# 2023–24 Long Beach State Beach men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Long Beach State Beach men's basketball team represented California State University, Long Beach during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Beach, led by 17th-year head coach Dan Monson, played their home games at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 21–15, 10–10 in Big West play to finish a tie for fifth place. As the No. 4 seed in the Big West tournament, they defeated UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and UC Davis to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 15 seed in the West region. There they lost to Arizona.
After the regular season, the school announced that head coach Dan Monson would finish the postseason as the team's head coach, but would not return as head coach by mutual agreement. Despite this, Monson led the team to the NCAA tournament. Athletic director Bobby Smitheran later stated he fired Monson to inspire the team.

## Previous season

The Beach finished the 2022–23 season 17–16, 11–9 in Big West play to finish in seventh place. In the Big West tournament, they were upset by Cal Poly in the first round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 2, 2023* 7:00 pm, − | | Cal Lutheran | W 107–63 | | 18 – L. Traoré | 7 – L. Traoré | 8 – Thompson | Walter Pyramid (1,603) Long Beach, CA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 7:30 pm, WCC Network | | at Portland | L 73–78 | 0–1 | 23 – Jones | 9 – A. Traoré | 5 – A. Traoré | Chiles Center (1,073) Portland, OR |
| November 11, 2023* 7:00 pm, FS2 | | at DePaul | W 77–73 | 1–1 | 22 – Tsohonis | 11 – L. Traoré | 4 – Silva | Wintrust Arena (2,651) Chicago, IL |
| November 14, 2023* 7:00 pm, MW Network | | at San Diego State | L 76–88 | 1–2 | 17 – Tsohonis | 6 – A. Traoré | 8 – A. Traoré | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| November 17, 2023* 4:00 pm, B1G+ | | at Michigan | W 94–86 | 2–2 | 35 – Tsohonis | 10 – L. Traoré | 4 – Thompson | Crisler Center (10,866) Ann Arbor, MI |
| November 20, 2023* 10:30 am, FloHoops | | vs. Illinois State Gulf Coast Showcase first round | L 52–61 | 2–3 | 10 – Thompson | 15 – L. Traoré | 4 – Thompson | Hertz Arena (214) Estero, FL |
| November 21, 2023* 8:00 am, FloHoops | | vs. Iona Gulf Coast Showcase consolation 2nd round | W 80–76 | 3–3 | 19 – Jones | 10 – A. Traoré | 6 – A. Traoré | Hertz Arena (201) Estero, FL |
| November 22, 2023* 10:30 am, FloHoops | | vs. Louisiana Gulf Coast Showcase 5th place game | L 82–92 | 3–4 | 18 – A. Traoré | 10 – Ratliff | 4 – A. Traoré | Hertz Arena (176) Estero, FL |
| November 26, 2023* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Montana State | W 75–69 | 4–4 | 26 – Tsohonis | 13 – L. Traoré | 4 – Jones | Worthington Arena (2,501) Bozeman, MT |
| December 2, 2023* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Sacramento State | W 83–73 | 5–4 | 24 – Jones | 11 – L. Traoré | 6 – Tied | Walter Pyramid (1,815) Long Beach, CA |
| December 6, 2023* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Life Pacific | W 88–66 | 6–4 | 12 – V. Lewis | 10 – A. Traoré | 5 – Tied | Walter Pyramid (1,373) Long Beach, CA |
| December 10, 2023* 1:00 pm, P12N | | at USC | W 84–79 $^{OT}$ | 7–4 | 28 – M. Tsohonis | 8 – Tied | 5 – A. Traoré | Galen Center (9,806) Los Angeles, CA |
| December 19, 2023* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Cal State Dominguez Hills | W 107–78 | 8–4 | 23 – Jones | 10 – L. Traoré | 5 – Silva | Walter Pyramid (1,602) Long Beach, CA |
| Big West regular season |||||||||
| December 28, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 81–71 | 9–4 (1–0) | 23 – A. Traoré | 22 – A. Traoré | 6 – A. Traoré | Titan Gym (1,436) Fullerton, CA |
| December 30, 2023 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Cal State Northridge | L 68–84 | 9–5 (1–1) | 17 – Tsohonis | 7 – A. Traoré | 5 – A. Traoré | Walter Pyramid (2,003) Long Beach, CA |
| January 4, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Cal Poly | W 89–82 | 10–5 (2–1) | 30 – A. Traoré | 19 – L. Traoré | 6 – Thompson | Mott Athletics Center (1,482) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| January 6, 2024 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UC Riverside | W 83–75 | 11–5 (3–1) | 19 – L. Traoré | 15 – L. Traoré | 7 – Tsohonis | Walter Pyramid (2,546) Long Beach, CA |
