Long Beach State University (LBSU), founded in 1949, is part of the 23 campus Cal State system. They are a founding member of the Big West, which currently numbers 11 schools (UCSB, UC Riverside, UC Davis, UCI, UCSD, CSUF, CSUN, CSU Bakersfield, Hawaii, Cal Poly). The Beach was nicknamed the 49ers, due to its origin a century after the California Gold Rush, and their mascot was Prospector Pete. In a cancel culture move, Pete (said to represent an era of genocide against indigenous) was replaced by a fictional shark mascot named Elbee – yeah really.
LBSU won the 2020-21 regular season title and are predicted 3rd this season. They enter 4-5 (wins over Cal Baptist, St. Katherine, Oakland (MI), Vermont and losses to ucla, Montana St, North Texas, Utah Valley and Sacramento St.). USC is 6-1 all-time against the Beach, (2013 loss (72-71) in the Pyramid). They are a fast-paced offense, ranking 16th nationally in avg tempo (KenPom) and lead the Big West in steals and TO margin. Last season’s Big West scoring leader Joel Muray leads with 14.4 ppg and 4.4 assists. Marcus Tsohonis averages 12.9 ppg and Defensive POY Jadon Jones 9.7. Aboubacar Traore leads at 8.2 rebs/game.
Fun Facts: Jason Hart Jr. is son of the former SC asst, Maddox Monson is son of head coach Don and Chayce Polynice is son of former NBA player Olden. Joshua Morgan is a 2020 transfer from LBSU and 2013 CA Gatorade HS POY Roschon Prince was a 2014 transfer from SC to LBSU.
The Founder’s Room was half-empty, although the usual suspects are there, including the waiter with Harry Potter tats. I hurry thru dinner to get to the USC embossed waffles, which seem to be a staple this season -yum
The flat screens are showing the No.18 bruins pounding the No.20 Maryland Terps in College Park. They’re up 30 at half, despite Tyger Campbell only 5 mins (2 fouls) and won by 27, shocking east coast media. They look good and will be a tough match up for us.
An Asst AD recaps recent events like our EIGHTH Heisman Trophy win and informs us the 9-0 WOT play cross-town rival No. 15 ucla Thursday at Galen. He urges everyone to come out and support the team! He introduces Asst. Coach Jay Morris, who was visiting with DJ Malski before going up (recall that Malski was the DJ at Morris’ wedding).
Jay is familiar with The Beach, starting his coaching career there. He knows their coaches and some players. LBSU is an inside oriented team, averaging >40 ppg in the paint (2nd in nation % of points from 2-pointers). The game plan is to pack the lane and force outside shots, where they make only 4 threes per game (30% 3FGs). PG Joel Murray can really turn on the jets, SC needs to run back on defense, even after made baskets, or Murray will be there when you turn.
Morris notes the same starting lineup - Josh, Boogie, Drew, Tre and Kobe, with Reese off the bench, where he knows his role is to score. He says the key to winning on offense will be hitting threes. He stated this team can really shoot (the best he’s seen 15 yrs of coaching) and he is at a loss as to why it is not translating from practice to games (we all are Coach!). He says “one day the lid is going to come off the basket” and the shots will fall. This needs to happen soon as our toughest remaining non-conference opponent No. 19 Auburn (9-1, only loss to Memphis) comes to Galen on Sunday at 2:30 pm. He says to bring your family, your friends, their friends to pack the arena - most students have left for Christmas break.
During Q&A, he is asked about getting Oziyah Sellers shots in the games. If he is that great of a shooter, shouldn’t we fast forward his development? He says they need to find the right opportunities, maybe tonight. If SC grabs an early lead, there will be more playing time for bench players.
Any updates on Vince and why the coaches are so sure he will be playing soon? He says that question is above his pay grade, but that’s his second hand info from the doctors.
He is asked whether Jason Hart, Jr starts for LBSU. Morris says Jason is a freshman and is still transitioning to the college game (scoreless in 5 games, only 13 mins). His situation is similar to Oziyah’s, in that their coaches are looking for opportunities to ease him into games.
Entering the arena, the absence of the students due to Finals or Christmas break, is felt (only 20% full). One student is drawing the attention of the camera man and is shown on the big screen with sunglasses that flash “GO” on one lens and “SC” on the other. Where can I find a pair of those, anyone know? Haha. DJ Malski will have to work extra hard to get the crowd going tonight. No celebrity sightings among the small crowd. Plenty of Beach fans here repping their school.
The small SC Basketball Band helps provide atmosphere, along with the Song Girls, Dance Force and Spirit Squad, who for the first time perform a routine. I think back to when AD Lynn Swann banned the Song Girls from basketball games because he felt it was too much to have both them and the Dance Force there. How to win friends and influence people Lynn? Geez! I guess he didn’t care about the fans and the importance of the Song Girls to the whole SC aura.
