CSU Bakersfield visits Long Beach State following Murray's 26-point outing

CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners (9-18, 2-12 Big West) vs. Long Beach State Beach (18-11, 12-3 Big West)

Henderson, Nevada; Thursday, 3 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Long Beach State hosts the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners after Joel Murray scored 26 points in Long Beach State's 73-72 overtime win over the UC Riverside Highlanders.

The Beach have gone 11-3 at home. Long Beach State is third in the Big West in rebounding averaging 32.5 rebounds. Aboubacar Traore paces the Beach with 8.2 boards.

The Roadrunners are 2-12 against conference opponents. CSU Bakersfield allows 66.1 points to opponents while being outscored by 1.1 points per game.

The teams meet for the second time this season. The Beach won 74-65 in the last matchup on Feb. 4. Colin Slater led the Beach with 23 points, and Kaleb Higgins led the Roadrunners with 21 points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Slater is shooting 39.4% from beyond the arc with 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the Beach, while averaging 13.9 points. Murray is averaging 16.8 points, 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals over the last 10 games for Long Beach State.

Justin McCall is scoring 10.8 points per game and averaging 4.4 rebounds for the Roadrunners. Higgins is averaging 9.1 points and 1.9 rebounds over the last 10 games for CSU Bakersfield.

LAST 10 GAMES: Beach: 8-2, averaging 75.5 points, 29.5 rebounds, 14.5 assists, 7.5 steals and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.1 points per game.

Roadrunners: 2-8, averaging 62.9 points, 29.1 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 4.1 steals and three blocks per game while shooting 43.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.6 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by