Big West tournament looks like a virtual jump ball

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1 Los Angeles Times: Big West tournament looks like a virtual jump ball Page 1 of 2 3/12/ From the Los Angeles Times COLLEGE BASKETBALL Big West tournament looks like a virtual jump ball Three teams tied for regular-season title, and several others appear to have a legitimate shot at tournament title and NCAA bid that goes with it. By Peter Yoon Los Angeles Times Staff Writer March 12, 2008 If the Big West Conference regular season showed anything, it was that there will be no sure things when the conference tournament gets underway tonight at the Anaheim Convention Center. UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton tied for first place in the regularseason standings with Pacific a game behind and UC Irvine two back. It is only the second tri-championship in Big West history, and the type of parity that has many of the league's coaches scrambling to find a way to survive this weekend's tournament. "I think a whole bunch of teams can win it," Fullerton Coach Bob Burton said. "A lot of it is matchups and who you play. I wouldn't be surprised if one through five or six win it. Nothing would surprise me." The stakes are high: an NCAA tournament berth goes to the winner. There aren't many other guarantees. Should UC Santa Barbara fall short of the tournament title, the Gauchos are guaranteed a berth in the NIT by virtue of tiebreakers over Northridge and Fullerton. But that's it. "Everybody is dangerous in this tournament," said Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell, whose 2004 team made the tournament final out of a No. 6 seeding. "If you make just one mistake at the wrong moment, your season could be done." The Matadors could be the poster children for how tight the conference was. They played seven conference games between Jan. 31 and Feb. 28 and five of them were decided by eight or fewer points. Long Beach State was 3-13 in conference and finished eighth after losing its last five Big West games, but during that stretch it lost to Northridge by four, to Irvine by seven and to Santa Barbara by two in overtime.

2 Los Angeles Times: Big West tournament looks like a virtual jump ball Page 2 of 2 "Every game we've had has been a tough game," said Fullerton's Burton. "We just didn't have many easy games. We could have lost games that we won and vice versa." Santa Barbara and Northridge were seeded Nos. 1 and 2, giving them byes into the semifinals. Fullerton and Pacific will skip the first round and pick up play in the quarterfinals. The momentum going in seems to be with Santa Barbara, the preseason favorite that started conference play 3-3 and then won nine of its last 10 conference games to take the No. 1 seeding. The run of must-win games gives Coach Bob Williams hope that his team can handle the pressure of the tournament. "Our guys have responded well to those pressure-type games where there has been a sense of urgency," he said. "There will never be a time with more sense of urgency than when you roll into the Big West tournament." If there is a dark horse pick for the tournament, it's UC Irvine. The Anteaters won five of their last seven conference games with victories over Northridge and Santa Barbara during that span. Irvine was the only team to sweep Santa Barbara this season. "They have our attention," Williams said. "And so does everyone else in the top five." peter.yoon@latimes.com

3 Page 1 of 5 LBSU men better than 6-24 Frank Burlison, Sports columnist Article Launched: 03/11/ :54:06 PM PDT If you're a bottom liner, then you' d take a look at the record of the Long Beach State men's basketball team in the program's first season under Coach Dan Monson and you see a team that is 6-24 and, barring an upset tonight in the Big West Conference Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center, will close its season at But if you've watched the 49ers over the course of the season, you understand that what they've accomplished, and the progress they've made, isn't reflected in the left- or right-hand sides of a win-loss column. There haven't been many games this season when the 49ers took the floor against a team they could feel deeper and more "talented" than, up and down the roster. But the number of games in which they didn't appear to play as hard as they were capable or play as unselfishly as they should was much smaller. This is a team, built from a small group of leftovers who saw next to no action a year ago (although Donovan Morris, one of the Big West's best players, would have played a lot last year if he was not an ineligible redshirt) under former coach Larry Reynolds and players Monson and his staff were still trying to recruit, late into the summer. Still, they lost 12 games by seven or fewer points or in overtime. Yet, no matter how many gut-twisting losses they endured or how many times they were just physically overwhelmed, the 49ers almost always bounced back with the maximum effort and unselfishness that are the defining trademarks of this team. "These players, for the most part, have always found a way to put a loss behind them (and prepare for the next game)," Monson said earlier this week. Of course... "Unfortunately," he added, "we've had 24 opportunities to put a loss behind us. "But we've improved throughout the course of the season. We're a much better team now than we were when we played BYU in the first game of the season and scored only eight points in the first half (before losing, 74-34)." Monson has approached practices following

