By Reggie Gatlin-Holt

GAME NOTES-NCAA FIRST ROUND

https://longbeachstate.com/documents/2024/3/18/36_Arizona__NCAA_.pdf

The Beach won the Big West Championship

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Long Beach State will make its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance, facing the Arizona Wildcats from Salt Lake City at 11 a.m. PT on Thursday, March 21 as one of the earlier games to kick off everyone’s favorite time of year, March Madness.

Game:………………. (15) Long Beach State vs. (2) #9 Arizona
Date:…………………………………….. Thursday, March 21, 2024
Time:…………………………………………………………….. Noon MT
Location:……………………………………….. Salt Lake City, Utah
Arena:…………………………………………. Delta Center (20,000)
TV:………………………………………………………………………. TBS
TV Talent: Brad Nessler, Brendan Haywood, Dana Jacobson
Webcast:………………………………………. March Madness Live
Radio:……………………………. 22 West Radio, Westwood One
Live Stats:………………………………………. beachlivestats.com

RIGHT AWAY
• Aboubacar Traore was named the Big West Championship Most Outstanding Player after averaging 13.0 points, 10.7 rebounds and 8.6 assists over three games as the Beach claimed their spot with a 74-70 win over UC Davis. Lassina Traore and Marcus Tsohonis shared the scoring honors in the title game, both with 25 points for the Beach.

• Aboubcar Traore had a memorable night to lead LBSU to a second round win over UC Riverside, recording the first triple-double in Big West Championship history and just the second-ever in Beach history. With 12 points, 11 rebounds and a LBSU tournament record 13 assists, Traore made it all happen while Lassina Traore had his 15th double-double of the season,

WHAT’S AT STAKE
• Long Beach State has twice advanced to the Elite Eight, last in 1972 behind legends Ed Ratleff on the court and Jerry Tarkanian on the bench, but has not won a game in the tourney since 1973. LBSU is returning to March Madness for the first time since the 2011-12 season, its second trip under Dan Monson.

• Executive Director of Athletics Bobby Smitheran and Dan Monson announced on Monday, March 11 that the pair agreed to a mutual parting of ways, and Monson will be departing from Long Beach State at the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign.  The story that has captured the nation’s attention as the Beach has gone on an epic run to represent the Big West.

• But about those 15 seeds – Arizona is the only program in NCAA Tournament history to twice lose to a 15 seed as a 2; the first coming in 1993 before falling last season to Princeton.

WELCOME TO THE BEACH
• Long Beach State has officially changed the nickname for all sports other than baseball to Beach with the NCAA. Please do not refer to Long Beach State Basketball as the 49ers at any time.

NEWS & NOTES
• Long Beach State stole the national spotlight with a 84-79 OT win on the road at USC in Bronny James’ first collegiate game with LeBron James sitting courtside. Senior Marcus Tsohonis led the team with 28 points while Jadon Jones added 18 in the win over the Trojans, the first since 2013 for LBSU and the first since 1987 in Los Angeles.

• Marcus Tsohonis has brought his best against the best, scoring 35 points in a win at Michigan and 28 in win at USC. The senior passed 1,000 career points scored across stretches at Washington, VCU and Long Beach State and has twice scored 30 or more in two seasons at LBSU. The team’s leading scorer at 17.6 points per game, Tsohonis set a program record with 46 points in a triple overtime win at UCSD last season.

• Long Beach State is now 13-1 when scoring 80 or more points this season, and are averaging just under that total this season at 77.7 points per game as a team behind five players averaging double figures in Tsohonis, Jadon Jones, Lassina Traore, Aboubacar Traore and AJ George.

• The Beach closed the non-conference schedule with a record of 8-4. That was the best winning percentage for the Beach since a 7-4 record in the 2006-07 NCAA tournament season, and the most wins since an 8-3 non-conference in 1999-2000.

• The Beach returned all five starters from 2022-23 and returned nine letterwinners. That depth has paid off as Long Beach State has grabbed a win with 11 different starting lineups, tied for the most in Division I this season.

• Long Beach State plays a fast, exciting brand of basketball showcased by the team’s tempo, which is one of the quickest in the nation, currently 29th in the country as ranked by Ken Pomeroy.

• Coming out of the Ivory Coast, Long Beach State’s dynamic inside duo of Aboubacar Traore and Lassina Traore have ranked 1 and 2 in the rebounding for the Big West in each of the last two seasons. Reunited over 7,000 miles apart from where they met as youth national teammates and friends in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the duo have served as the starting frontcourt in the majority of games they have played together at  LBSU. Both were named All-Big West for a second straight season.

PLAYER NOTES
• Long Beach State upset the regular season champions UC Irvine in the Big West Championship semifinals in large part because of another historic performance from Aboubacar Traore. Traore score 20 points with 8 rebounds and 7 assists, going 12-of-13 from the line and passing 1,000 career points scored as a junior, becoming the 26th player in program history to reach the milestone.