| January 11, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UC San Diego | L 74–88 | 11–6 (3–2) | 18 – Tsohonis | 7 – A. Traoré | 6 – Tsohonis | LionTree Arena (2,083) La Jolla, CA |
| January 13, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UC Santa Barbara | L 76–85 | 11–7 (3–3) | 23 – Thompson | 9 – A. Traoré | 10 – A. Traoré | The Thunderdome (2,892) Santa Barbara, CA |
| January 18, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Hawai'i | W 79–71 | 12–7 (4–3) | 20 – Tsohonis | 8 – A. Traoré | 7 – A. Traoré | Walter Pyramid (1,835) Long Beach, CA |
| January 25, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UC Irvine | L 61–72 | 12–8 (4–4) | 15 – Tsohonis | 8 – L. Traoré | 3 – Tied | Walter Pyramid (3,024) Long Beach, CA |
| January 27, 2024 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UC Riverside | W 65–53 | 13–8 (5–4) | 15 – Tsohonis | 10 – A. Traoré | 4 – Tied | SRC Arena (573) Riverside, CA |
| February 1, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Cal State Bakersfield | L 76–82 $^{OT}$ | 13–9 (5–5) | 28 – George | 8 – L. Traoré | 6 – A. Traoré | Icardo Center (1,656) Bakersfield, CA |
| February 3, 2024 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UC San Diego | W 85–76 | 14–9 (6–5) | 18 – Tsohonis | 8 – L. Traoré | 6 – Tsohonis | Walter Pyramid (2,308) Long Beach, CA |
| February 10, 2024 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Cal Poly | W 77–68 | 15–9 (7–5) | 26 – J. Jones | 8 – Tied | 6 – Tsohonis | Walter Pyramid (2,082) Long Beach, CA |
| February 15, 2024 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UC Davis | W 78–74 | 16–9 (8–5) | 20 – A. Traoré | 16 – L. Traoré | 6 – L. Traoré | University Credit Union Center (1,810) Davis, CA |
| February 17, 2024 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Cal State Northridge | W 87–73 | 17–9 (9–5) | 22 – Jones | 15 – L. Traoré | 7 – Tsohonis | Premier America Credit Union Arena (411) Northridge, CA |
| February 22, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 79–66 | 18–9 (10–5) | 18 – George | 7 – George | 5 – Jones | Walter Pyramid (1,732) Long Beach, CA |
| February 24, 2024 9:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Hawai'i | L 65–73 | 18–10 (10–6) | 18 – George | 14 – L. Traoré | 2 – L. Traoré | Stan Sheriff Center (5,822) Honolulu, HI |
| February 29, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Cal State Fullerton | L 71–76 | 18–11 (10–7) | 23 – Jones | 12 – L. Traoré | 6 – A. Traoré | Walter Pyramid (2,326) Long Beach, CA |
| March 2, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UC Irvine | L 61–82 | 18–12 (10–8) | 19 – Tsohonis | 16 – L. Traoré | 4 – A. Traoré | Bren Events Center (4,799) Irvine, CA |
| March 7, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UC Santa Barbara | L 74–76 | 18–13 (10–9) | 25 – Tsohonis | 12 – L. Traoré | 7 – A. Traoré | Walter Pyramid (2,255) Long Beach, CA |
| March 9, 2024 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UC Davis | L 78–88 | 18–14 (10–10) | 21 – Tsohonis | 15 – L. Traoré | 4 – Tsohonis | Walter Pyramid (1,894) Long Beach, CA |
| Big West tournament |||||||||
| March 14, 2024 8:30 pm, ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (5) UC Riverside Quarterfinals | W 86–67 | 19–14 | 21 – Tied | 11 – Tied | 13 – A. Traoré | Dollar Loan Center (1,227) Henderson, NV |
| March 15, 2024 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (1) UC Irvine Semifinals | W 83–79 | 20–14 | 20 – A. Traoré | 10 – L. Traoré | 7 – A. Traoré | Dollar Loan Center (−) Henderson, NV |
| March 16, 2024 6:30 pm, ESPN2/ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (2) UC Davis Championship Game | W 74–70 | 21–14 | 25 – Tied | 13 – A. Traoré | 6 – A. Traoré | Dollar Loan Center (1,623) Henderson, NV |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 21, 2024 11:00 am, TBS | (15 W) | vs. (2 W) No. 9 Arizona First Round | L 65–85 | 21–15 | 14 – Tied | 15 – A. Traoré | 4 – A. Traoré | Delta Center (17,102) Salt Lake City, UT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific. |||||||||
Sources: