2023–24 Long Beach State Beach men's basketball team

2023–24 Long Beach State Beach men's basketball
Big West Tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Big West Conference
Record	21–15 (10–10 Big West)
Head coach	Dan Monson (17th season)
Associate head coach	Myke Scholl
Assistant coaches	Senque Carey Larry Anderson
Home arena	Walter Pyramid

2023–24 Big West men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UC Irvine	17	–	3		.850			24	–	10		.706
UC San Diego*	15	–	5		.750			21	–	12		.636
UC Davis	14	–	6		.700			20	–	13		.606
Hawai'i	11	–	9		.550			20	–	14		.588
Long Beach State †	10	–	10		.500			21	–	15		.583
UC Riverside	10	–	10		.500			16	–	18		.471
UC Santa Barbara	9	–	11		.450			16	–	15		.516
Cal State Northridge	9	–	11		.450			19	–	15		.559
Cal State Bakersfield	8	–	12		.400			13	–	19		.406
Cal State Fullerton	7	–	13		.350			14	–	18		.438
Cal Poly	0	–	20		.000			4	–	28		.125
* ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition period
† 2024 Big West tournament winner

The 2023–24 Long Beach State Beach men's basketball team represented California State University, Long Beach during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Beach, led by 17th-year head coach Dan Monson, played their home games at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 21–15, 10–10 in Big West play to finish a tie for fifth place. As the No. 4 seed in the Big West tournament, they defeated UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and UC Davis to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 15 seed in the West region. There they lost to Arizona.

After the regular season, the school announced that head coach Dan Monson would finish the postseason as the team's head coach, but would not return as head coach by mutual agreement.^[1][2] Despite this, Monson led the team to the NCAA tournament.^[3] Athletic director Bobby Smitheran later stated he fired Monson to inspire the team.^[4]

Previous season

The Beach finished the 2022–23 season 17–16, 11–9 in Big West play to finish in seventh place.^[5] In the Big West tournament, they were upset by Cal Poly in the first round.^[6]

Roster

2023–24 Long Beach State Beach men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Marcus Tsohonis 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr VCU Portland, OR F 1 Amari Stroud 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Allan Hancock College Fresno, CA G 2 Isa Silva 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Stanford Sacramento, CA G 3 Maddox Monson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Los Alamitos High School Los Alamitos, CA G 4 Messiah Thompson 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Alabama A&M Atlanta, GA G 5 Jason Hart Jr. 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Fr St. Bernard High School Los Angeles, CA G 8 Eli Djordjevic 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Orangeville Prep White Rock, BC G 10 AJ George 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Hoover High School Fresno, CA G 11 Varick Lewis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Monterey Trail High School Elk Grove, CA G 12 Jadon Jones 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr St. Anthony High School Long Beach, CA C 13 Chayce Polynice 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr College of Southern Idaho Van Nuys, CA F 23 Lassina Traoré 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Saint Louis Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire F 25 Aboubacar Traoré 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr LaBASE Academy Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire F 35 Shaumba Ngoyi 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Fr Sunrise Christian Academy Kinshasa, DR Congo C 40 Jeffrey Yan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Sr Capistrano Valley Christian School Shanghai, China	Head coach Dan Monson (Idaho) Assistant coach(es) Myke Scholl (Loyola Marymount) Senque Carey (New Mexico) Larry Anderson (Long Beach State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: October 25, 2023

