The 2020 Amtrak® Pacific Surfliner® Big West Tournament was cancelled on March 12 as conferences throughout the country stopped competition, out of an abundance of caution in response to the threat of COVID-19 or coronavirus.

None of the previous 44 men’s tournaments had experienced a cancellation, but in the interest of preserving the well-being of Big West student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media, the conference’s Board of Directors made the unprecedented decision. The Board later cancelled the remainder of the spring schedule on March 13.

The NCAA followed suit on the afternoon of March 12 with the cancellation of the men’s and women’s 2020 basketball tournaments, as well as all remaining winter and spring NCAA championships. Per the NCAA, “This decision is based on the evolving COVID-19 public health threat, our ability to ensure the events do not contribute to the spread of the pandemic, and the impracticality of hosting such events at any time during this academic year given ongoing decisions by other entities.”

UC Irvine wrapped up the Big West regular season title for the second year in a row with a 13-3 league record. The Anteaters also collected their third title in the last four seasons, fifth in the last seven, and seventh overall. Since the 2013-14 season, Russell Turner’s program is 88-24 (.786) in Big West play.

UCI’s level of dominance has ramped up steadily over the last two seasons as the ‘Eaters won the 2018-19 crown by four games (15-1) and finished in first by three games this season.

UCI finished the 2019-20 campaign 21-11 overall, marking the seventh time in the last eight seasons that the program has eclipsed 20 wins. The Anteaters reached the 20-win threshold just four times in the 35 previous seasons as a Division I program.

The first three seasons of the Joe Pasternack era at UC Santa Barbara has yielded 66 victories – the most of any three-year period in the school’s history. UCSB’s win total over that span – 23 (2017-18), 22 (2018-19) and 21 (2019-20) – marks three straight 20-win seasons for just the second time in program annals (1987-90).

CSUN overcame a 2-10 start, all without eventual Big West Player of the Year LAMINE DIANE, going 13-7 the rest of the season. Diane helped the Matadors to a 10-6 mark and a tie for second place in the Big West standings. It marked CSUN’s highest Big West finish since winning the league title in 2008-09. The program also recorded double-digit league wins for the first time since 2008-09.

NOTEBOOK

UC Riverside Ties Division I Wins Record
In just his second year at the helm of UC Riverside, head coach David Patrick guided the Highlanders to a Division I program-tying record 17 victories, tying the 2008-09 team which finished 17-13 overall. UCR posted a 17-15 record this season – and easily could have topped 20 wins. The Highlanders were in involved in eight games decided by five points or less, going just 2-6 overall. Of UCR’s nine Big West losses, six came by a combined total of 16 points. Among those six losses, UCR fell by four points to regular season champion UC Irvine, two to second place CSUN, and by a bucket at second place UC Santa Barbara. UCR’s seven league victories represented the most for the program since 2014-15.

Hawai‘i Stays Steady
Hawai‘i finished 8-8 in league play for the third time in the last four seasons, and the program has never had a losing Big West season since joining the league in 2012-13.

Gomez, Gonzalez Lead Nation In Statistical Categories
The Big West had two players rank No. 1 nationally in a couple of NCAA stat categories in 2019-20. CSUN junior TERRELL GOMEZ finished No. 1 in free throw percentage (.948), making 109 of his 115 attempts. That figure placed the guard No. 2 in Big West single-season history, just behind record holder Clay McKnight of Pacific (.949, 1999-2000). UC Davis senior STEFAN GONZALEZ led the nation in three-point field goal percentage (.477). The guard made 83-of-174 from distance.

Key Non-Conference WIns
Based upon the final NET Ratings from the NCAA, the Big West had a handful of solid wins against non-conference opponents. Long Beach State had the highest ranked win, defeating No. 37 Providence in the Wooden Legacy. Cal State Fullerton knocked off No. 76 UCLA in Pauley Pavilion, while Hawai‘i upended No. 83 San Francisco at home. UC Irvine’s best road win came against No. 90 Boise State.

Media Accurate With Preseason Picks
For the third straight season and the sixth time in seven years, the media chose UC Irvine as the favorite to win the Big West regular season title in its annual preseason poll. In one of the closest votes in the poll’s history, UCI prevailed with 258 points, a mere two points ahead of UC Santa Barbara’s 256. Both schools received 15 first-place votes. The remainder of the poll included CSUN in third (202), followed by Hawai‘i (155), Cal State Fullerton (152), Long Beach State (118), UC Riverside (107), UC Davis (104) and Cal Poly (43).

The 31-member panel was accurate, especially at the top of the standings. UCI won the regular season title by three games, while UCSB tied CSUN for second place. The media also correctly predicted UH’s fourth place finish. UC Davis made the biggest jump, tying UH for fourth after being forecasted for eighth.

Big West Coaching
Long Beach State’s DAN MONSON – the dean of Big West head coaches – finished his 13th season roaming the Walter Pyramid sidelines. He ranks sixth all-time in conference history in both overall (211) and Big West wins (128). He became just the sixth head coach in Big West history to reach the milestone 200th win, doing so in the 2019 league tournament against Hawai‘i. UC Irvine’s RUSSELL TURNER joined Monson in elite company when he picked up No. 200 on Jan. 25 against Cal Poly, and he ended the season at 209. The only other head coaches with 200 or more wins during their tenure with the conference are as follows – Bob Thomason (Pacific, 436), Jerry Tarkanian (Long Beach State & UNLV, 405), Bob Williams (UC Santa Barbara, 313), Neil McCarthy (New Mexico State, 248) and Jerry Pimm (UC Santa Barbara, 222).