• Aboubacar Troare became the third player in program history to record 800 career rebounds and currently ranks 3rd at the Beach with 838 career rebounds. He also ranks 3rd in career blocked shots, and is rounding into a nightly triple-double threat. Those all-around stats have placed him with a legendary trio of Beach players who have scored 1,000 points, grabbed 500 rebounds and made 300 assists in their career.

• Aboubacar Traore is also one of just two players to record 100 steals and 100 blocks in his career, and ranks second in blocked shots at Long Beach State. Jadon Jones needs just six blocks to join that elite defensive group.

• In the NCAA, only Junior Aboubacar Traore and Rice 5th year senior Max Fielder have recorded 1,000 points, 800 rebounds, 300 assists, 100 steals and 100 blocks in their careers.

• Aboubacar Traore, who set the modern-era record at LBSU with 23 rebounds in a game in 2021-22, and is averaging a new high of 12.0 points per game as a junior while bringing in 8.3 rebounds per game and leading the team in assists, steals and blocks, one of just four players in the NCAA to lead a team in those three categories. His 22 rebounds against Cal State Fullerton earlier this season are tied for the second-most in a regulation game in Division I this year.

• Aboubacar Traore repeated as the Best Hustle Player in the Big West and earned First Team All-Big West honors for his efforts this season. In conference play, Traore averaged 12.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists and ranked in the Top 10 in rebounding, assists, blocks and steals throughout the year.

• Other honorees included Lassina Traore, who earned Second Team honors as an All-Big West selection twice in two years, while senior Marcus Tsohonis was named Honorable Mention after ranking eighth in the league in scoring during Big West action.

• Lassina Traore earned Second Team All-Big West honors in 2023-24, All-Big West for the second year in a row after a First Team All-Big West and was chosen the Big West Newcomer of the Year after a dominant first season at the Beach. Traore also earned NABC All-District honors, finishing the season with 17 double-doubles which ranked 9th in the nation.

• In 2023-24 Lassina Traore is one of just 17 players in the NCAA to average a double-double with 21.1 points and 10.4 rebounds per game and has 15 double-doubles this season, leading the Big West, in front of Aboubcar who has 8 in second place.

• Lassina Traore is chasing a pair of single-season records. With six rebounds against Arizona the junior would claim the single season rebounding record at Long Beach State, and is two away from matching his own high along with Long Beach State Hall of Famer TJ Robinson with 17 double-doubles in one season.

• Junior Jadon Jones has raised his scoring average to 12.2 points per game and is shooting nearly 40% from three this season, and became the 25th player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Jones now ranks 17th all-time in scoring at Long Beach State.

• The 2021-22 Big West Defensive Player of the Year, Jadon Jones has 58 steals and 33 blocks as a strong defensive presence while continuing to be a major threat from three. Averaging 12.2 points per game, Jones currently ranks 3rd in program history with 216 made 3-pointers in his career and joined Jibril Hodges, Greg Plater, Casper Ware and Lucious Harris as the only LBSU players to have made 200 career 3-pointers.

• Jones ranks sixth in career blocks and seventh in steals at Long Beach State, and closed the regular season by passing a recent Beach legend in Gabe Levin who commanded the post for three seasons ending in 2017-18 and is competing professionally in the NBA G-League to sit 17th in career scoring at LBSU.

• After an impressive debut season last year as a redshirt freshman, AJ George continues to play a major role for the Beach as a sophomore. After starting 25 games a year ago, George is averaging 10.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game as a consistent presence in the rotation. Starting 13 games in Big West play, George lifted his scoring average to 11.6 points per game in league action, including a career-high 28 points at CSU Bakersfield.

• Graduate transfer Messiah Thompson has also given the Beach a lift at the point guard position. Thompson is averaging 5.9 points per game, providing more quickness and experience as a great shooter and ball-handler. In his second start of the season at Cal Poly, Thompson scored nine points and passed 1,000 Division I points scored over stops at Campbell, Alabama A&M and the Beach.

• Senior Amari Stroud continues to play a big role off the bench. Stroud played a major role in each of the first two games of the Big West Championship, scoring 9 points with 5 rebounds against UC Riverside, before scoring 11 points with three blocks in Long Beach State’s upset of UC Irvine. A senior, Stroud is an outstanding defender and active big man who complements the up-tempo pace favored by the team.

• Redshirt Freshman Jason Hart Jr. has emerged as a strong depth option at the point for the Beach, joining the rotation and putting up career highs of 6 points and 5 rebounds against Life Pacific after a strong outing at home against Sacramento State. His defensive effort was a big part in Long Beach State’s comeback win on the road at UC Riverside, and made his first start against UCSB making a career-high five assists.

