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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 <\/p>\n
After showing early growing pains in its non-conference schedule, Long Beach State men\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since then, LBSU has split its last four matchups with wins over Nobel University<\/a> and a major team morale boosting-win against the University of San Diego, which snapped a 21-game losing streak<\/a> against Division I opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[Sunday\u2019s game] against USD proved to us that we can win down the stretch of games,\u201d LBSU head coach Chris Acker<\/a> said. \u201cIf we stay the course throughout the game, by staying organized on offense and not giving up on defense, we\u2019ll be able to win.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Against San Diego, LBSU freshman forward Dallas Washington<\/a> 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\u00a0prospect in California in the high school recruiting class of 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cI still have to talk to the athletic trainer to figure out where [Washington\u2019s] at health-wise,\u201d Acker said. \u201cI\u2019m not sure if he\u2019s playing or not, we\u2019ll talk before we leave to get answers.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n However, according to LBSU freshman guard Gavin Sykes<\/a>, who\u2019s coming off a career-high 30 points in Sunday\u2019s win, labels are not a concern for the team.<\/p>\n \u201c[LBSU] does not really care about what label we\u2019ve gotten,\u201d Sykes said. \u201cWe know the work we put in and we are dogs at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n 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\u2019t reciprocate the team\u2019s true identity.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n After starting the season struggling from behind the arc, LBSU senior guard Shaquil Bender\u2019s<\/a> 40% shooting from three has helped bolster The Beach\u2019s three-point percentage to 31.1% on the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Players to Watch<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n UCSB sophomore guard Zion Sensley<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n LBSU sophomore forward Petar Majstorovic<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n