LONG BEACH, Calif. – Defense carried the day for both UC Irvine and Long Beach State in the Black and Blue Rivalry game, as Long Beach State forced 22 UCI turnovers, but the Beach shot just 31.8% in a 69-58 defeat on Thursday.
Long Beach State (8-19, 4-11 Big West) started the contest ice cold, shooting 1-for-12 to begin the game, but held defensively in a scrappy first half against UC Irvine (18-9, 11-4 Big West). Despite that slow start on the offensive end, solid defense kept the Beach close, down 12-6 after the first ten minutes.
Sophomore Christian Jones, playing in his first game since December due to injury, returned to action and gave the Beach a lift, first hitting a jumper to cut the lead to four, and then helping reduce the UC Irvine edge.
A Gavin Sykes jumper cut the edge to 17-16, and then Shaquil Bender found Shay Johnson Jr. to tie the game at 18-18 with just over four minutes to play in the first half. The Beach couldn’t grab the lead however, and UC Irvine led 24-20 at halftime.
With LBSU down six at 32-26, UC Irvine pushed their edge to double-digits for the first time with two quick buckets, and held off Long Beach State the rest of the way. The Beach scored 20 second-chance points on 16 offensive rebounds, but weren’t effective enough from the field, ultimately shooting 2-for-18 from three as part of 31.8% shooting as UCI closed out the win.
Gavin Sykes led Long Beach State with 16 points, while Petar Majstorovic had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Kyle Evans led four in double-figures for UC Irvine, also finishing with a double-double with 11 rebounds and 6 blocks.
Long Beach State returns to the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid for their next game, hosting CSUN at 6 p.m. on Saturday, February 21 on ESPN+.
