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GAMEDAY: MBB at Long Beach State

LONG BEACH — A 12-day trip away from Seattle to open the 2020-21 season concludes on Sunday, Dec. 6 as Seattle U men's basketball (3-2) faces off against Long Beach State (0-1) at Walter Pyramid. Tip off is set for 2 p.m. PT.

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GAMEDAY: MBB at Long Beach StateGAMEDAY: MBB at Long Beach State

LONG BEACH — A 12-day trip away from Seattle to open the 2020-21 season concludes on Sunday, Dec. 6 as Seattle U men's basketball (3-2) faces off against Long Beach State (0-1) at Walter Pyramid. Tip off is set for 2 p.m. PT.

FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS

ABOUT THE SERIES VS LONG BEACH STATE
Seattle U and Long Beach State have just one previous meeting, facing off on Dec. 23, 2020 in the Redhawk Center. In what was the Redhawks' final game before the Christmas break last season, they rolled to a 79-57 victory over the Beach. Seattle U never trailed in the game and led by as many as 31 points. A stellar defensive first half propelled the home team to a 44-24 advantage at the break, and they would cruise from there. Terrell Brown led all scorers with 17 points, to go along with eight assists. He was one of five Redhawks to finish in double figures. Morgan Means finished just shy of a triple double, collecting 12 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Myles Carter added 13 points, Delante Jones had 11 and Riley Grigsby chipped in 10.

QUICK HITS

  • Seattle U opened the 2020-21 season with three consecutive wins for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
  • The Redhawks picked up wins over WCC member Portland, NAIA William Jessup and Mountain West member Air Force in that stretch. They have since lost back-to-back games against CSUN and at Pac-12 member UCLA.
  • The game at UCLA on Dec. 3 was the first of two Pac-12 match-ups on the calendar this season. The Redhawks will take on Washington on Dec. 9 at Alaska Airlines Arena.
  • Riley Grigsby had 12 points to lead the Redhawks at UCLA. The junior guard/forward has scored in double figures in all fives games this season. He leads the team at 17.0 ppg and also leads the way with 10 made threes.
  • Nate Robinson made his first appearance of the season on Thursday at UCLA after missing the first four games due to a toe injury. The junior guard had two points, one rebound and one block in nine minutes of action. 
  • Sophomore Darrion Trammell had a career-high 25 points in the loss to CSUN on Nov. 30. He has scored in double figures in four of five games and is second on the team averaging 16.2 ppg.
  • Junior Rip Economou drained four threes on Nov. 29 against Air Force on Nov. 29, notching a career-high 12 points.
  • The Redhawks won their season opener for a second straight year, this time with an 84-72 victory over Portland on Nov. 25. 
  • The win over Portland was the fourth straight for Seattle U. The teams have met during each of the past four years and are set to meet again later this season.
  • Riley Grigsby poured in a career-high 28 points in the season debut versus Portland. His performance over the first three games earned him WAC Player of the Week honors.
  • Freshman Kobe Williamson had an impressive collegiate debut with 10 points and nine boards against Portland. He is the first freshman to start a season opener since Morgan Means did so in 2016-17. Means finished with five points, three rebounds and three assists in that outing.

GRIGSBY NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Riley Grigsby was named TicketSmarter WAC Player of the Week for Nov. 23-29. This marks Grigsby's first career Player of the Week honor. The junior guard/forward from San Jose, Calif., averaged 18.3 points per game to lead the Redhawks to their first 3-0 start since the 2008-09 season. He opened the season with a career-high 28 points in an 84-72 win at Portland, adding six rebounds, four assists and two blocks against the Pilots. Against William Jessup, he had 14 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Continuing the road trip from Portland to Las Vegas, Grigsby scored 13 points with three assists and a block in a 63-45 win over Air Force.

WINNING WAYS
While the Redhawks' squad features 11 new faces, they are not all new to each other including a trio of junior college transfers from City College of San Francisco. Nate Robinson, Darrion Trammell and Emeka Udenyi spent the 2019-20 season as teammates for the Rams, who went a perfect 30-0 while averaging more than 100 ppg.

PRESEASON HONORS
Junior forward Riley Grigsby earned the first league recognition of his career, being named to the Coaches Preseason All-WAC Second Team. The San Jose, Calif., native is the Redhawks' lone returning starter and is coming off of a sophomore campaign that saw him average 9.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Grigsby led Seattle U in scoring twice and collected three double-doubles, including career highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Grand Canyon on Feb. 20.

WAC PRESEASON POLLS
The Redhawks were selected to finished fifth in the Western Athletic Conference in both the WAC 2020-21 Preseason Coaches Poll and Media Poll. Reigning WAC champion NM State was selected to repeat the feat in 2020-21, earning eight of nine first-place votes in the Coaches' Poll. Coaches could not vote for their own team or players. The Aggies were also the first-place pick by the media. Grand Canyon was picked second in both polls, followed by UTRGV in third and California Baptist in fourth.

OVERTIME

  • Seattle U is 5-3 in overtime games under Head Coach Jim Hayford. The Redhawks went 1-2 in extra time during the 2019-20 season, including an 88-87 loss at California Baptist on Feb. 29, 2020, which ultimately ended up being the final game of the shortened season.
  • Seattle U also played triple overtime affair at Kansas City on Jan. 2, 2020, the longest game the Redhawks had played since a triple overtime defeat to Chicago State on Feb. 27, 2014.

AGAINST THE RANKS
A meeting with the nationally-ranked Washington on Dec. 17, 2019 was just the third game against a ranked opponent during Seattle U's modern-day DI era. Seattle U's last meeting with a ranked opponent came on Dec. 21, 2011, when it hosted No. 24 Virginia at KeyArena. The Cavaliers won, 83-77. The Redhawks' only other ranked match-up came on Mar. 3, 2009 against then No. 13 Washington. The Huskies would claim an 87-60 victory at Alaska Airlines Arena.

HITTING THE CENTURY MARK
The Redhawks surpassed the 100-point mark for the fifth time under Head Coach Jim Hayford with their 115-81 win over Pacific University on Nov. 12, 2019. They achieved the feat twice during his first season (121 vs. Puget Sound on Nov. 12, 2017;  102 vs. Detroit Mercy on Nov. 18, 2017) and twice in 2018-19 (107 vs. Northwest University on Nov. 28, 2018; 102 vs. Prairie View A&M on Dec. 20, 2018).