2014 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket
Men's Basketball Weekly Release No. 20
Big West Tournament champion Cal Poly makes its debut in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship against Texas Southern in the First Four. The first-round contest takes place at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday, March 19 with a 3:40 p.m. (PDT) tip on truTV.
One of four-first round matchups in Dayton, the No. 16 seed Cal Poly-Texas Southern winner will face top-seeded Wichita State in the second round on Friday, March 21 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. CBS will televise that contest with start time yet to be determined.
The Mustangs secured their spot in the NCAA Tournament as the Big West’s automatic qualifier after clinching the program’s first conference tournament title. Cal Poly dispatched No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara (69-38), No. 1 UC Irvine (61-58) and No. 5 Cal State Northridge (61-59) on successive nights to become the first No. 7 seed in Big West Tournament history to be crowned champion.
Senior Chris Eversley, the tournament Most Valuable Player, and his Mustang teammates committed just a combined 18 turnovers in the three games, helping Cal Poly become just the fifth team in the 39 years of the tourney to defeat the No. 2 and No. 1 seed on consecutive nights.
Cal Poly made its first postseason appearance in 2013 with an appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
In addition to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion North Carolina Central, Cal Poly is one of two programs making its inaugural NCAA Tournament appearance.
BIG WEST AT A GLANCE
• Cal Poly is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance as a Division I member. The Mustangs joined Division I in 1994-95 and played two seasons in the American West Conference before debuting in the Big West Conference for the 1996-97 campaign.
• The Mustangs previously had played in two Big West Tournament championship games, but were denied a shot at an NCAA Tournament berth with losses to Utah State in 2003 (57-54) and Long Beach State in 2007 (94-83). Cal Poly made good in its third opportunity, becoming the first No. 7 seed and the lowest seed overall in conference tournament history to win the title.
• Cal Poly is one of five current schools to have reached the NCAA Tournament while a member of the Big West. The Mustangs join Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara as participating conference schools in the “Big Dance.” Hawai‘i, which joined the Big West in 2012, also has competed in the NCAA Tournament four times with its two most recent appearances in 2001 and 2002 while with the Western Athletic Conference.
• Through games of March 16, Cal Poly is ranked No. 5 in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (9.0). The Mustangs committed just a combined 18 turnovers in their three Big West Tournament victories. Over the last 14 contests, Cal Poly is averaging a miniscule 7.8 turnovers per game.
• UC Irvine is playing in the National Invitation Tournament for the fifth time in program history. The Anteaters are 2-4 all-time in the NIT, and lost to BYU in the 2002 first round in their last appearance. UCI defeated San Diego State in 1982 and UCLA in 1986 to account for the two victories.
CAL POLY
Headed To Dayton: Cal Poly makes its first NCAA Tournament appearance after becoming the lowest seeded team in Big West Tournament history – a No. 7 seed, to win the title. The Mustangs were just the fifth team in tourney annals to upset the No. 2 and No. 1 seed on back-to-back nights to help carve out their spot in the NCAA’s.
Special Space: With 1,168 points and 597 rebounds, senior Chris Eversley aims to become just the sixth Mustang to compile career totals of at least 1,100 points and 600 rebounds.
Johnson Eyes Assist Chart: Senior Jamal Johnson is getting close to becoming the sixth player in Mustang history with 300 career assists. The 6-0 guard ranks sixth all-time at Cal Poly with 296 assists.
Ball Handlers: Cal Poly enters the NCAA First Four ranked No. 5 in the country in fewest turnovers per game (9.1). The team had just a combined 18 miscues in the league tourney.
CAL STATE FULLERTON
Streak Continues: Cal State Fullerton lost in the Big West Tournament quarterfinals for the fourth straight year, and suffered its fifth straight tourney defeat overall, falling to Long Beach State by a 66-56 score. The Titans finished the season 11-20 in the first year of the Dedrique Taylor era.
Double-Digit Perfect: Senior Michael Williams, the Big West Newcomer of the Year after transferring in from the University of San Francisco, finished the year by scoring in double figures in all 31 games. He posted 12 games of 20 or more points and averaged 17.4 points per game to rank fourth in the Big West in scoring.
In The Record Book: Williams finished the season with 538 points, which puts him in a tie for No. 15 on the Titan single-season scoring list.
Harris With Solid Year: Guard Alex Harris closed out his junior campaign with 17 straight double-digit scoring performances.
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE
Almost: Cal State Northridge, which sported a win against all top four seeds at the Big West Tournament, did not surprise anyone when it reached the Big West Tournament championship game. The Matadors came up two points short of making their second NCAA Tournament appearance as a Big West member when they fell, 61-59, to Cal Poly.
Join The Club: Junior Stephen Maxwell became just the third player in Matador history to collect 1,000 career points and 700 rebounds. The 6-7 forward finished the season with career totals of 1,263 points and 713 boards. His 612 points rank him No. 3 for a single-season in CSUN history.
Greene Machine: Senior Josh Greene shot 91.4% (169 of 185) from the free throw line this season, the second-best single-season mark in Big West annals. The 6-0 guard had two games where he made 12 of 12 (UC Santa Barbara) and 11 of 11 (UC Irvine) from the charity stripe. He is an integral reason why the Matadors are the nation’s No. 1 free throw shooting club (.791) entering the NCAA Tournament.
LONG BEACH STATE
Anomaly: Long Beach State finished below .500 (15-17) for the first time since Dan Monson coached the team in his inaugural 2007-08 season. The 49ers played one of the nation’s toughest non-conference schedules once again, starting the season 1-9 before going 14-8 the rest of the way.