Anteaters Send Off Trio Of 1,000-Point Scorers
Three seniors depart UC Irvine as career 1,000-point scorers – the 28th, 29th and 30th players in the program’s history to accomplish the feat. Backcourt mates EVAN LEONARD and EYASSU WORKU made the list, as did forward TOMMY RUTHERFORD. The three amassed a combined total of 3,706 career points. Leonard topped the group with 1,285 points as he finished No. 13 in the record book. Worku was right behind with 1,273 points, good for No. 16 overall. Rutherford became just the 13th player in school history to finish with 1,000 points and 600 rebounds, tallying 1,148 and 685, respectively.

Big West In Final NCAA Rankings
Numerous Big West teams and individuals landed in the NCAA’s final top 25 statistical rankings for 2019-20.

• UC Riverside finished No. 8 in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 60.6 points per game.
• UC Davis finished No. 6 in free throw percentage (.787) and No. 3 in three-point field goal percentage (.397).
• UC Irvine finished No. 3 in rebound margin (+9.4), No. 14 in total rebounds (1,269), No. 22 in rebounds per game (39.7), No. 21 in field goal percentage (.473) and No. 12 in field goal percentage defense (.388).
• CSUN junior TERRELL GOMEZ finished No. 1 in free throw percentage at .948. He made 109-of-115 at the stripe.
• Gomez also finished No. 5 in total threes made (111), No. 6 in three-point field goals made per game (3.47), No. 8 in three-point field goal percentage (.440), No. 14 in total minutes played (1,188), No. 17 in minutes per game (37.1), No. 19 in three-point field goal attempts (252) and No. 23 in total points (634).
• UC Davis senior STEFAN GONZALEZ finished No. 1 in three-point field goal percentage (.477).
• CSUN sophomore DARIUS BROWN II finished No. 13 in assist-to-turnover ratio (+2.89).
• Long Beach State freshman JOSHUA MORGAN finished No. 13 in total blocked shots (80) and No. 19 in blocked shots per game (2.50).
• Hawai‘i senior EDDIE STANSBERRY finished No. 21 in both three-point field goal attempts (249) and three-point field goals made per game (3.00), and No. 22 in minutes per game (36.6).

Rowe Joins Exclusive Titan Club
Cal State Fullerton senior JACKSON ROWE concluded his collegiate career with the distinction of being just the second player in school history with at least 1,000 points and 800 rebounds. Rowe was the first player in 35 years to achieve the program feat, joining Tony Neal (1982-85), who finished with 1,327 points and 1,115 rebounds. Rowe finished with 1,340 points – No. 10 in CSF history – and he collected 811 rebounds.

Manjon Among Elite Company
UC Davis guard EZRA MANJON become the conference’s first true freshman in 46 years to earn mulitiple BIg West Player of the Week awards in one season. Manjon, who garnered the award on Jan. 20 and Feb. 17, joined Clifton Pondexter of Long Beach State on the exclusive list. Pondexter was an honoree on Feb. 11 and Feb. 18 of the 1973-74 season. Manjon earned the Feb. 17 award after averaging 18.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in wins over UC Santa Barbara and CSUN. The league’s top freshman scorer – No. 14 overall at 12.1 points per game – the Aggie floor general received his first honor after averaging 17.5 points in wins over Long Beach State and CSUN.

Big West Postseason Awards
CSUN sophomore forward LAMINE DIANE highlighted the 2019-20 Big West men’s basketball awards with his back-to-back selection as Player of the Year. He’s the eighth individual in league history to earn the top award twice. He averaged 25.6 points and 10.2 rebounds in 19 games. Cal State Fullerton senior BRANDON KAMGA was named Newcomer of the Year. The transfer from High Point ranked No. 3 in scoring at 15.5 points per game. UC Davis guard EZRA MANJON collected Freshman of the Year honors after averaging 12.1 points and 4.1 assists per game. UC Irvine’s RUSSELL TURNER earned his fourth Coach of the Year award – No. 3 all time in Big West history –  after leading the Anteaters to their fifth regular season title in the last seven seasons.

Diane Named To NABC All-District First Team
CSUN sophomore LAMINE DIANE earned First Team All-District 9 honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), the league’s first representative on the first team list since Stefan Jankovic of Hawai‘i and Nick Faust of Long Beach State in 2015-16. Diane is the CSUN’s first two-time NABC All-District honoree after garnering second team honors as a freshman. Despite playing just 19 games, he led the Big West in double-doubles (11) and total 30-point games (7).

Gomez Top Five On Triples List
CSUN guard TERRELL GOMEZ finished his junior campaign occupying the No. 5 in Big West career annals with 293 made three-pointers. The guard made 117 threes in 2018-19 – No. 6 on the league’s single-season list. He knocked down 111 threes in 2019-20, making him just the second player in Big West history with 100 triples in multiple seasons (Josh Akognon, Cal State Fullerton). Gomez is positioned to become the league’s career record holder next season as he is just 22 away from the record 315 by Ryan Sypkens (UC Davis, 2009-14).

Gomez On Single-Season Threes List
CSUN junior TERRELL GOMEZ is the only player in Big West history to put his name on the single-season three-point field goals made list two times. He landed there last year with 117 triples – No. 6 all-time in conference history. Gomez, who made five or more threes in a game eight times in 2019-20, drained 111 threes this season to tie for No. 9 on the list.

Morgan Finishes Top 10 In Single-Season Blocks
Long Beach State center JOSHUA MORGAN became just the seventh player in Big West history to conclude a season with 80 or more blocked shots. Morgan blocked a league-leading 80 shots and led the Big West with 2.5 blocks per game. Morgan became just the second freshman to be named Big West Defensive Player of the Year behind former UC Irvine 7-foot-6 center Mamadou Ndiaye in 2014. Ndiaye set the league’s single-season blocked shots record with 106 as a freshman. Morgan broke the LBSU single-game record for swats with eight against Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 18.