I snap out of my reverie to watch the team warm up. Vince looks very athletic and natural out there. Has really good touch in the midrange and out at the 3-pt arc. I can't wait until he is cleared to play, this team REALLY needs him for his length, rebounding and rim protection.
USC student Ariel Davis gives a nice rendition of the national anthem and we are ready for tipoff.
The Trojans are off to a good start, up 7-0 at the 16:52 mark and 20-8 at 12:41. Beach closes to within 7 pts 30-23 at 6:03, before the Trojans halt the rally and enter the locker room with a 43-32 lead.
The Trojans have played better offense recently, the ball movement is much better and the younger players more involved. Ball movement produces more open shots, and SC needs to start making those shots. In the first half, everyone was engaged and they had 13 of their season high 24 assists. For the game 75% of their 32 made baskets came off assists, that is how they need to play – move the ball and hit the open shots.
At halftime AD Mike Bohn (fresh off his NYC trip to witness his hiring coup of Lincoln Riley turn into an 8th Heisman, courtesy of Caleb Williams) is taking photos with Rayah Marshall from the women’s basketball team. DJ Malski joins them. Rayah returned to her seat in a row filled with WOT players Kadi Sissoko, Destiny Littleton, Taylor Bigby, Bella Perkins and others.
SC would win this game 88-78 and looked good on offense, shooting 49.2% FGs, 44% 3FGs (season high 11 makes) and 68.4% at the FT line (finishing 12-12 after a 1-7 (14%) start). Not the way you draw it up, but they hit FTs when it mattered.
SC committed 12 TOs, with still an excellent 2 to 1 Assists/TO ratio, had 7 steals, 8 blocks, 4 by Josh (37 total or 3.4/game -3rd in nation). However, he has not rebounded like SC needs him to, grabbing 65 (5.9 rpg), which is 22 boards behind team leader Drew Peterson’s 87 (7.9 rpg). SC is not a good rebounding team and needs everyone to crash the boards. In this game they were outrebounded 50-32, giving up an absurd 22 offensive rebounds! As a team SC has grabbed 401 (36.5 rpg) rebs and yielded 419 (38.1 rpg). This needs to get fixed. It will hinder them in conference if it doesn’t. Did I say we REALLY need Vince?!
Individually, the Trojans had five players score in double figures, led by career performances of 20 pts each by Tre White (9-14 FGs, 2-3 3FGs) and Reese off the bench (8-12 FGs, 2-4 3FGs, 2-2 FTs). Drew added 15 pts (5-12 FGs, 1-5 3FGs, 4-5 FTs), Kobe had 14 (5-6 FGs, 2-3 3FGs, 2-3 FTs) and Boogie had an inefficient 11 pts (3-13 FGs, 3-9 3FGs, 2-2 FTs). Josh added 5 pts and Malik had 3 pts to close the scoring. If we can score like this, we can win a lot of conference games, if we can take care of our defensive board, where we are allowing too many offensive boards, leading to extra shots for opponents. LBSU had 8 more shot attempts than SC in this game, turning 22 offensive boards into 27 second chance points. SC had 12 second chance points. This does not bode well for us as we start to face tougher teams.
We played ranked Tennessee and Wisconsin tough and easily could have won both games, but we also struggle against lesser competition. Is it a case of us playing to the level of the competition or are we just not that good? We are a work in progress and starting to incorporate new players and gel as a team.
While the stars of this game were Tre and Reese, with a nod to Kobe, I really have to shout out Drew’s performance this game and really this season. In this game he quietly scored 15 pts and led the team with 10 rebounds and 7 assists (with only 1 TO)! For the season Drew is at 13.9 ppg (second to Boogie’s 14.1), leads in rebounding at 7.9 rpg (3rd in Pac-12 behind Arizona’s Ballo and Tubelis) and assists at 6.0 apg (2nd in Pac-12 to Kerr Krisa). Drew is a versatile stat sheet stuffer, who’s Swiss Army knife game may land him on an NBA roster in the upcoming draft.
Who’s next for SC? The SEC’s Auburn Tigers, 9-1, with wins over George Mason, USF, Winthrop, Texas Southern, Bradley, Northwestern, Saint Louis, Colgate, Georgia State and loss to Memphis in the Holiday Hoopsgiving tourney.
They have balanced scoring with 4 players averaging better than 9 ppg, led by Wendell Green Jr (13.8 ppg, 42% FGs), Johni Broome (11.1 ppg, 46.1% FGs), KD Johnson (10.9 ppg, 38.5 FGs) and Jaylin Williams (9.3 ppg, 46.3 FGs). Overall Auburn is only shooting 43.4% FGs, but holding the opposition to 38.3%. They outrebound their opponents 39.4 rpg to 36.2 rpg.
