By Sonny Tapia
The Long Beach State men’s basketball team ends its win streak at six after losing to the first place University of California Santa Barbara Gauchos, 75-72 at Walter Pyramid on Thursday night.
The Beach struggled in what is usually its best in game category, rebounding.
The team recorded 34 rebounds compared to its average which now sits at 42.75 per game.
LBSU came into the game as the number two team in the nation when it came to rebounds per game.
02/09/2023: Long Beach, CA- LBSU sophomore forward Aboubacar Traore glares at the scoreboard as time is winding down during the loss to UCSB with his teammate sophomore forward Lassina Traore at home Thursday night. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
This ended up being more than The Gauchos total rebounds, 28, but a main factor to the loss was the team’s inability to make shots when they mattered.
LBSU went 29-61 from the field at home against UCSB and The Beach’s top scorer junior guard Marcus Tsohonis went 1-13 from the field.
Tsohonis has been averaging 15.7 points per game but struggled to make shots from beginning to end.
Inside the paint is where LBSU retrieved most of its points throughout the game scoring 46 by the end of regulation.
Although the team struggled from everywhere else on the floor, sophomore forward Aboubacar Traore went 8-12 from the field and ended the game with 18 points.
02/09/2023: Long Beach, CA- LBSU sophomore forward Aboubacar Traore looks to pass the ball during the team's 75-72 loss at home in the Walter Pyramid against UCSB. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
“We gotta learn from our mistakes and I learned a lot from the seniors last year,” Traore said. “Last year, almost every game was a close game, so I learned how to stay calm.”
He hit key shots within the final two minutes from inside the key which kept The Beach within striking distance.
The team fell short of the win by three points and LBSU head coach Dan Monson said that when a team wins six in a row practices become looser.
He wants the team to move forward from the loss instead of dwelling on the issues it faced throughout.
The lead in the game continued to go back and forth as UCSB would capitalize on the quick paced LBSU team turned the ball over 15 times.
Five of those turnovers came from sophomore guard Tone Hunter who did well in his 17 minutes of play, scoring eight points and shot 3-6 from the field.
Overall, the team played sloppy on offense which forced loose balls that The Beach could not recover from.
02/09/2023: Long Beach, CA- Sportsmanship on display as LBSU sophomore forward Aboubacar Traore helps his teammate redshirt freshman guard AJ George up from the ground during The Beach's loss to UCSB at home on Thursday night. Photo credit: Sonny Tapia
This will not be the last time LBSU faces The Gauchos. The team will go up to Santa Barbara, CA to play the team on Feb. 23 in a rematch.
Before that, The Beach will play CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, Feb. 11 at Bakersfield with a chance to get back in the win column as the season draws nearer to the Big West Tournament.
