Long Beach State Beach (0-0) vs. Portland Pilots (0-0)
The 2023-24 NCAAB season begins Monday, November 6, and we are breaking down the non-conference clash from Chiles Center in Portland, Oregon, to get you the best Long Beach State vs. Portland pick and odds.
The Beach open as slight 2.5-point road favorites with a total of 158.5 points. They’ve never beaten the Pilots before, going 0-4 SU and 3-1 ATS in their previous four encounters.
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After going 20-13 (14-3 Conf.) in 2021-22, the Long Beach State Beach went 17-16 overall and 11-9 in the conference play last season. Led by the 16th-year head coach Dan Monson, the Beach entered the 2023 Big West Championship Tournament with high hopes but suffered a shocking 88-68 defeat to Cal Poly in the first round.
LBSU finished the 2022-23 season as No. 167 in the KenPom rankings. The Beach ranked third in the country in pace, notching 72.7 possessions per 40 minutes. They were scoring 105.0 points per 100 possessions (170th in the nation) while surrendering 104.9 points in return (171st).
The Beach are No. 120 in the initial 2024 KenPom rankings and No. 114 at Bart Torvik. They return both Lassina Traore and Aboubacar Traore, who combined for 23.0 points and 19.3 rebounds per game last season. Marcus Tsohonis is back, too, after tallying 14.1 points and 3.4 rebounds a night in 2023-24.