Caffey Ninth In Assists: Junior point guard Mike Caffey finished the campaign with 338 assists, placing him No. 9 on the school’s career list.
Lamb Contributes Heavily: A midseason transfer from UCLA, junior guard Tyler Lamb played an instrumental role in LBSU’s third place conference finish. He averaged 15.4 points per game, which would have ranked him 10th in the Big West for scoring had he met the league’s minimum requirement for games played.
Monson Close To Record: Dan Monson concluded his seventh year at the LBSU helm with a 119-108 mark. He is just four wins shy of becoming the winningest coach in LBSU history and surpassing Jerry Tarkanian’s record of 123.
UC DAVIS
Tourney Miss: UC Davis lost seven of its final eight conference games to miss the Big West Tournament for the first time since 2011. The injury-riddled Aggies lose just one senior off of this year’s team.
What A Way To Go Out: Senior Ryan Sypkens rewrote the Big West record book to wrap up his UC Davis career. The 6-4 guard erased a 15-year old record, supplanting Pacific’s Adam Jacobsen as the Big West career three-point record holder. Sypkens finished with 315 treys, eclipsing the previous mark of 311 by Jacobsen (1993-98).
Hawkins Still Impressive: Junior Corey Hawkins averaged 18.0 points per game, ranking No. 2 in the Big West in scoring. The 6-3 guard remained one of the league’s most prolific scorers after becoming Big West scoring champion in 2012-13. Hawkins posted nine games of 20 points or more.
Lemar Finishes Strong: Freshman guard Brynton Lemar finished his initial campaign with a career-high 19 points against UC Riverside and he toiled a career-best 39 minutes in the season finale versus UC Irvine.
UC IRVINE
Coming Up Short: UC Irvine’s quest to capture its first Big West Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth came up short as the top-seeded Anteaters fell to No. 7 seeded Cal Poly in the semifinals.
Record Still In Sight: UCI’s 23 victories is tied for the second-most in program history. The Anteaters can still chase the single-season record of 25 wins that the 2000-01 club established because they are competing in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). UCI travels to SMU for a first-round NIT game on Wednesday.
It’s Mamadou’s Record Now: Mamadou Ndiaye, a 7-6 freshman center, broke the Big West single-season blocked shots record – 95 by Pacific’s Michael Olowokandi in 1997-98. Ndiaye now has 99 blocks on the season. He ranks No. 15 nationally in blocked shots per game (3.0).
Balanced Scoring Attack: UCI has three starters averaging from 11.1 to 11.7 points per game, and two others at 8.8 and 8.0, respectively. The five starters combined have scored 1,684 points, or 70 percent of the team’s total offense.
UC RIVERSIDE
Highlanders Fall: UC Riverside ended its season in the quarterfinals of the Big West Tournament, falling to top-seeded UC Irvine by a score of 63-43. The Highlanders dropped to 3-9 all-time in tournament games.
No Stranger to Close Games: The improvement of the Highlander program in 2013-14 was no more evident in the fact that more than half their games – 16 to be exact – were decided by five points or less. Although they finished 5-11 in those games, the Highlanders became more accustomed to them as the season wore on. UCR eventually pulled out a 106-105 double overtime nailbiter against eventual Big West Tournament finalist Cal State Northridge on Mar. 1.
Blocks Man: Sophomore Taylor Johns has recorded the third-most single-season blocked shots (72) in the UCR record book and the second-most in the school’s Division I history. He already has 98 career swats in two seasons.
Leading Frosh: Guard Sam Finley led all Big West freshmen in scoring at 12.5 points per game in 2013-14.
UC SANTA BARBARA
Twenty-Plus: UC Santa Barbara’s 21-9 record represented its fifth 20-win season during the 16-year tenure of head coach Bob Williams. Only the 23-9 squad in 2007-08 managed more victories under Williams.
Tough Exit: The 69-38 loss to Cal Poly in the Big West Tournament quarterfinals tied for the sixth-largest margin of defeat in tourney history and the 38 points tied for the second-fewest scored in any tourney game.
Williams On A Short List: Junior Alan Williams, the 2013-14 Big West Player of the Year, was the first player to lead the Big West in scoring (21.3 ppg) and rebounding (11.5 rpg) since Pacific’s Christian Maraker accomplished the feat in 2005-06.
True Point Guard: Junior Zalmico Harmon had a 4.64 assist-to-turnover ratio prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament, placing him No. 2 in the national stats. He had 71 assists and seven turnovers over the last 14 contests. For the year, he posted 153 assists against only 33 turnovers.
HAWAI‘I
Twenty: Hawai‘i earned its first 20-win season in 11 years as it season wrapped up with a heartbreaking overtime loss in the Big West Tournament quarterfinals to Cal State Northridge. The 2003-04 squad was the last to hit the 20-win mark, going 21-12 that year.
Free Throw Champ: Senior Christian Standhardinger, a two-time first-team all-conference choice, had an outstanding 2013-14 season and did much of his damage at the free throw line. Standhardinger set UH single-season record for free throws made (195) and attempted (254). Those numbers also etched his name in the Big West record book, putting him tied for fourth in makes and seventh in attempts. The forward also was No. 2 in the conference in scoring (18.1 ppg) and No. 3 in rebounding (8.4 rpg).
Top Offense: The Rainbow Warriors finished No. 1 in the Big West in scoring offense, averaging exactly 80.0 points per game. They were No. 18 in the country entering the NCAA Tournament. UH scored 80 or more points on 15 occasions, surpassed 90 six times and 100 twice.