HENDERSON, Nev. -- — Aboubacar Traore had 20 points as fourth-seeded Long Beach State upset top-seeded UC Irvine 83-79 Friday in the Big West Conference semifinals.

The Beach (20-14) advance Saturday's conference championship game.

Traore had eight rebounds and seven assists for the Beach. Jadon Jones scored 15 points and added nine rebounds and four steals. Marcus Tsohonis had 15 points and shot 5 for 14, including 3 for 5 from beyond the arc.

Justin Hohn led the Anteaters (24-9) in scoring, finishing with 19 points. UC Irvine also got 18 points and nine assists from Pierre Crockrell II. Bent Leuchten had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Tsohonis scored 10 points in the first half for Long Beach State, who led 47-38 at the break. Long Beach State pulled off the victory after a 7-0 second-half run broke a 55-55 tie and gave them the lead at 62-55 with 12:54 left in the half. Traore scored 13 second-half points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.