice is a 6-11 junior who averaged 10.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game at College of Southern Idaho, and Amari Stroud is another big man who averaged 16.6 points and 10 rebounds per game last season at Hancock CC in Santa Maria. , Calif. .
• The Beach also has a trio of high school freshmen joining the show. Jason Hart Jr. was a first-team All-CIF selection out of St. Bernard HS at point guard, while Maddox Monson is a 3-point shooter out of Los Alamitos HS. Shaumba Ngoyi is another international player who hits the beach from Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo as a 6-9 freshman.
• The Beach have two red jerseys planned for the season, as newcomers Matt Fegurgur and Shaumba Ngoyi will sit out during the 2022-23 campaign.
THIS AND THAT
• Long Beach State continues to have an outstanding record in Walter’s pyramid. Over the past 12 years, Beach has amassed a 121-36 record at home, winning nearly 80% of their games in the iconic building. By Ken PomeroyLong Beach State also has the best home field advantage in the Big West.
• Coach Dan Monson he is the winningest coach at Long Beach State, with more wins than basketball luminaries like Jerry Tarkanian, Tex Winter and Seth Greenberg, who have also coached on the beach. The Beach now has over 1,000 wins in the show’s history, with Monson winning over 200 of those games. Monson also captured his 400th career victory in three stops at Gonzaga, Minnesota and the beach on February 8 at home against Cal State Fullerton. Monson also claimed his fourth Big West Coach of the Year award for his efforts in leading the Beach to the 2021-22 Big West regular season title.
• The Monson family legacy continues here on the beach as a third generation of the family joins the ranks of coaches. Dan MonsonDon Monson’s father was also a Division I head coach, managing Idaho and Oregon. Now, in addition to Maddox Monson’s addition to the program, MiGuire Monson is also serving with the coaching staff in 2022-23 as a postgraduate assistant.
• In terms of legacy, Beach also has a couple of sons of NBA veterans on the team. Jason Hart Sr. was a standout point guard at Syracuse prior to a ten-year NBA career, and is currently the head coach of the NBA G-League Ignite. Olden Polynice, father of Chayce Polynice, played college baseball at Virginia and was a top 10 pick in the NBA Draft. Polynice then played for 15 years in the NBA, scoring over 8,000 career points with 7,000 career rebounds.