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 2, 2023* 7:00 pm, −		Cal Lutheran	W 107–63		18 – L. Traoré	7 – L. Traoré	8 – Thompson	Walter Pyramid (1,603) Long Beach, CA
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2023* 7:30 pm, WCC Network		at Portland	L 73–78	0–1	23 – Jones	9 – A. Traoré	5 – A. Traoré	Chiles Center (1,073) Portland, OR
November 11, 2023* 7:00 pm, FS2		at DePaul	W 77–73	1–1	22 – Tsohonis	11 – L. Traoré	4 – Silva	Wintrust Arena (2,651) Chicago, IL
November 14, 2023* 7:00 pm, MW Network		at San Diego State	L 76–88	1–2	17 – Tsohonis	6 – A. Traoré	8 – A. Traoré	Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA
November 17, 2023* 4:00 pm, B1G+		at Michigan	W 94–86	2–2	35 – Tsohonis	10 – L. Traoré	4 – Thompson	Crisler Center (10,866) Ann Arbor, MI
November 20, 2023* 10:30 am, FloHoops		vs. Illinois State Gulf Coast Showcase first round	L 52–61	2–3	10 – Thompson	15 – L. Traoré	4 – Thompson	Hertz Arena (214) Estero, FL
November 21, 2023* 8:00 am, FloHoops		vs. Iona Gulf Coast Showcase consolation 2nd round	W 80–76	3–3	19 – Jones	10 – A. Traoré	6 – A. Traoré	Hertz Arena (201) Estero, FL
November 22, 2023* 10:30 am, FloHoops		vs. Louisiana Gulf Coast Showcase 5th place game	L 82–92	3–4	18 – A. Traoré	10 – Ratliff	4 – A. Traoré	Hertz Arena (176) Estero, FL
November 26, 2023* 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at Montana State	W 75–69	4–4	26 – Tsohonis	13 – L. Traoré	4 – Jones	Worthington Arena (2,501) Bozeman, MT
December 2, 2023* 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Sacramento State	W 83–73	5–4	24 – Jones	11 – L. Traoré	6 – Tied	Walter Pyramid (1,815) Long Beach, CA
December 6, 2023* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Life Pacific	W 88–66	6–4	12 – V. Lewis	10 – A. Traoré	5 – Tied	Walter Pyramid (1,373) Long Beach, CA
December 10, 2023* 1:00 pm, P12N		at USC	W 84–79 ^OT	7–4	28 – M. Tsohonis	8 – Tied	5 – A. Traoré	Galen Center (9,806) Los Angeles, CA
December 19, 2023* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Cal State Dominguez Hills	W 107–78	8–4	23 – Jones	10 – L. Traoré	5 – Silva	Walter Pyramid (1,602) Long Beach, CA
Big West regular season
December 28, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Cal State Fullerton	W 81–71	9–4 (1–0)	23 – A. Traoré	22 – A. Traoré	6 – A. Traoré	Titan Gym (1,436) Fullerton, CA
December 30, 2023 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Cal State Northridge	L 68–84	9–5 (1–1)	17 – Tsohonis	7 – A. Traoré	5 – A. Traoré	Walter Pyramid (2,003) Long Beach, CA
January 4, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Cal Poly	W 89–82	10–5 (2–1)	30 – A. Traoré	19 – L. Traoré	6 – Thompson	Mott Athletics Center (1,482) San Luis Obispo, CA
January 6, 2024 4:00 pm, ESPN+		UC Riverside	W 83–75	11–5 (3–1)	19 – L. Traoré	15 – L. Traoré	7 – Tsohonis	Walter Pyramid (2,546) Long Beach, CA
January 11, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at UC San Diego	L 74–88	11–6 (3–2)	18 – Tsohonis	7 – A. Traoré	6 – Tsohonis	LionTree Arena (2,083) La Jolla, CA
January 13, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at UC Santa Barbara	L 76–85	11–7 (3–3)	23 – Thompson	9 – A. Traoré	10 – A. Traoré	The Thunderdome (2,892) Santa Barbara, CA
January 18, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Hawai'i	W 79–71	12–7 (4–3)	20 – Tsohonis	8 – A. Traoré	7 – A. Traoré	Walter Pyramid (1,835) Long Beach, CA
January 25, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		UC Irvine	L 61–72	12–8 (4–4)	15 – Tsohonis	8 – L. Traoré	3 – Tied	Walter Pyramid (3,024) Long Beach, CA
January 27, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+		at UC Riverside	W 65–53	13–8 (5–4)	15 – Tsohonis	10 – A. Traoré	4 – Tied	SRC Arena (573) Riverside, CA
