UCSB vs LBSU Game Preview, by gauchodan

Game 23 (BW Game 12)
UCSB at Long Beach State
Thursday, February 9, 2023, 8:00 pm PST
Long Beach, Calif.
 
Quick Bite
While that wasn't the first time the Gauchos (18-4, 9-2) have been zoned this season, it was certainly the worst they played against one.  One thing I noticed was the lack of flashes into the high post...perhaps CSUN's type of zone was preventing that but, regardless, that's been the way UCSB has defeated zones in the past.  Hopefully the loss wakes the Gauchos up, because it's go time.  UCSB is done with, arguably, the bottom 3 teams of the conference.  The Gauchos have just one game remaining vs. a team with an overall losing record.  UCSB had a chance to be two games clear of the field; instead, they are just 2 games ahead of 6th-place UC Davis.

No question about it.  The Beach (14-10, 8-4) are the hottest team in the conference.  Long Beach State has won 6 straight games, including an overtime win at home vs. UC Irvine and a sweep of Cal State Fullerton.  As Sparky mentioned above, Marcus Tsohonis has emerged as their go-to scorer.  They are plus plus in rebounding with the Toures and still play with that slightly out-of-control feel.  Andre Kelly will likely need to shut down Lassina on the inside while Miles Norris will need to contend with the more rangy Aboubacar.  This would be the perfect team to zone since they don't shoot well from outside, but we'll have to settle for the Gauchos playing some pack-line defense and liberally switching.

UCSB-Long Beach State History
Long Beach State leads the series 71-64.
Recent games
March 11, 2022: L 64-67 at BWT, Henderson, NV
February 19, 2022: W 84-71 at Santa Barbara
January 13, 2022: L 58-65 at Long Beach
March 11, 2021: W 95-87 at BWT, Paradise, NV
February 1, 2020: W 87-62 at Long Beach
January 11, 2020: L 52-55 at Santa Barbara
February 28, 2019: L 64-69 at Santa Barbara
January 26, 2019: W 82-71 at Long Beach
March 1, 2018: L 69-70 at Santa Barbara
February 15, 2018: W 80-70 at Long Beach

The Arena
Walter Pyramid
Capacity: 4,000
It is one of just four true pyramid-shaped buildings in the U.S.  Joe Pasternack is 3-1 in visits to Long Beach.

Head Coach
Dan Monson
overall: 421-375 (.529)
Long Beach State: 251-252 (.499)
Monson is in his 16th season at Long Beach.  He has 4 Big West regular-season titles and 1 Big West Tournament title.  He famously took Gonzaga to the Elite Eight in his 2nd and final season in Spokane in 1998-99, parlaying that run into a job at Minnesota.  The Gophers only made the NCAA Tournament once under Monson's tutelage and he resigned seven games into the 2006-07 season.  Monson's father is Don Monson, who coached men's basketball at Idaho when Monson was there playing football.

Long Beach State Roster
Marcus Tsohonis #0 JR G, 6-3 185, Portland, OR -- 15.7 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 1.8 Ast
Lassina Traore #23 SO F, 6-9 215, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire -- 11.8 Pts, 11.0 Reb, 1.1 Ast
Joel Murray #11 SR G, 6-0 170, Rowlett, TX -- 15.7 Pts, 3.9 Reb, 3.8 Ast
Aboubacar Traore #25 SO G, 6-5 190, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire -- 9.9 Pts, 8.9 Reb, 2.9 Ast
AJ George #10 FR F, 6-6 190, Fresno, CA -- 7.6 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 0.9 Ast
Tone Hunter #21 SO G, 6-1 160, Las Vegas, NV -- 7.3 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 2.8 Ast
Jadon Jones #12 SO G, 6-5 190, Cerritos, CA -- 7.9 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 1.9 Ast
Amari Stroud #1 JR F, 6-10 210, Fresno, CA -- 4.8 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 0.6 Ast
Tobias Rotegaard #33 SO F, 6-7 200, Kongsberg, Norway -- 3.7 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Chayce Polynice #13 JR C, 6-11 230, Van Nuys, CA -- 3.7 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 0.4 Ast
Maddox Monson #3 FR G, 6-2 180, Los Alamitos, CA -- 1.0 Pts, 0.1 Reb, 0.1 Ast
Jeffrey Yan #40 JR C, 6-9 275, Shanghai, China -- 1.1 Pts, 0.6 Reb, 0.1 Ast
Jason Hart #5 FR G, 6-2 175, Granada Hills, CA -- 0.0 Pts, 0.2 Reb, 0.2 Ast