Last year 28-6 Auburn won the SEC. We would have played them in the NCAA tournament, if we had beaten Miami. Let’s see how we match up, I think we can win this one.
Fight on SC! Beat the Tigers!
LBSU won the 2020-21 regular season title and are predicted 3rd this season. They enter 4-5 (wins over Cal Baptist, St. Katherine, Oakland (MI), Vermont and losses to ucla, Montana St, North Texas, Utah Valley and Sacramento St.). USC is 6-1 all-time against the Beach, (2013 loss (72-71) in the Pyramid). They are a fast-paced offense, ranking 16th nationally in avg tempo (KenPom) and lead the Big West in steals and TO margin. Last season’s Big West scoring leader Joel Muray leads with 14.4 ppg and 4.4 assists. Marcus Tsohonis averages 12.9 ppg and Defensive POY Jadon Jones 9.7. Aboubacar Traore leads at 8.2 rebs/game.
Fun Facts: Jason Hart Jr. is son of the former SC asst, Maddox Monson is son of head coach Don and Chayce Polynice is son of former NBA player Olden. Joshua Morgan is a 2020 transfer from LBSU and 2013 CA Gatorade HS POY Roschon Prince was a 2014 transfer from SC to LBSU.
The Founder’s Room was half-empty, although the usual suspects are there, including the waiter with Harry Potter tats. I hurry thru dinner to get to the USC embossed waffles, which seem to be a staple this season -yum
The flat screens are showing the No.18 bruins pounding the No.20 Maryland Terps in College Park. They’re up 30 at half, despite Tyger Campbell only 5 mins (2 fouls) and won by 27, shocking east coast media. They look good and will be a tough match up for us.
An Asst AD recaps recent events like our EIGHTH Heisman Trophy win and informs us the 9-0 WOT play cross-town rival No. 15 ucla Thursday at Galen. He urges everyone to come out and support the team! He introduces Asst. Coach Jay Morris, who was visiting with DJ Malski before going up (recall that Malski was the DJ at Morris’ wedding).
Jay is familiar with The Beach, starting his coaching career there. He knows their coaches and some players. LBSU is an inside oriented team, averaging >40 ppg in the paint (2nd in nation % of points from 2-pointers). The game plan is to pack the lane and force outside shots, where they make only 4 threes per game (30% 3FGs). PG Joel Murray can really turn on the jets, SC needs to run back on defense, even after made baskets, or Murray will be there when you turn.
Morris notes the same starting lineup - Josh, Boogie, Drew, Tre and Kobe, with Reese off the bench, where he knows his role is to score. He says the key to winning on offense will be hitting threes. He stated this team can really shoot (the best he’s seen 15 yrs of coaching) and he is at a loss as to why it is not translating from practice to games (we all are Coach!). He says “one day the lid is going to come off the basket” and the shots will fall. This needs to happen soon as our toughest remaining non-conference opponent No. 19 Auburn (9-1, only loss to Memphis) comes to Galen on Sunday at 2:30 pm. He says to bring your family, your friends, their friends to pack the arena - most students have left for Christmas break.
During Q&A, he is asked about getting Oziyah Sellers shots in the games. If he is that great of a shooter, shouldn’t we fast forward his development? He says they need to find the right opportunities, maybe tonight. If SC grabs an early lead, there will be more playing time for bench players.
Any updates on Vince and why the coaches are so sure he will be playing soon? He says that question is above his pay grade, but that’s his second hand info from the doctors.
He is asked whether Jason Hart, Jr starts for LBSU. Morris says Jason is a freshman and is still transitioning to the college game (scoreless in 5 games, only 13 mins). His situation is similar to Oziyah’s, in that their coaches are looking for opportunities to ease him into games.
Entering the arena, the absence of the students due to Finals or Christmas break, is felt (only 20% full). One student is drawing the attention of the camera man and is shown on the big screen with sunglasses that flash “GO” on one lens and “SC” on the other. Where can I find a pair of those, anyone know? Haha. DJ Malski will have to work extra hard to get the crowd going tonight. No celebrity sightings among the small crowd. Plenty of Beach fans here repping their school.
The small SC Basketball Band helps provide atmosphere, along with the Song Girls, Dance Force and Spirit Squad, who for the first time perform a routine. I think back to when AD Lynn Swann banned the Song Girls from basketball games because he felt it was too much to have both them and the Dance Force there. How to win friends and influence people Lynn? Geez! I guess he didn’t care about the fans and the importance of the Song Girls to the whole SC aura.
I snap out of my reverie to watch the team warm up. Vince looks very athletic and natural out there. Has really good touch in the midrange and out at the 3-pt arc. I can't wait until he is cleared to play, this team REALLY needs him for his length, rebounding and rim protection.
