The Long Beach State Beach (10-10, 4-4 Big West) will travel to San Luis Obispo, CA to take on the Cal Poly Mustangs (7-13, 1-7, Big West) at Robert A. Mott Athletics Center for a Big West contest. Long Beach State is coming from a big overtime win against UC San Diego while the Mustangs have lost seven consecutive games and look to snap their skid.
Long Beach State has been playing good basketball as of late, winning three of their last five games, including a victory against Cal Poly. They enter this matchup hoping to earn their third consecutive win while also earning their second win against the Cal Poly Mustangs this month. In their last matchup against the Mustangs, the Beach earned a dominating 77-58 win where they shot 47.4% from the field, 31.6% from beyond the arc, and 68% from free throw range. In addition, they recorded 37 rebounds, 18 assists, 10 steals, and four blocks while turning the ball over 13 times. Four of Long Beach State's starters contributed double-digit points with AJ George (15 PTS, 3 REB, 3 STL, 44.4% FG) leading.
Relive the critical closing minutes as @LBSUMBB comes from behind to beat UC San Diego in triple overtime!! #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/Xcm4rXhwSL
— LBSU Men 's Basketball (@LBSUMBB) January 22, 2023
The scoring offense is avergaing 77 points per game (64th) while shooting 45.6% from the field, 65.6% from free throw range, and 8.9% from beyond the arc. In addition, Long Beach State is averaging 42 rebounds, 14.9 assists, 7.6 steals, and 3.6 blocks while turning the ball over 13.9 times per contest. They have an assist/turnover ratio of 1.07 (146th). On defense, they are conceding 74.5 points per game ranking them 300th in points allowed. Joel Murray is the scoring leader, averaging 15.7 points per game while shooting 42.7% from the field. Lassina Traore is the rebound leader, averaging 9.9 rebounds per game while contributing 11.2 points per game. The second most prolific scorer is Marcus Tsohonis who is averaging 14.3 points per game while shooting 40.9% from the field.