• Also playing in the point rotation is another transfer in Isa Silva. Silva was a consensus national Top 100 recruit coming out of Jesuit High School in Sacramento two seasons a year ago, and comes to the Beach after two years in the rotation with Stanford, playing 64 games with the Cardinal. This season, Silva started the first 14 games of the year and is averaging 2.5 points per game.

• Chayce Polynice also returned to action after missing the first three games of the season at Michigan, providing another crucial avenue of post depth for the Beach. Poylnice averaged 3.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per game with pair of double-figure scoring contests last season.

• Among the reserves, Varick Lewis has played in 30 games as a true freshman, making 13 3-pointers. Jeffrey Yan has played in over 50 games as he enters his sixth year at the Beach, bringing a veteran presence to Long Beach State’s forward depth. Son of head coach Dan Monson, Maddox Monson has also featured this season in a depth role, making the biggest impact at UC San Diego, where he made the steal and assist leading to AJ George’s game-winner in triple overtime in 2022-23.

THIS AND THAT
• Long Beach State continues to have an outstanding record in the Walter Pyramid. Since the start of the 2008-09 season, the Beach has piled up a 137-46 record at home, winning nearly 80% of their games in the iconic building. Per Ken Pomeroy, Long Beach State also sports the second best home court advantage in the Big West.

• Head Coach Dan Monson is the winningest coach at Long Beach State, with more victories than basketball luminaries such as Jerry Tarkanian, Tex Winter, and Seth Greenberg who have also coached at the Beach. The Beach now has over 1,000 wins in program history, with Monson having won over 250 of those games. Monson also captured his 400th career win over three stops at Gonzaga, Minnesota and the Beach on 2/8/23 at home against Cal State Fullerton. Monson also claimed his fourth Big West Coach of the Year award for his efforts in leading the Beach to the 2021-22 Big West regular season title.

• Long Beach State legend Larry Anderson has joined the coaching staff as the team’s third assistant. One of the “Fab Four” for the Beach that started for four straight years leading to the 2011-12 NCAA Tournament appearance, Anderson is the program’s steals record holder and ranks in the Top 10 in career scoring, rebounding and assists at LBSU as one of the best all-around players to ever put on the uniform at Long Beach State.

• The Monson family legacy continues here at the Beach, as a third generation of the family joins the coaching ranks. Dan Monson‘s father Don Monson was a Division I head coach as well, leading Idaho and Oregon. Now, in addition to Maddox Monson joining the program as a walk-on, MicGuire Monson is also collaborating with the coaching staff in 2022-23 as a Graduate Assistant.

• In terms of legacy, the Beach also has a pair of sons of NBA veterans on the team. Jason Hart Sr. was a standout point guard at Syracuse before a ten-year NBA career, and is currently the head coach of the NBA G-League Ignite. Olden Polynice, father of Chayce Polynice played college ball at Virginia and was a Top 10 NBA Draft Pick. Polynice then played for 15 years in the NBA, scoring over 8,000 career points with 7,000 career rebounds.

• Long Beach State added a pair of signees in the November window, welcoming point guard Kam Martin and big man Vianney Salatchoum as commitments. Martin is an exciting combo guard, a playmaker who can score from three levels. Salatchoum is an elite shot blocker who at 6-11 is having a breakout sophomore season at Panola CC.

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Cats Open 38th NCAA Tournament Against LBSU in Salt Lake City

GAME NOTES

https://arizonawildcats.com/documents/2024/3/20/Arizona-Notes-G34-NCAA-LBSU.pdf

SALT LAKE CITY –  The Arizona Wildcats will make their 38th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday when they take on Long Beach State at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The Wildcats are 58-36 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 9-2 in games played in Salt Lake City.

Thursday’s first round game starts at 11:00 a.m. MST on TBS with Brad Nessler, Brendan Haywood and Dana Jacboson on the call.

STARTING FIVE

1) Arizona is making its 38th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and has an on-court record of 58-36 (.617) in those appearances. The Wildcats are 2-2 under Tommy Lloyd.

2) This marks the seventh time Arizona has played in Salt Lake City as part of the NCAA Tournament (1991, 1993, 2000, 2003, 2013, 2017, 2024). UA is 9-2 in those appearances.

3) Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love leads Arizona in scoring (18.1 ppg). He’s set personal single-season highs in scoring, FG% (42.1%), rebounding (4.7), assist/turnover ratio (1.7) and steals (37). He has 86 3FG made this season, seventh-most in Arizona single-season history.

4) First Team All Pac-12 honoree Oumar Ballo has 18 double-doubles this season and 32 for his career, both totals rank fourth in Arizona history in their respective categories. For the season, he is averaging 13.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. Ballo needs one rebound to become the 11th player in Arizona history with 800 career rebounds.

