LBSU outlasts UCI for fourth straight win
LONG BEACH >> At the beginning of the season, Long Beach State men’s basketball coach Dan Monson said his team was approaching games with a singular mindset of outscoring its opponents.
But Saturday afternoon, after squeaking past rival UC Irvine, 73-67, at the Walter Pyramid — a game in which LBSU responded after squandering a 13-point second-half lead and fell behind with 3:50 left — Monson praised his players for finding a different way, as Long Beach won its fourth straight and third consecutive Big West Conference game.
“This team didn’t know how to win a game in the preseason if they didn’t outscore somebody,” said Monson, whose team improved to 8-9 overall and 3-1 in conference play. “That’s the only way we were winning games – is if everybody was on.”
Not everybody was on Saturday. In fact, Jadon Jones and Colin Slater – who Monson called his top two shooters – combined to go 4 for 20 from the field. Multiple scoring droughts stretching minutes long helped let UCI (6-7, 1-3) back in the game.
In a game that featured 11 lead changes, UCI took a 59-58 lead when Collin Welp capped a 10-0 run with a tip-in with 3:50 left, but LBSU’s defense and timely offensive rebounds helped sealed the win down the stretch. Slater came alive late with a corner 3-pointer followed by a driving layup that put LBSU ahead for good, 66-64, with less than two minutes left.
“Colin, he wasn’t hitting all game,” said Joel Murray, who led Long Beach with 24 points. “He hit that big three in the corner. Just trusting your teammates, knowing they’re going to hit that big shot. We’re trusting in each other and that’s what ultimately won us the game.”
LBSU scored seven unanswered points after the score was tied 64-64, and won the game by doing the small things — forcing two turnovers, grabbing two offensive rebounds and blocking a shot in the final two minutes. Long Beach scored seven of its final nine points at the freethrow line, where it finished 25 for 30.
“Teams that win leagues, teams that are championship-caliber teams – you’ve got to find different ways to win basketball games and I think they’re starting to trust that and find different ways,” said Monson, whose team played without senior captain Drew Cobb (COVID-19 protocols).
Long Beach led 30-29 at halftime in a back-andforth first half. Both teams struggled shooting the ball at under 37% in the first half.
Austin Johnson had eight of the first 13 points for UCI, and he paced the Anteaters at halftime as their lone double-digit scorer. Murray had 14 points for LBSU by halftime, including a 3-pointer late in the first half that broke a nearly five-minute scoring drought.
Long Beach went on a 13-2 run at the start of the second half to build a double-digit lead.
Aboubacar Traore, a high-energy freshman wing from the Ivory Coast who is nicknamed “Kadir,” continued to impress for Long Beach, notching career highs of 19 points (on 6-for-7 shooting) and four blocked shots to go with his seven rebounds and three steals.
“It’s almost like you expect Kadir to get every one of them now,” Monson said of Traore’s effort on the boards.
Meanwhile, UCI lost its third straight Big West game and has lost six of seven overall. Welp had 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting and 11 rebounds to lead the Anteaters, who had 16 turnovers that led to 18 Long Beach points.
LBSU, riding its longest win streak since it won six straight during the 201819 season. The team has earned some confidence and swagger, according to Monson, who added that he’s liked the practices over the last couple of weeks.
LBSU, which blocked eight shots, improved to 6-0 this season when holding opponents to under 70 points. Monson’s goal is 60 points, and he thinks his team is getting there. On defense, his players are more comfortable helping off their man because of how they’ve improved at rotating in recent weeks.
“The individual accountability got better and when it did, they started believing in the team,” Monson said. “The trust of it has gotten better the last couple of weeks.”