NAPLES, Fla. — The Long Beach State men’s basketball team is having a rough time in Florida.
For the second game in a row, LBSU was essentially buried by halftime in an ugly loss at the Naples Invitational. KJ Williams had 29 points on 12-for-17 shooting as Murray State drained nine 3-pointers in the first half to build a 27-point halftime lead and crushed Long Beach, 80-43, on Tuesday afternoon.
Joel Murray had 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting to pace Long Beach (1-4), which never got going offensively and had 26 turnovers (11 Murray State steals) en route to its fourth consecutive loss.
Murray State (4-1) led wire-to-wire after opening the game with a 7-0 run. LBSU shot just 5 for 18 from the field in the first half, including an 0-for-6 mark from 3-point range.
A Romelle Mansel basket cut the deficit to five points, but the Racers answered with a 10-1 run to take control for good. Murray State had a 43-16 lead at the intermission. LBSU trailed Missouri State by 30 points at halftime in a 92-66 loss in its tourney opener on Monday night.
Long Beach’s shooting improved in the second half on Tuesday, but Murray State continued its strong shooting (50% overall, 12 for 26 from behind the arc). LBSU finished the game at 36.6% (15 for 41) overall and 1 for 12 from 3-point range.
Eddie Scott and true freshman Aboubacar Traore, who made his first career start, each finished with five rebounds for LBSU.
Tevin Brown had 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting for Murray State. Williams and Brown each had four 3-pointers.
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Long Beach plays its final Naples Invitational game on Wednesday at 9 a.m. PT against Wright State (1-4), which dropped a 78-76 decision to James Madison on Tuesday.
