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FULLERTON, CALIF. >> In basketball’s version of “Survivor,” the single-elimination Big West tournament offers the winner the league’s automatic berth in next week’s NCAA Tournament while everybody else is left empty-handed.
“To finish second in the tournament really doesn’t do you much,” Long Beach State coach Dan Monson said of the unlikelihood a second Big West team will earn an NCAA bid. “To get into the semifinals doesn’t matter. We’re all chasing to win the tournament.”
In the past 10 Big West tournaments, there have been eight different winners, including Hawaii in 2016. UC Santa Barbara was the only back-to-back champion during that span. In 2014, Cal Poly won it as a seventh seed. In 2018, Cal State Fullerton earned the title as a fourth seed.
UC Irvine coach Russell Turner, whose Anteaters are the defending tournament champion and this year’s top seed, knows there are no guarantees. The Anteaters’ regular season ended with a narrow loss to Cal State Northridge.
“Everybody in our league knows the season starts now,” Turner said. “Our team is no different. We’ve had some good spirited practices since that game (against CSUN).”
Long Beach State, the eighth seed, is ready for the challenge of facing Irvine on Thursday’s opening day.
“Playing them the first day, second day, third day, doesn’t really matter,” Monson said. “Somebody has to beat them to advance on. So we get the first crack at it, and that’s how we have to look at it, and be excited for the opportunity.”
1. UC Irvine
>> Records: 13-3 BWC, 21-11
>> Opening round: Long Beach State
>> The skinny: When it comes to board games, no Big West team is better than UCI. In league play, the Anteaters’ rebounding margin is plus-8.6 per game. In 32 games overall, they are third nationally (plus 9.4). The Anteaters are re-setting possessions with an average of 11.6 offensive boards per game. Tommy Rutherford is a grinder in the post. Brad Green, a 6-foot-11, 270-pound junior, has lost 60 pounds since his freshman season but gained an appetite for rebounds (9.2 per Big West game). Collin Welp is a 6-9 reserve who was named to the All-Big West first team after leading the Anteaters with 13.0 points per game. Welp can hit from deep or on left-handed scoop shots. Point guard Max Hazzard, last season’s tournament MVP, transferred to Arizona, but Eyassu Worku and Evan Leonard have provided enough firepower in the backcourt.
2. CSUN
>> Records: 10-6 BWC, 15-17
>> Opening round: Cal State Fullerton
>> The skinny: After the Matadors opened the season with seven consecutive losses, head coach Mark Gottfried refused to panic. “We all knew at some point we would get the player of the year in the conference back, and we’d be more competitive,” Gottfried said of 6-7 Lamine Diane, who was ineligible during the fall semester. Since returning, Diane is averaging 25.6 points and 10.2 rebounds. He has seven games of 30 or more points. Terrell Gomez is a 5-8 off guard who is prolific (19.8 points per game), accurate (44% on 3 s, 94.8% on free throws), and tireless (37.7 minutes per game). The Matadors have more than a 1-2 combo. Point guard Darius Brown has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.89, and Elijah Harkless put up 30 points against Irvine.
3. UC Santa Barbara
>> Records: 10-6 BWC, 21-10
>> Opening round: UC Riverside
>> The skinny: If guard Max Heidegger did not have bad luck, he might not have any luck at all. Two years ago, the Woolsey Fire came oh-so-close to his family’s home in Malibu. He then missed part of the 2018-19 season because of a concussion, and then incurred another this past fall. On Feb. 27, he suffered an injury to his left ankle. It was initially feared he suffered fractures in three places or a high-ankle injury. X-Rays and an MRI showed it was a low-ankle sprain, and there is a chance he might be available for the tournament. In the meantime, the Gauchos are relying on post Amadou Sow (14.6 points, 7.0 rebounds per league game), guards JaQuori McLaughlin and Devearl Ramsey, and a feisty defense. Since the start of February, the Gauchos are holding opponents to 64.4 points and 42.8% shooting, down from 67.1 points and 45.6% in the first 21 games.
4. Hawaii
>> Records: 8-8 BWC, 17-13
>> Opening round: UC Davis
>> The skinny: The Rainbow Warriors have had more than their share of adversity, from a medical retirement (Ahmed Ali) to the death of point guard Drew Buggs’ mother to midseason injuries to athletic post Bernardo da Silva and wing Samuta Avea. Avea appears to have regained his groove, burying four 3s at UC Davis last week, including the game-winner. Buggs topped the league in assists (5.4 per game), and first-team guard Eddie Stansberry expanded his game inside the arc in addition to burying 90 3s — third all-time in a UH season. But it is 6-9 Zigmars Raimo who has provided versatility with his ability to play the 4 and 5 while drawing contact.
5. UC Davis
>> Records: 8-8 BWC, 14-18
>> Opening round: Hawaii
>> The skinny: The Aggies were favoring a four-guard scheme when 6-11 center Matt Neufeld suffered an injury. The Aggies, already sporting a smallish lineup, then promoted 6-7 Kennedy Koehler to No. 1 post. But the strategy works because of youth (Freshman of the Year Ezra Manjon averages 12.1 points on 45.4% shooting), 3-point accuracy (Stefan Gonzalez is shooting an NCAA-best 47.7% from behind the arc), and unselfishness. Neufeld is willing to come off the bench, and Joe Mooney, who joined the reserves eight games ago, leads the Aggies with a 13.1 scoring average.
6. UC Riverside
>> Records: 7-9 BWC, 17-15
>> Opening round: UC Santa Barbara
>> The skinny: Under second-year head coach David Patrick, the Highlanders went from 10-23 a season ago to 17-15 overall (tying their most victories in 19 years of Division I membership). Patrick said it begins with a scheme centering on 7-foot-1, 275-pound center Callum McRae and two 6-10 reserves who protect the rim while the rest of the defenders attack all the way to the arc. “The message has been bought in by my team that we’re going to defend and rebound every night to give ourselves a chance,” said Patrick, who helped coach the Australian national team the past summer. Part of UCR’s preseason training was weekly MMA-styled workouts at Moreno Valley Boxing Center to improve footwork and handwork.
7. Cal State Fullerton
>> Records: 6-10 BWC, 11-20
>> Opening round: CSUN
>> The skinny: It has been four weeks of extremes for the Titans, who scored more than 90 points twice and fewer than 60 two times. Then again, the Titans have had varying looks this season. Jackson Rowe, an agile post, is averaging 15.6 points and 7.4 rebounds after missing the first 11 games because of a back ailment. Guard Brandon Kamga, a 6-5 transfer from High Point, averaged 11.9 points in the first 14 games. But after scoring 12 in the Big West opener against Hawaii, Kamga averaged 18.9 points to earn a place on the all-conference second team. Point guard Austen Awosika is a threat as a shooter (13.3 points), rebounder (4.5), playmaker (4.3 assists) and defender (1.2 steals).
8. Long Beach State
>> Records: 6-10 BWC, 11-21
>> Opening round: UC Irvine
>> The skinny: The Beach added 11 newcomers this season, but it was the youngest — 6-11 Joshua Morgan — who stood out. Morgan was 17 years old and weighed 173 pounds when the summer camp opened. By the start of start of the season, he was close to 200 pounds. In 16 league games, he averaged 3.0 blocks. He also served as a rim protector when opponents drove the lane. Head coach Dan Monson likened Morgan to Joel Przybilla, who played 13 NBA seasons. “He’s got more upside than any kid I’ve had here at Long Beach State,” Monson said of the Big West Defensive Player of the Year, who set LBSU’s single-season blocks record (80). “You don’t find kids at that height and that length with that coordination and work ethic. He has the whole package.”
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