USC student Ariel Davis gives a nice rendition of the national anthem and we are ready for tipoff.
The Trojans are off to a good start, up 7-0 at the 16:52 mark and 20-8 at 12:41. Beach closes to within 7 pts 30-23 at 6:03, before the Trojans halt the rally and enter the locker room with a 43-32 lead.
The Trojans have played better offense recently, the ball movement is much better and the younger players more involved. Ball movement produces more open shots, and SC needs to start making those shots. In the first half, everyone was engaged and they had 13 of their season high 24 assists. For the game 75% of their 32 made baskets came off assists, that is how they need to play – move the ball and hit the open shots.
At halftime AD Mike Bohn (fresh off his NYC trip to witness his hiring coup of Lincoln Riley turn into an 8th Heisman, courtesy of Caleb Williams) is taking photos with Rayah Marshall from the women’s basketball team. DJ Malski joins them. Rayah returned to her seat in a row filled with WOT players Kadi Sissoko, Destiny Littleton, Taylor Bigby, Bella Perkins and others.
SC would win this game 88-78 and looked good on offense, shooting 49.2% FGs, 44% 3FGs (season high 11 makes) and 68.4% at the FT line (finishing 12-12 after a 1-7 (14%) start). Not the way you draw it up, but they hit FTs when it mattered.
SC committed 12 TOs, with still an excellent 2 to 1 Assists/TO ratio, had 7 steals, 8 blocks, 4 by Josh (37 total or 3.4/game -3rd in nation). However, he has not rebounded like SC needs him to, grabbing 65 (5.9 rpg), which is 22 boards behind team leader Drew Peterson’s 87 (7.9 rpg). SC is not a good rebounding team and needs everyone to crash the boards. In this game they were outrebounded 50-32, giving up an absurd 22 offensive rebounds! As a team SC has grabbed 401 (36.5 rpg) rebs and yielded 419 (38.1 rpg). This needs to get fixed. It will hinder them in conference if it doesn’t. Did I say we REALLY need Vince?!
Individually, the Trojans had five players score in double figures, led by career performances of 20 pts each by Tre White (9-14 FGs, 2-3 3FGs) and Reese off the bench (8-12 FGs, 2-4 3FGs, 2-2 FTs). Drew added 15 pts (5-12 FGs, 1-5 3FGs, 4-5 FTs), Kobe had 14 (5-6 FGs, 2-3 3FGs, 2-3 FTs) and Boogie had an inefficient 11 pts (3-13 FGs, 3-9 3FGs, 2-2 FTs). Josh added 5 pts and Malik had 3 pts to close the scoring. If we can score like this, we can win a lot of conference games, if we can take care of our defensive board, where we are allowing too many offensive boards, leading to extra shots for opponents. LBSU had 8 more shot attempts than SC in this game, turning 22 offensive boards into 27 second chance points. SC had 12 second chance points. This does not bode well for us as we start to face tougher teams.
We played ranked Tennessee and Wisconsin tough and easily could have won both games, but we also struggle against lesser competition. Is it a case of us playing to the level of the competition or are we just not that good? We are a work in progress and starting to incorporate new players and gel as a team.
While the stars of this game were Tre and Reese, with a nod to Kobe, I really have to shout out Drew’s performance this game and really this season. In this game he quietly scored 15 pts and led the team with 10 rebounds and 7 assists (with only 1 TO)! For the season Drew is at 13.9 ppg (second to Boogie’s 14.1), leads in rebounding at 7.9 rpg (3rd in Pac-12 behind Arizona’s Ballo and Tubelis) and assists at 6.0 apg (2nd in Pac-12 to Kerr Krisa). Drew is a versatile stat sheet stuffer, who’s Swiss Army knife game may land him on an NBA roster in the upcoming draft.
Who’s next for SC? The SEC’s Auburn Tigers, 9-1, with wins over George Mason, USF, Winthrop, Texas Southern, Bradley, Northwestern, Saint Louis, Colgate, Georgia State and loss to Memphis in the Holiday Hoopsgiving tourney.
They have balanced scoring with 4 players averaging better than 9 ppg, led by Wendell Green Jr (13.8 ppg, 42% FGs), Johni Broome (11.1 ppg, 46.1% FGs), KD Johnson (10.9 ppg, 38.5 FGs) and Jaylin Williams (9.3 ppg, 46.3 FGs). Overall Auburn is only shooting 43.4% FGs, but holding the opposition to 38.3%. They outrebound their opponents 39.4 rpg to 36.2 rpg.
Last year 28-6 Auburn won the SEC. We would have played them in the NCAA tournament, if we had beaten Miami. Let’s see how we match up, I think we can win this one.
Fight on SC! Beat the Tigers!
