Under the Radar Game of the Day: Long Beach State at UC-Irvine

Long Beach State at UC-Irvine, 10:00 PM Eastern, espn3

For Jon Teitel’s interview with Murry Bartow, who just took over as interim head coach at South Florida, CLICK HERE.

The Under the Radar Game of the Day shifts attention to the Big West conference tonight as UC-Irvine hosts Long Beach State in the conference opener for both teams.  The Big West has certainly struggled in non-conference play, with only UC-Davis (8-7) entering league play with a winning record overall (and if non-D1 wins are ignored, even the Aggies are sub-.500).  Only two teams in the conference currently sit within the top 200 in KenPom ratings — and those two teams will be battling tonight.  UC-Irvine is ranked 183 and Long Beach sits at 187.

UC-Irvine is currently 7-9 overall with their best win having come at Santa Clara.  Senior Ioannis Dimakopoulos is one player to keep an eye on, as he has scored in double digits in each of his team’s last five games, recording two double-doubles in that time.  Long Beach State, on the other hand, is only 5-11 overall, though assembled that record against one of the nation’s toughest schedules.  Head coach Dan Monson’s team has won four of their last six, including defeating Colorado State and Oregon State in that span.  Gabe Levin led the way in the Colorado State win with 16 points and 9 rebounds, and should be a key to the 49ers attack again tonight.  This may only be the first game of the conference regular season for these two teams, but it may prove to be one of they key contests in the battle for the Big West regular season title this year.