4 Page 2 of 5 particularly difficult defeats (which, for someone as competitive as Monson, would be all of them) wondering what he would tell his players to get them focused on the next task at hand. "As a coach, you're always looking for different ways to motivate," he said. "And sometimes they respond and sometimes they don't. But, more often than not, this group has responded. "That is why I'm so proud of this team; it's so resilient." There are many teams across the country that are playing in conference tournaments this week that have, figuratively, already moved onto spring vacations. "You always worry about a team (that hasn't won a lot) cashing it in," Monson said. "Sometimes a coach, by February or March, is thinking 'I just want to get through this season.' But this isn't one of those teams." Would he and his players rather be taking, say, a 24-5 record and No. 1 seed into the Anaheim Convention Center with a bye into Friday night's semifinals? Absolutely. But this is one of those instances (and they're not nearly as rare as you would assume if you're into surface evaluations of a team's ' success') in which success should be measured a little more thoughtfully. The tourney circuit Who is going to win the Big West Conference Tournament? Not to cop out but any of four teams: Cal State Northridge (the best depth/quickness), UC Santa Barbara (the best combination of size and skill), Cal State Fullerton (good post play in Scott Cutley and streaky shooting) or Pacific (the best balance of post play, point guard leadership, offensive patience and half-court defense) is each capable of doing so. The Pac 10 Tournament - a Cliff Notes Version: UCLA, Stanford, Washington State and USC are "locks' to get into the NCAA Tourney Field of 65, regardless of what happens today through Saturday at Staples Center. A win Thursday (vs. Cal or Washington) guarantees the Bruins' the No. 1 seed in the West.

5 Page 3 of 5 Arizona State (vs. USC Thursday) and Arizona (vs. Oregon State tonight) need one win apiece to all but wrap up at-large bids. The Sun Devils' hopes of getting in without beating a hot USC club shrank Monday night when San Diego beat Gonzaga in the WCC final (shrinking the at-large pool with the addition of Gonzaga, since it isn't the WCC automatic qualifier now) and South Alabama lost in the Sun Belt semifinals (it probably will get one of the 34 at-large bids). Oregon needs at least one win (vs. Washington State Thursday) and maybe a second (vs. Stanford or Arizona Friday night) to feel pretty good about its at-large hopes on Sunday. High school hoopla Final Southland team ratings: I decided not to include the results of Friday's and Saturday's five state championship games in my final Top 10 rankings. My reasoning is that all of the "Southern California team vs. Southern California team" competition came to a close Saturday during the Regional finals at the L.A. Sports Arena and Mater Dei High. So, here we go: 1. Dominguez; 2. Mater Dei; 3. Martin Luther King of Riverside; 4. Taft; 5. Campbell Hall; 6. Santa Margarita; 7. Fairfax; 8. Simi Valley; 9. Westchester; 10. Compton. Honorable mention: Wilson, Gahr, Bishop Montgomery, Hemet West Valley, Perris and JSerra. To save you from having to look it up, Dominguez's cumulative record against the other nine teams was 9-2. Here are the other "Top 10" records: Mater Dei 3-1, MLK 2-3, Taft 4-1, Campbell Hall 3-2, Santa Margarita 2-5, Fairfax 1-5, Simi Valley 1-1, Westchester 2-3 and Compton 0-4. All-Southland team: I'm giving you 12 players, listed alphabetically, based on how well they played when I saw them (not on college potential or where they finished in "Best in the West" balloting, for example). Here they are: Jerime Anderson (Anaheim Canyon), Demar DeRozan (Compton), Larry Drew (Taft), Jordan Hamilton (Dominguez), Jrue Holiday (Campbell Hall), Lorne Jackson (Simi Valley), Malcolm Lee (JW North), Charles Odum (Mayfair), Renardo Sidney (Fairfax), Klay Thompson (Santa Margarita), David Wear (Mater Dei) and Eric Wise (MLK). Guys who got a few minutes of thought from me before they didn't make the cut: Andy Brown and Travis Wear (both of Mater Dei), Casper Ware (Gahr), Bryce Cartwright (Dominguez), Joe Burton (Hemet West Valley), Hollis Thompson (Loyola), Demetrius Walker

