UC Davis, UC Irvine and UC Riverside attempt to improve to 2-0 in men's basketball league play as the three schools have hosting roles. The Aggies entertain Cal State Northridge, the Highlanders welcome UC Santa Barbara, and the Anteaters take on visiting Cal Poly in Monday night competition.
NOTEWORTHY
Keep An Eye On
Joe Ford, Pacific
One of the most versatile players in the Big West, Ford continues to prove how valuable he is to Pacific’s fortunes. The senior forward delivered his first career double-double in the Tigers’ 52-43 win versus Cal State Northridge in the Big West opener on Saturday. Ford had 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, as well as a season-high four blocked shots. He also converted all five of his field goal attempts in the game. For the season, Ford leads the team in steals (13), blocked shots (14) and field goal percentage (.667). He’s also second on the Tigers with 5.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
MORE NOTABLES
Favorites Go Down In Big West Openers
The top three teams in the preseason media poll - Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge - lost to teams that were picked below them when conference play began on Saturday. The biggest “upset” was in UC Irvine’s 57-55 victory against UCSB. The Anteaters were tabbed eighth in the preseason poll. UC Riverside earned a 69-67 win in overtime against LBSU and Pacific emerged the victor in a low scoring affair against CSUN. The Highlanders and Tigers were selected to finish fourth and fifth, respectively.
Big West Television Schedule Begins This Week
The Big West television schedule on the ESPN and Fox networks gets underway this week. The Big West has a total of five conference games on ESPNU or ESPN2. Eight league contests will be broadcast on either FSN Prime Ticket or FSN West. In addition, the Big West Tournament men’s semifinals will be aired on ESPNU and the men’s championship on ESPN2. On Friday, UC Davis travels to UC Santa Barbara for an 8:00 p.m. tip on ESPNU. Cal State Fullerton also makes the short Saturday trek up the 91 Freeway for a battle at UC Riverside on FSN West. Tip time for that game is 4:00 p.m.
Gurganious Provides Heroics In Highlander Win
UC Riverside trailed by as many as 11 points in its Big West opener versus Long Beach State, but scored 26 points in the paint after intermission to complete a comeback and win, 69-67, in overtime. Of those 26 interior points, none was more important than the layup by UCR guard Larry Gurganious with 1.3 seconds left in overtime. With the score tied at 67, Gurganious created a space in the 49er defense with the clock winding down and made the winning shot, finishing with 18 points.
Student Rec Center No Place To Be For Visitors
The Student Recreation Center is turning out to be quite the home court advantage for UC Riverside. The Highlanders are 6-0 in their home facility this season, and have won 10 straight in the SRC dating back to last year.
Pacific Clamps Down
Pacific ended a three-game losing streak with its best defensive effort of the season in Saturday’s 52-43 win against Cal State Northridge. The 43 points amounted to the lowest scoring total by a Tiger opponent in 2009-10. In addition, Pacific’s 52 points was the lowest winning point total since knocking off Idaho 52-48 on December 12, 2001.
Home Teams Hold Court
The home team went 4-0 on the first night of conference play. That’s still too early to indicate home court dominance throughout the conference ledger, but the road team has had its share of success the last two seasons. Big West home court winning percentage was only .542 (39-33) in 2008-09 and .583 (42-30) in 2007-08. In contrast, Big West schools posted a 30-9 (.769) in non-conference home games during November and December prior to the beginning of league action.
Looking For A Streak Buster
Several Big West teams struggled in the final weeks of non-conference play, continuing into the league opener. Here’s who’s looking to turn the tide in the early part of 2010:
Cal Poly - current 3 game losing streak
Cal State Fullerton - lost 4 of its last 5 games
Cal State Northridge - current 5 game losing streak
Long Beach State - current 4 game losing streak
UC Santa Barbara - lost 6 of its last 7 games
Coaching Milestones On The Horizon
A pair of head coaches are poised to enter the top five in all time victories while a member of the Big West coaching fraternity. Pat Douglass, in his 13th year at the helm of UC Irvine, is currently No. 6 all-time with 190 victories. He is the all-time winningest coach at UCI. He needs five wins to surpass Fresno State’s Boyd Grant (1978-86) in the No. 5 spot. A 17-win season for Douglass would make him just the fifth coach to reach the 200-win plateau.
UC Santa Barbara’s Bob Williams enters his 12th season on the Central Coast campus just four wins behind Douglass in the record book. He is 184-152 with the Gauchos. Williams has posted two 20-win seasons (2001-02, 2007-08) during his tenure.
ALL-TIME VICTORY LEADERS - BIG WEST TENURE
Rk. Coach, School No.
1. Jerry Tarkanian, LBSU & UNLV 405
2. Bob Thomason, Pacific 372
3. Neil McCarthy, New Mexico State 248
4. Jerry Pimm, UC Santa Barbara 222
5. Boyd Grant, Fresno State 194
6. Pat Douglass, UC Irvine 190
7. Bob Williams, UC Santa Barbara 184
8. Stew Morrill, Utah State 167
9. Bill Mulligan, UC Irvine 163
10. Rod Tueller, Utah State 158
Bold denotes active Big West head coach
Hunter Closing In On 200 Threes
UC Irvine senior guard Michael Hunter, who earlier became the 19th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points, is on track to accomplish another feat. He is bidding to become only the third UCI player to amass 200 career three-pointers. Hunter enters Monday’s home game against Cal Poly with 193 career threes. He trails only Jeff Herdman’s (1987-91) 201 and Ross Schraeder’s (2002-06) school record 233. Hunter ranks No. 2 in the Big West this season in three-pointers made (37) and three-pointers made (2.8 pg).
Here’s To You Mr. Robinson
Long Beach State sophomore T.J. Robinson leads the Big West in rebounding at 10.9 per game. He is on pace to become the first Big West player to finish a season with a double-digit rebounding average since Pacific’s Michael Olowokandi grabbed 11.0 boards per game in 1997-98. Robinson has recorded 10 or more rebounds in nine of the 49ers’ 14 games this season.
Follow Your Team On BigWest.TV
The Big West Conference and the CBS College Sports Network are partnering to bring you exclusive coverage of Big West sports, press conferences, interviews, and features to your home via the Internet! Now in its fifth year, BigWest.TV covers every home and conference contest in men’s basketball as well as women’s basketball and volleyball. Also covered are select contests in men’s and women’s soccer, baseball, softball, and Big West Conference Championships. A monthly subscription of $9.95 or an annual subscription of $79.95 delivers exclusive coverage to you. If you can’t make it to the gym or the field, you can still catch all the action on BigWest.TV!