Men's Basketball, Men's Sports, Sports

Big West’s best meet in Anaheim

The men’s basketball Big West Tournament will kick off Thursday at the Honda Center in Anaheim with eight teams vying for a single spot in the NCAA Tournament.

No. 1 seed UC Davis will enter the tournament as the favorite after the Aggies went 14-2 in conference and 24-5 overall. Big West Coach of the Year Jim Les said the team’s role-players have been key to the team’s success.

“We have a lot of unsung heroes that have accepted their roles and kind of put away their personal goals for the good of the team,” Les said. “[Sophomore guard] Darius Graham is our energizer. It starts with him. The pace at which we play, he’s the first line of defense out pressuring the ball. He has been stellar.”

The Aggies will take on No. 8 Cal State Northridge at noon on Thursday. CSUN will have to prepare for Big West Player of the Year Corey Hawkins, who led the league in scoring at 20.6 points per game. Hawkins is one of two Aggies who average double-digit scoring.

“We thought all along we were going to be a pretty good offensive team,” Les said. “Our offensive numbers get a lot of attention, but the success we’ve had has been directly attributed to our ability to defend.”

No. 4 Long Beach State will take on No. 5 Hawaii in the second game of the day. The two teams split the season series, each winning their home game. Hawaii interim head coach Benjy Taylor said the 49ers have been the cream of the crop in the Big West for a while.

“I think [LBSU] knows it is go-time for them,” Taylor said. “They have a lot of experienced guys. Mike Caffey is one of the best guards in the league. He’ll be refreshed and rejuvenated. We’ll have our hands full. I think it’ll be a different team on Thursday than we’ve seen the last two games, and we have to be ready to make adjustments.”

Monson said he thought his team was in a good place mentally and physically after a three-game winning streak to close out the season. He said the 49ers have to be prepared for Hawaii’s intense defensive pressure.

“They personally challenge you when you have the ball,” Monson said. “It’s a man’s challenge to be able to secure the ball when they’re on defense and you’re on offense. We’ve had mixed success over the two games. I think they’ve been up 14-2 in both games, and our guys have not been able to adjust to their aggressiveness and athleticism until 10 minutes into the game in both games.”

In the third game of the day, No. 3 UC Irvine takes on No. 6 UC Riverside. The Anteaters have never made the NCAA Tournament, and head coach Russell Turner said the pressure of never making it is something he does not like to bring up to his team.

“I think that’s a media narrative more than anything,” Turner said. “Our guys understand as well as anybody the pressure of this tournament. We’ve known all year that his week is the most important week of our season.”

Juniors Taylor Johns and Jaylen Bland lead Riverside in scoring at 16.3 and 15.5 PPG, respectively. Johns earned first-team all-Big West honors for the first time in his career. Bland earned second-team honors, and is the Highlander’s best three-point shooter at 40 percent from deep.

Thursday’s schedule will conclude with No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara taking on reigning Big West Tournament champions Cal Poly. The Mustangs were the No. 7 seed last year when they made their run.

Cal Poly head coach Joe Callero said he was confident his team can beat anybody, but the Mustangs must stay focused on the Gauchos.

“Santa Barbara’s beat us twice,” Callero said. “They’re the better team right now. We have a couple more days to lift weights and watch film and try to become a better team. The bad news is we’re the seventh seed. We lost a few games down the stretch here [that we could have won].”

The Big West Tournament starts Thursday at noon at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.

Daily 49er newsletter

Instagram