6 Page 4 of 5 (JSerra) and Derrick Williams (La Mirada). There you go: Feel free to rip to your heart's content, boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen. State Tournament Thoughts: The boys' finals have Mater Dei vs. San Jose Mitty (D-II) and Campbell Hall vs. Berkeley St. Mary' s (D-IV) on Friday night in Sacramento' s Arco Arena, with Dominguez vs. Oakland McClymonds (D-I), Santa Margarita vs. Sacramento (D-III) and Renaissance Academy vs. Branson (D-V) doing their thing on Saturday. I haven't seen any of the Northern California teams (other than Mitty, on television) but I'm not about to let that keep me from making some predictions, of sorts. McClymonds is unbeaten but I think Dominguez will prevail as handily as Fairfax did when it beat the Warriors by 20 points in last season's final. I'm sure Sacramento will have a huge edge in fans (duh!) over Santa Margarita but the Eagles aren't gong to be rattled by a lot of noise in the stands. Campbell Hall will win by a lot because it has Jrue Holiday. And Holiday isn't losing in his final high school game. Renaissance Academy will be the D-V champ. And the best game of the five, by far, will be the Mater Dei- Mitty clash, a rematch of last season's final won by Gary McKnight's team in overtime. I'd love to see that one, up close, but I'll be at the Pac-10 Tournament semifinals at Staples Center on Friday night (unless Long Beach State is still alive in the Big West Tournament, then I'll be in Anaheim) before flying to SacTown Saturday morning for the Poly girls' and Dominguez boys' games. I'll TiVo it, though (thank you Fox Sports Net Prime Ticket). The Monarchs will face a very big frontline, led by future UCLA Bruin and "Best in the West" selection Drew Gordon. But if Mater Dei gets solid backcourt play (translated: if the Monarchs don't commit a lot of turnovers), the SoCal teams should go 5-0. Poly McDonald's All-America Jasmine Dixon is one of three finalists for the High School Female Athlete of the Year that will be awarded on April 3 at the ESPN Zone in

7 Page 5 of 5 Anaheim as part off the 710 ESPN Southern California Sports Awards. LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers and ESPN radio host Colin Cowherd are the co-hosts. frank.burlison@presstelegram.com

8 March Madness tips off for UCR Sports PE.com Southern California News News for... Page 2 of 3 3/12/2008 Download story podcast 10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 By ALLAN STEELE The Press-Enterprise RIVERSIDE - The Big West Conference basketball tournament officially starts today, but the UC Riverside men's team already has an early start on March Madness. The Highlanders had to defeat UC Davis this past Saturday just to qualify for the tournament. Playing essentially a play-in game was good preparation for the win-or-go-home mentality of the postseason, Coach Jim Wooldridge said. "We've already played a pressure game," the first-year coach said. "Hopefully we'll use that experience to our advantage. It's almost like we've played a tournament game." The seventh-seeded Highlanders (8-20) face No. 6 Cal Poly (12-17) at approximately 8:30 p.m. in the tournament nightcap at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Highlanders and Mustangs split two games this season, with UCR winning in Riverside and Cal Poly winning in overtime on its home court two weeks ago. "The way we lost game two, I think the guys want to redeem themselves," Wooldridge said. The Mustangs rallied to force overtime on a putback by Titus Shelton with 3 seconds remaining. Cal Poly scored the final five points in regulation and then pulled away in overtime. In Saturday's game, the Highlanders extended a two-point halftime lead and finished with one of their best shooting nights of the season, hitting 59 percent of their shots, including 15 of 21 in the second half. "Wins build confidence, and we'll need that going into the tournament," said sophomore guard Sean Cunningham, who scored 22 points in the win. The third matchup against the Mustangs likely won't present many surprises, Wooldridge said. The Highlanders will have to find a way to shoot around Cal Poly's zone defense and guard the Mustangs' backcourt of Trae Clark (10.5 points) and Lorenzo Keeler (10.3). UCR will need to continue to find some offensive balance to back up leading scorer Larry Cunningham (15.9 points). The tournament should be one of the most competitive in recent years. UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge and Cal State Fullerton all tied for the regular-season title, the first time since that there's been a three-way tie atop the final standings. The Gauchos are the No. 1 seed because of tiebreakers. Pacific, which has been under the radar most of the season, is the No. 4 seed and has reached the NCAA tournament three of the past four years. All four teams finished with at least 20 victories. All-conference players to watch include Alex Harris (UCSB), Scott Cutley (CSF), San Bernardino's Donovan Morris (Long Beach State), Corona's Patrick Sanders (UC Irvine), Jonathan Heard (CSUN) and Steffan Johnson (Pacific). Women's Tournament The women's tournament tips off at noon. UCR is the No. 3 seed and won't play until Thursday. The Highlanders will take on the lowest remaining seed from today's opening round. UC Santa Barbara (15-1 Big West) is the No. 1 seed, and conference newcomer UC Davis is No. 2. Both have byes into Friday's semifinals. UCR (10-6) has won the past two tournament titles, defeating UCSB for the championship both times. "The past does not equal the future," UCR coach John Margaritis said. "If one team gets hot, they go" to the NCAA tournament. Only the tournament champion is guaranteed a berth in the Big Dance. Championship games will be played Saturday, with the women's game at noon on FSN Prime Ticket and the men's game at 8 p.m. on ESPN 2. Reach Allan Steele at or asteele@pe.com