Traore Shines as Long Beach State Upsets UC Irvine in Thriller

In a stunning turn of events at the Big West Conference Tournament semifinals, fourth-seeded Long Beach State pulled off a major upset, knocking off top-seeded UC Irvine 83-79 in a thriller. The star of the show was Aboubacar Traore, who poured in 20 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Beach to victory.

Long Beach State came out firing on all cylinders, riding the hot shooting of Marcus Tsohonis who had 10 first-half points. The Beach took a 47-38 lead into halftime after a strong opening 20 minutes. UC Irvine refused to go away however, battling back to tie the game at 55-55 midway through the second half.

But it was Traore who stepped up huge for Long Beach State down the stretch. The junior forward scored 13 of his 20 points after halftime, sparking a decisive 7-0 run that gave the Beach a 62-55 lead they would never relinquish. His all-around performance proved too much for the Anteaters to overcome.

justin Hohn led UC Irvine with 19 points while Pierre Crockrell II added 18 points and 9 assists. But the Anteaters could not find enough scoring from their supporting cast to keep up with the balanced Long Beach State attack. Jadon Jones chipped in 15 points and 9 boards while Tsohonis also scored 15 for the Beach.

With the monumental upset, Long Beach State advances to Saturday’s Big West championship game with a chance to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. For regular season champion UC Irvine, it’s a brutal end to what had been a brilliant 24-win season to this point.

The Beach rode terrific performances from Traore, Jones and Tsohonis to pull off the stunner. Traore was the undisputed star though, taking over in the biggest moments to will his team to an unlikely victory over the top seed. His ability to score, rebound and facilitate made him incredibly difficult for UC Irvine to stop.

Ball movement and unselfishness was key for Long Beach State as well. Whenever the Anteaters appeared to be making a run, the Beach had an answer by whipping the ball around for an open look. They assisted on 19 of their 30 made baskets, sharing the scoring load admirably.

On the other side, UC Irvine simply couldn’t get enough production from its depth players. Hohn and Crockrell were fantastic, but got little help from the supporting cast. The Anteaters got outscored 22-10 in bench points which ultimately loomed large.

It’s now or never for Long Beach State after stealing a massive result against the Anteaters. They’ll look to ride this wave of momentum into Saturday’s championship tilt with an NCAA bid on the line. As for UC Irvine, they’ll have some soul-searching to do after letting the Big West title slip through their grasp.

When the dust settled on an epic back-and-forth battle, it was Traore, Jones and the Beach celebrating euphorically while the Anteaters were left wondering what went wrong against the tenacious underdog. March Madness indeed.