The Beach take on the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in their Big West opener in pursuit of their first pair of consecutive wins in nearly a year. Dante Estrada | Long Beach Current

After showing early growing pains in its non-conference schedule, Long Beach State men’s basketball opens Big West play on Thursday, Dec. 4, on the road against UC Santa Barbara in a matchup that could shape the direction of conference success for the season.

LBSU (2-6) started the season winless through its first four games, with losses against Pacific University (69-66) and Illinois State (82-80) being by just one possession. 

Since then, LBSU has split its last four matchups with wins over Nobel University and a major team morale boosting-win against the University of San Diego, which snapped a 21-game losing streak against Division I opponents. 

“[Sunday’s game] against USD proved to us that we can win down the stretch of games,” LBSU head coach Chris Acker said. “If we stay the course throughout the game, by staying organized on offense and not giving up on defense, we’ll be able to win.” 

Against San Diego, LBSU freshman forward Dallas Washington went down with an injury and exited the game without returning. There is no confirmed timetable on the extent of the injury for Washington, the No. 8 ranked prospect in California in the high school recruiting class of 2025.

“I still have to talk to the athletic trainer to figure out where [Washington’s] at health-wise,” Acker said. “I’m not sure if he’s playing or not, we’ll talk before we leave to get answers.”

The Beach will hope to have its roster fully available, as they face a major obstacle on the road against the Gauchos on Thursday. LBSU is considered major underdogs against UCSB (6-2), who are given a 91.4% chance of winning, according to the ESPN Analytics matchup predictor. 

However, according to LBSU freshman guard Gavin Sykes, who’s coming off a career-high 30 points in Sunday’s win, labels are not a concern for the team.

“[LBSU] does not really care about what label we’ve gotten,” Sykes said. “We know the work we put in and we are dogs at the end of the day.”

Sykes defined the first month of the season as progression in little ways and little steps, turning in the right direction, where the (2-6) record doesn’t reciprocate the team’s true identity.

With both teams coming off wins in their most recent matchups, UCSB looks to extend its win streak to four games while LBSU looks for its first pair of consecutive wins since December of last year. 

The Beach have not been able to grab a win on the road this season, with three of four affairs ending in blowout defeats of 20 or more points.

The Gauchos average 80.4 points per game with a consistent scoring attack from five different players who average over double-digit points to lead the offense. 

After starting the season struggling from behind the arc, LBSU senior guard Shaquil Bender’s 40% shooting from three has helped bolster The Beach’s three-point percentage to 31.1% on the season. 

Players to Watch

Sykes headlines the pack, averaging 16.8 points in his last seven games since getting an increase in playing time after only playing eight minutes in the first game of the season. 

UCSB sophomore guard Zion Sensley is averaging 13.6 points per game after three games since being named a starter for the Gauchos. Sensley is coming off a 20-point performance where he shot four-of-six from behind the arc in a 74-71 win against Seattle University.

LBSU sophomore forward Petar Majstorovic is the second leading scorer for The Beach, averaging 12.6 points per game, and is coming off a season high six assists with four steals in the win over USD.

UCSB junior guard Miro Little is the leading scorer, averaging 13 points per game while also averaging a team-high 4.1 assists per game for the Gauchos.