Sports: Big West Tournament 2007, day 3 and day 4

In the opening game, the Anteaters face Long Beach State. The teams split their regular season meetings in close games. Mark Kelley scored 24 in the last meeting against Long Beach State. Darren Fells left the game against UCSB with an injury but it wasn't clear how serious it was. Also watch for Michael Hunter, the freshman guard from UCI who has been coming on strong as the season progressed. Last year, UCI was the #2 seed facing Long Beach State in the semi-finals and came from behind to take a one-point lead but Long Beach had the final possession and Aaron Nixon hit a three as time expired. Should be an close one again tonight!

UPDATE: Long Beach 77 UCI 63.

In game two, Cal State Fullerton the #3 seed meets up with Cal Poly the #2 seed. The teams split their regular season meetings in high scoring affairs. However, Cal Poly has been on a roll winning 9 of their last 10. Cal Poly is lead in scoring by Derek Stockalper. Whiten and McGinn also average in double digits for the Mustangs. The Titans are a high scoring run and gun team lead by Bobby Brown. Cutley and Robinson grab rebounds and can score as well. Will the Titans be weary from their double-overtime win on Thursday night? Since I'm rooting for the underdog in game #1 tonight, I'll also root for the Titans to pull off the mild upset in game #2.

UPDATE: Cal Poly 81 CSUF 56.

UPDATE: LBSU 94 CP 83. Long Beach faces Tennessee in the NCAA!

UPDATE: Whelliston comments on ESPN.com about the Big West:

What's not surprising in the Big West has been the superb play of preseason favorite Long Beach State, with its balanced scoring attack led by Big West POY Aaron Nixon (18.4 ppg). What has been a surprise has been the rise of Cal Poly, which has won 18 games for the first time since arriving in Division I 13 years ago. The Mustangs fling 3s on one end and pack it defensively on the other, and are led by Derek Stockalper (14.5 ppg), a senior who makes 50 percent of his threebies.

Cal Poly lost their 2 regular season meetings with Long Beach. But in their last meeting, it was a close game with the final score being 80-77. Since that loss, the Mustangs have won 8 in a row. Should be a good game between two teams that aren't afraid to shoot the three.

Sports: Big West Tournament 2007, day 2

In the opening game tonight, Cal State Fullerton faces UOP. Basketball is often about which team can force the game into the style they like. Fullerton is a run and gun style team (82.4 pts/game and 1832 shots attempted this season) while Pacific is more deliberate (67.8 pts/game and 1537 shots attempted this season). I'm picking Pacific to pull off the upset tonight.

UPDATE: Titans 100 Tigers 92 (2OT)!!

UC Irvine faces UC Santa Barbara. Neither team is an offensive powerhouse with both teams in the bottom half of the conference in offense. Both teams have the lowest points against as well. Anteaters need to contain Alex Harris and hit their threes to have a chance to win. I've attended three UCI games in the past few years and each time they lost close contests that went into the final minute of the game. I'll be checking the internet tonight to see how they do. Toss up game, but since I went to UCI, I have to pick the Anteaters. What can I say, doh, Homer pick!

UPDATE: UCI 28 UCSB 18 at the half. Anteaters cruise to a surprisingly easy win 70-52. Alex Harris of UCSB got 22 points but many came when UCI had built a huge lead. No one else on the Gauchos scored in double figures.

Sports: Big West Tournament 2007, day 1

#5 seed UC Irvine Anteaters rallied from 18 down to avoid the upset by #8 seed UC Riverside Highlanders and win 53-52! UC Irvine faces UC Santa Barbara tomorrow night! Go 'Eaters, zot, zot, zot!

Cal State Northridge Matadors (6) played University of Pacific Tigers (7) in the 2nd game of day one at the Big West Tournament. Pacific easily won 71-54.

Sports: Big West Tournament 2007, preview

Image source: http://www.bigwest.org/sports/mbball/info/champs/

The BWT starts Wednesday.

Last year, I blogged quite a bit about it because I went to a number of the games. Alas, I'm not going this year as the prospects for my Anteaters are poor compared to last year. I will still follow along via the internet!

Kyle Whelliston covers the mid-majors for ESPN.com. Perhaps, he will have a preview for the Big West Tournament in the next day or two.

In the meantime, I hope this little summary will tide you over until Whelliston puts something out there and while you continue to scour basketball boards for any tidbit about the Big West.

#1 Seed - Long Beach
The clear favorites. They clinched the regular season title before the final weekend and finished with a 12-2 record in conference well ahead of Cal Poly's 9-5 mark. The key players to watch on the 49ers are Aaron Nixon (Big West Player of the Year) and Kejuan Johnson. The team is not shy about putting up the three-pointer. The team averages 10.3 made 3-pts per game and 86.4 pts per game.

#2 Seed - Cal Poly
They too aren't shy about putting up the three making 10 per game. The Mustangs are on a seven-game winning streak. Will they get to face the 49ers on Saturday for the NCAA bid? They lost both regular season meetings against Long Beach. Player to watch: Derek Stockalper.

#3 Seed - Cal State Fullerton
A run and gun team that I saw give UCLA trouble for about 2/3 of the game. The Titan's star is Bobby Brown averaging 20 points a game. They started the season off strong but have been slumping having lost 5 of their last 8.

#4 Seed - UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos are on a three-game winning streak and have the conference stingiest defense giving up only 68.6 points a game. Their star is conference scoring champ Alex Harris who averaged 21 points a game.

#5 Seed - UC Irvine
The Anteaters have been erratic all season. Their longest win streak was only three games. Yet, they are one of two teams in conference to beat #1 seed Long Beach. In their second meeting against the 49ers, they got the lead then gave it up and then almost made the comeback. This same team struggled in two wins over #8 seed UC Riverside. Darren Fells gives them some inside presence and Adam Templeton and Nic Campbell launch the threes.

#6 Seed Cal State Northridge
The Matadors are the other team besides the Anteaters to beat Long Beach. But they too have been erratic all season managing just two three-game win streaks. They have played .500 ball in their last eight games after a mid-season 4-game losing streak. They split the regular season meetings against #7 seed Pacific. Player to watch: Jonathan Heard.

#7 Seed - University of Pacific
The UOP Tigers have had a terrible season after dominating the Big West the last few years. They are currently on a 4-game losing streak. Player to watch: forward Anthony Brown.

#8 Seed - UC Riverside
The Highlanders have had a difficult season. One of their players was killed in an auto accident before the season and their coach took a medical leave of absence. They went 1-13 in conference and 7-23 overall. They did play the Anteaters very close in their two regular season meetings. Player to watch: Larry Cunningham.