5) Arizona won the Pac-12 regular season championship with a 15-5 record. It is the 27th Pac-12 title (reg. season + tournament)  in program history and the fourth under Lloyd.

NOTING THE WILDCATS

• Head coach Tommy Lloyd is 86-19 (.819) in his third season at Arizona. He is three wins shy of tying the NCAA record for wins by a first time head coach in his first three seasons.

• Arizona’s roster has played in a total of 30 NCAA Tournament games over their careers

• In NCAA Tournament play, Arizona is 4-4 in games played on March 21st, most recently a 73-58 win over Ohio State in 2015.

• The Wildcats are 17-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed.

• In two Pac-12 Tournament games, Arizona allowed 16 points to USC in the first half and 23 points to Oregon in the first half – the two fewest first half opponent totals of the season.

• Caleb Love is a semifinalist for the Wooden Award and the Naismith Trophy and a finalist for the Jerry West Award for the top shooting guard in the country.

• Arizona is one of three teams in the country with three players recording 110+ assists this season, joining BYU and Creighton.

• Senior Pelle Larsson earned Second Team All Pac-12 honors after averaging 13.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists in conference play. He also shot 51.35 from the floor in Pac-12 games and 38.5% from the 3-point line. He scored in double figures 25 of 33 games this season and was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Feb. 12 after helping the Wildcats sweep a road trip at Utah (27 points) and Colorado (18 points).

• Senior Keshad Johnson earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Team Honorable Mention accolades while also setting personal career highs in nearly every offensive category this season. He is averaging 11.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists while shooting 38.8% from the 3-point line. He has made 33 3FG this season after making a total of 28 in four years at San Diego State. Johnson has scored in double figures 22 out of 33 games this season at Arizona. In his four seasons, and 113 games, at San Diego State, he scored in double figures 25 times.

• Sophomore Kylan Boswell is tied for the team lead with 119 assists this season and leads the Wildcats with 45 steals. He is averaging 9.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 38.6% from the 3-point line and has a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.

• Freshman KJ Lewis was a Pac-12 All-Freshman Team Honorable Mention player this season. He led all scorers with 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the floor vs. USC at the Pac-12 Tournament. He also added six rebounds. His top two scoring games of the year have come in the last four games (18 pts at UCLA on 3/7/24). His 36 steals are tied for 10th-most by an Arizona freshman in program history.

• Sophomore Jaden Bradley is in his first season in Tucson after playing his freshman year at Alabama. Coming out of high school, his final two schools were Alabama and Arizona. While his numbers may not jump off the page (6.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists), it is his impact at the defensive end that is noteworthy. According to EvanMiya.com, Bradley is one of the top 10 players in the country in defensive impact on a game. Bradley has scored in double figures six times this season and in the last six games he is averaging 9.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and shooting 56.3% from the floor. His season high scoring output was a career-high 21 points against Arizona State on Feb. 17.

• Motiejus Krivas is averaging 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds while playing 12.5 minutes per game this season. The 7-foot-2 post player from Lithuania is also 49-63 (77.8%) at the free throw line and is shooting 54.8% from the floor. His top offensive game came on Nov. 17 when he scored 20 points against Belmont. He did not attempt a shot from the floor, but he had six rebounds and was a defensive force in the paint at UCLA on March 7.

ARIZONA IN SALT LAKE CITY
NCAA TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Arizona is 9-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Salt Lake City.

The Wildcats are 21-25 all-time in games played in SLC, including a 105-99 3-overtime thriller against the Utes this season.

March 14, 1991 – [2] Arizona defeats [15] St. Francis (PA), 93-80 (Huntsman Center)

March 16, 1991 – [2] Arizona defeats [10] BYU, 76-61 (Huntsman Center)

March 18, 1993 – [15] Santa Clara defeats [2] Arizona, 64-61 (Huntsman Center)

March 16, 2000 – [1] Arizona defeats [16] Jackson State, 71-47 (Huntsman Center)

March 18, 2000 – [8] Wisconsin defeats [1] Arizona, 66-59 (Huntsman Center)

March 20, 2003 – [1] Arizona defeats [16] Vermont, 80-51 (Huntsman Center)

March 22, 2003 – [1] Arizona defeats [9] Gonzaga, 96-95 (Huntsman Center)

March 21, 2013 – [6] Arizona defeats [11] Belmont, 81-64 (Delta Center)

March 23, 2013 – [6] Arizona defeats [14] Harvard, 74-51 (Delta Center)

March 16, 2017 – [2] Arizona defeats [15] North Dakota, 100-82 (Delta Center)

March 18, 2017 – [2] Arizona defeats [7] St. Mary’s, 69-60 (Delta Center)

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