Men's Basketball, Men's Sports, Sports

The Beach beat UCSD with only eight active players Thursday night

For the second time this season, Long Beach State men’s basketball scored over 100 points for with just eight active players.

The Beach would go on and defeat UC San Diego 103-87 in a game where the team saw a career night for freshman forward Tobias Rotegaard as he scored new personal best, 17 points for The Beach.

LBSU head coach Dan Monson said the team had to win differently tonight and focus on the offensive side of the game.

“It’s February, and we got a lot of guys banged up and so do other teams, but our guys didn’t use that as an excuse tonight,” Monson said.

02/24/2022: Long Beach, CA- CSULB Forward Tobias Rotegaard throws up the open jumper against UC San Diego on Thursday in The Pyramid.
02/24/2022: Long Beach, CA- CSULB Forward Tobias Rotegaard throws up the open jumper against UC San Diego on Thursday in The Pyramid. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia

“I got into the game just focusing on my role,” Rotegaard said. “Just moving the ball, playing off those other guys [Joel Murray and Colin Slater] and just hitting open shots.”

As Rotegaard came off his career night, he said that tonight’s game really helped him boost his confidence going forward as he struggled early on this year.

“Feels good to kind of get the rhythm from the start and just make it easier for me,” Rotegaard said.

While Rotegaard would end the night on a positive note, freshman forward Aboubacar Traore would leave the game early as he appeared to have rolled his ankle in the second half with 12 minutes left in the game.

02/24/2022: Long Beach, CA- Cheerleaders look on after CSULB Forward Aboubacar Traore landed wrong on his ankle against UC San Diego on Thursday in The Pyramid.
02/24/2022: Long Beach, CA- Cheerleaders look on after CSULB Forward Aboubacar Traore landed wrong on his ankle against UC San Diego on Thursday in The Pyramid. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia

Monson said he wasn’t sure what Traore’s injury status is as he is planning to play with the same guys who finished tonight’s game.

“I’m not a trainer and there’s just too many of them right now. We’re nicked up,” Monson said.

In tonight’s game, The Beach had all five starters score in the double-digit point column as Murray led the team with 27 points, Jadon Jones and Traore with 17, and Slater with 10 points.

Tonight’s game was also a bounce-back night for Murray as he scored seven points in last week’s loss to UC Santa Barbara. He tied alongside Jones with eight rebounds and would finish the night with six rebounds tying with Slater.

Murray would also lead the team in rebounds (8) and assists (6) as he would tie his teammates, Jones and Slater.

02/24/2022: Long Beach, CA- CSULB Point Guard Joel Murray dribbles down the court during the home game against UC San Diego on Thursday.
02/24/2022: Long Beach, CA- CSULB Point Guard Joel Murray dribbles down the court during the home game against UC San Diego on Thursday. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia

At halftime, The Beach were losing 57-55 against the Tritons. Once the second half opened up, LBSU would go on a 12-0 run which would turn into a 21-point lead over UCSD.

“We came out and I think we started with five straight stops,” Monson said. “If we can get stops and rebounds, we’re a hard team to defend because you know, we can get out in open floor”

The scoring for The Beach came alive Thursday but Monson credits the team from other areas of the court as they had a total of 35 rebounds and 26 assists.

“We didn’t have a turnover in the second half until the last five minutes and it was by far our best assists game but it helps when shots are going in and guys getting a flow,” Monson said. “We needed that because defensively we just got riddled.”

Tonight’s game did not count as a conference game for The Beach but Monson said that he was proud of his guys because of how they responded tonight.

“If you’re gonna put a uniform on, you need to go in and you need to do your jobs, and that’s why I’m proud of our guys, they did that today,” Monson said. “You know the next three, goes up and we welcome the challenge.”

The Beach will play again on Saturday as they travel to Irvine to take on Big West rival UC Irvine for a nationally televised game on ESPNU.

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