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When deadlocked atop the standings heading toward the end of the regular season, the next thing to look at is possible tiebreaker situations.
Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge started Wednesday tied for first place in the Big West Conference men’s basketball standings, with the Matadors scheduled to face the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos last night.
With four games remaining in the regular season, the 49ers’ next two games will be as pivotal as any.
LBSU (13-12, 8-4 Big West) will face seventh-place UC Irvine (10-17, 6-7 Big West) tonight at 7 p.m. in the home finale at the Walter Pyramid with either a half-game lead or deficit, depending on the outcome of the Matadors/Gauchos match-up.
The 49ers defeated the Anteaters, 67-63, in Irvine on Jan. 31 without senior leader Donovan Morris, who missed the game with the same nagging right foot injury that has put him in and out of uniform for the last three weeks.
Morris practiced Wednesday for the first time since landing back on the sidelines and is getting ready to come back by the Big West Tournament at the very least, head coach Dan Monson said.
Monson added that forward Arturas Lazdauskas, who has missed the last four games and hasn’t played since Feb. 5, is rehabbing a sprained knee and is also hoping to have him in uniform by the tournament.
CSUN (12-12, 8-4 Big West at the start of Wednesday) will host the ‘Niners at the Matadome on Saturday at 3 p.m. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Prime Ticket. An LBSU win would secure the season sweep and tiebreaker, if both teams finish with the same conference record by the end of the season.
In third place is Pacific (14-11, 7-6 Big West), which lost both games against the 49ers this season, and was scheduled to face UC Davis (12-15, 7-6 Big West) on Wednesday. An Aggies loss would put LBSU in position to clinch at least the No. 2 seed in the tournament by tonight, since the 49ers own the tiebreaker over the Tigers.
LBSU’s final two games are on the road at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, which are at the very bottom of the conference.
Should the ‘Niners and Matadors remain tied at the end of the regular season, the first tiebreaker would be determined by head-to-head record.
If still tied, the second scenario would be record against common opponents — starting with the No. 3 seed and moving down the list until the tie is settled. The final tiebreaker, if needed, would be a coin flip by the conference’s commissioner.
Last season finished with a three-way tie atop the regular season standings.
Regardless, a No. 1 or 2 seed would guarantee a bye in the first two rounds, meaning just two wins would be needed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Home-court advantage will not be gained via a No. 1 seed since the Big West Tournament is played at the Anaheim Convention Center on March 11-14.
Staff writer Tucker Savoye contributed to this report. For more men’s basketball coverage, visit Tucker Talks.