February 1, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at Cal State Bakersfield	L 76–82 ^OT	13–9 (5–5)	28 – George	8 – L. Traoré	6 – A. Traoré	Icardo Center (1,656) Bakersfield, CA
February 3, 2024 4:00 pm, ESPN+		UC San Diego	W 85–76	14–9 (6–5)	18 – Tsohonis	8 – L. Traoré	6 – Tsohonis	Walter Pyramid (2,308) Long Beach, CA
February 10, 2024 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Cal Poly	W 77–68	15–9 (7–5)	26 – J. Jones	8 – Tied	6 – Tsohonis	Walter Pyramid (2,082) Long Beach, CA
February 15, 2024 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at UC Davis	W 78–74	16–9 (8–5)	20 – A. Traoré	16 – L. Traoré	6 – L. Traoré	University Credit Union Center (1,810) Davis, CA
February 17, 2024 5:00 pm, ESPN+		at Cal State Northridge	W 87–73	17–9 (9–5)	22 – Jones	15 – L. Traoré	7 – Tsohonis	Premier America Credit Union Arena (411) Northridge, CA
February 22, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Cal State Bakersfield	W 79–66	18–9 (10–5)	18 – George	7 – George	5 – Jones	Walter Pyramid (1,732) Long Beach, CA
February 24, 2024 9:00 pm, ESPN+		at Hawai'i	L 65–73	18–10 (10–6)	18 – George	14 – L. Traoré	2 – L. Traoré	Stan Sheriff Center (5,822) Honolulu, HI
February 29, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Cal State Fullerton	L 71–76	18–11 (10–7)	23 – Jones	12 – L. Traoré	6 – A. Traoré	Walter Pyramid (2,326) Long Beach, CA
March 2, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		at UC Irvine	L 61–82	18–12 (10–8)	19 – Tsohonis	16 – L. Traoré	4 – A. Traoré	Bren Events Center (4,799) Irvine, CA
March 7, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+		UC Santa Barbara	L 74–76	18–13 (10–9)	25 – Tsohonis	12 – L. Traoré	7 – A. Traoré	Walter Pyramid (2,255) Long Beach, CA
March 9, 2024 3:00 pm, ESPN+		UC Davis	L 78–88	18–14 (10–10)	21 – Tsohonis	15 – L. Traoré	4 – Tsohonis	Walter Pyramid (1,894) Long Beach, CA
Big West tournament
March 14, 2024 8:30 pm, ESPN+	(4)	vs. (5) UC Riverside Quarterfinals	W 86–67	19–14	21 – Tied	11 – Tied	13 – A. Traoré	Dollar Loan Center (1,227) Henderson, NV
March 15, 2024 6:00 pm, ESPN+	(4)	vs. (1) UC Irvine Semifinals	W 83–79	20–14	20 – A. Traoré	10 – L. Traoré	7 – A. Traoré	Dollar Loan Center (−) Henderson, NV
March 16, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN2/ESPN+	(4)	vs. (2) UC Davis Championship Game	W 74–70	21–14	25 – Tied	13 – A. Traoré	6 – A. Traoré	Dollar Loan Center (1,623) Henderson, NV
NCAA tournament
March 21, 2024 11:00 am, TBS	(15 W)	vs. (2 W) No. 9 Arizona First Round	L 65–85	21–15	14 – Tied	15 – A. Traoré	4 – A. Traoré	Delta Center (17,102) Salt Lake City, UT
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific.

Sources:^[7][8]

References

1. Carr, Janis (March 12, 2024). "Long Beach State, basketball coach Dan Monson parting ways". Press Telegram. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
2. "LBSU eyes tourney berth after coach's dismissal". ESPN.com. March 16, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
3. "Dan Monson not leaving the Beach just yet. He is heading to March Madness without a job next season". AP News. March 18, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
4. "Long Beach St. AD: Fired coach to inspire team". ESPN.com. March 21, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
5. "2022-23 Men's Basketball Standings". The Big West. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
6. "Long Beach State Stunned By Cal Poly In Big West Tournament". Long Beach State University Athletics. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
7. "2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule". Long Beach State University Athletics. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
8. "Long Beach State Beach 2023-24 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved October 25, 2023.