UCSB Roster
Ajay Mitchell #13 SO G, 6-4 180, Sainte Marie Namur (Belgium) -- 15.5 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 4.7 Ast
Miles Norris #5 SR F, 6-10 220, San Diego, CA -- 13.8 Pts, 6.4 Reb, 1.4 Ast
Andre Kelly #2 SR F, 6-8 255, Stockton, CA -- 9.1 Pts, 6.4 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Josh Pierre-Louis #1 SR G, 6-4 185, Plainfield, NJ -- 9.3 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 2.1 Ast
Cole Anderson #4 SO G, 6-4 185, Fresno, CA -- 7.2 Pts, 1.1 Reb, 0.7 Ast
Ajare Sanni #3 SR G, 6-3 170, Houston, TX -- 6.7 Pts, 2.1 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Calvin Wishart #10 SR G, 6-1 180, Delano, MN -- 6.3 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 2.6 Ast
Koat Keat Tong #00 FR F, 6-9 215, Bentiu, South Sudan -- 1.6 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Jakov Kukic #14 JR F, 6-10 230, Split, Croatia -- 1.5 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 0.1 Ast
Evans Kipruto #12 JR F, 6-8 250, Nairobi, Kenya -- 1.0 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Matija Belic #32 FR G, 6-7 205, Belgrade, Serbia -- 0.5 Pts, 0.9 Reb, 0.3 Ast
David Pickles #40 SO F, 6-10 235, Seattle, WA -- 1.5 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Gage Gomez #50 JR G, 6-3 190, Arroyo Grande, CA -- 0.4 Pts, 0.4 Reb, 0.4 Ast
Ariel Bland #23 SO F, 6-7 215, Eden Prairie, MN -- 0.0 Pts, 1.5 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Henry Hartwell #51 FR G, 6-5 180, Oceanside, CA -- 0.0 Pts, 0.5 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Max Sheldon #53 SO G, 5-11 180, Santa Barbara, CA -- 0.0 Pts, 0.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast
 
Long Beach State National Ranking Outliers
Team

• Assists per game: 73 (14.9)
• Effective FG percentage: 290 (.483)
• Fastbreak Points: 22 (14.17)
• Field Goal percentage Defense: 52 (.410)
• Free Throw Attempts per game: 64 (20.4)
• Free Throw percentage: 206 (.665)
• Rebound Margin: 13 (+7.4)
• Rebounds (Defensive) per game: 8 (28.79)
• Rebounds (Offensive) per game: 3 (13.96)
• Rebounds per game: 2 (42.75)
• Scoring Defense: 284 (73.7)
• Scoring Offense: 58 (77.0)
• Three Point Attempts per game: 345 (15.3)
• Three Point percentage: 345 (.285)
• Three Pointers per game: 348 (4.4)
• Turnovers per game: 280 (13.8)

Players

• Aboubacar Traore -- Assists: 341 (70), Double Doubles: 41 (8), Rebounds: 37 (214), Rebounds (Defensive) per game: 109 (5.46), Rebounds (Offensive) per game: 18 (3.46), Rebounds per game: 44 (8.9)
• Jadon Jones -- Blocks per game: 279 (0.89), Steals: 343 (30), Steals per game: 166 (1.58)
• Lassina Traore -- Double Doubles: 3 (14), Field Goal percentage: 85 (.519), Field Goals: 260 (121), Rebounds: 4 (265), Rebounds (Defensive) per game: 12 (7.46), Rebounds (Offensive) per game: 14 (3.58), Rebounds per game: 5 (11.0)
• Marcus Tsohonis -- Field Goal Attempts: 258 (268), Field Goal percentage: 304 (.410), Free Throw percentage: 344 (.722), Points per game: 192 (15.7)

UCSB National Ranking Outliers
Team

• Effective FG percentage: 49 (.539)
• Field Goal percentage: 15 (.487)
• Rebound Margin: 43 (+4.9)
• Scoring Defense: 22 (62.4)
• Scoring Margin: 66 (+8.0)
• Three Point Attempts per game: 339 (16.3)
• Three Pointers per game: 327 (5.5)
• Winning percentage: 14 (.818)

Players

• Ajay Mitchell -- Assist/Turnover ratio: 104 (1.98), Assists: 91 (103), Assists per game: 70 (4.7), Field Goal percentage: 103 (.506), Field Goals: 305 (118), Free Throw attempts: 113 (116), Free Throw percentage: 198 (.793), Free Throws: 89 (92), Minutes per game: 289 (32:22), Points: 275 (341), Points per game: 206 (15.5), Steals: 234 (33), Steals per game: 195 (1.50)
• Miles Norris -- Blocks: 230 (22), Blocks per game: 212 (1.00), Double Doubles: 136 (4), Field Goal percentage: 106 (.505), Minutes per game: 291 (32:20), Rebounds: 312 (141), Rebounds (Offensive) per game: 224 (2.18), Rebounds per game: 255 (6.4)
• Andre Kelly -- Blocks: 276 (20), Blocks per game: 269 (0.91), Double Doubles: 206 (3), Rebounds: 312 (141), Rebounds (Defensive) per game: 154 (5.09), Rebounds per game: 255 (6.4)
• Josh Pierre-Louis -- Steals: 304 (31), Steals per game: 171 (1.55)

Prediction
Lots of question marks surrounding the Gauchos right now.  Will they bounce back from a shocking loss?  Will they play up to their competition?  Is JPL going to play?  Long Beach State 74, UCSB 70

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