2020-21 MEN'S BASKETBALL RELEASE NO. 13

BROADCAST GUIDE

TIPOFF TIME

UC Santa Barbara In First Place
Tightly bunched at the top, UC Santa Barbara owns sole possession of first place at 8-2 in Big West play, one game ahead of UC Irvine (7-3). Based on winning percentage, CSU Bakersfield sits in third place (8-4, .667) while UC Riverside is fourth (5-3, .625).

Schedule Update
Eight of the 10 scheduled games last week were played. The Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly series in San Luis Obispo was cancelled due to COVID-19 issues. Twenty-six of the 80 conference games so far have been scrubbed from the schedule, although only eight of those have occurred in the last four weeks.

ESPNU Clash In The Thunderdome
CSU Bakersfield travels to UC Santa Barbara this weekend in a crucial battle between the third place ‘Runners and league-leading Gauchos. Friday’s opening game will be nationally televised on ESPNU at 8 pm PT. Both teams are tied for the most overall (14) and conference (8) victories, although the Gauchos have two less losses in Big West play.

The two squads lead the Big West in a number of stat categories:

CSU Bakersfield

UC Santa Barbara

Streaks
UCSB enters the week with a 10-game winning streak, the second-longest in school history. The Gauchos need one win to tie and two to surpass the school record of 11, set by the 1988-89 team which began the year 11-0. In addition, UCSB has won 13 straight games in the Thunderdome dating back to last season, which is two short of the record 15 set between the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons.

Milestone Musings
UCSB junior Amadou Sow became the first Big West player this season to reach the career 1,000-point scoring milestone. Sow’s first bucket in Saturday’s game at Hawai‘i made him the 30th player in school history to hit the mark. In addition, he’s the 20th Gaucho to eclipse 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Teammate JaQuori McLaughlin is next. He’s at 994 career points. UC Irvine junior Collin Welp needs 19 points to become the 31st Anteater to 1,000.

UC San Diego Clarification
UC San Diego, which has begun a four-year reclassfication period to full Division I membership, is not eligible for Big West or NCAA postseason events, and therefore has not been included in the standings. Games against UC San Diego count as non-conference Division 1 games.

A Glance At The NET Rankings
Through games of February 15, UC Santa Barbara remains the Big West’s top team in the NCAA’s NET Rankings. The Gauchos are ranked No. 48 overall, third-best among teams in the state of California and behind only USC and San Diego State.

MORE NOTABLES

• Three former Big West players are listed on current NBA rosters – UC Santa Barbara’s Gabe Vincent (Miami Heat), Cal Poly’s David Nwaba (Houston Rockets) and Long Beach State’s James Ennis III (Orlando Magic).

• Dedrique Taylor of Cal State Fullerton and Eran Ganot of Hawai‘i are closing in on career head coaching milestones. Taylor is one win away from 100, while Ganot needs four more to reach the century mark.

• UC Davis sophomore guard Ezra Manjon and UC Santa Barbara junior forward Amadou Sow were selected to the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List. The award is presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division I.

• The Lou Henson Award Midseason Watch List was released in January, and both Sow and UC Irvine junior forward Collin Welp represented the Big West.

• UC Irvine senior center Brad Greene was named one of 30 candidates for the 2020-21 Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as a Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The list will be narrowed to 10 finalists in late February, and the winner will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Men’s Final Four®. Greene is the first UCI player to be recognized for the prestigious award.

• Through the first 52 Big West games of the conference season, 18 have been decided by five points or fewer.

• In conference play, the home team has posted a 29-23 record.

CHAMPIONSHIPS MOVE TO VEGAS
The 2021 Air Force Reserve Big West Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, presented by the Hawaiian Islands, has been moved from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., to the Michelob Ultra Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. All 10 men’s teams and nine women’s teams will compete at the five-day event, March 9-13. The bubble-like setting will utilize daily screenings and rapid PCR and antigen testing to safeguard the health and safety of all parties. The men’s first round and quarterfinal games will be carried on ESPN3, while the semifinals and championship game will be aired on ESPN linear networks.

When the Big West plays the 2021 basketball championships in Las Vegas, that will mark the first time in 21 years that the event will have been contested outside the state of California. The Big West held its postseason event in Reno, Nevada, at the Lawlor Events Center from 1996-2000. The conference has some familiarity with Las Vegas, having played the championship at UNLV’s Thomas and Mack Center in 1994 and 1995. From 2001-19, the championship was held in Anaheim at either the Anaheim Convention Center or Honda Center. The 2020 championship, scheduled to be played at Honda Center, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

BIG WEST BY THE NUMBERS

3 – The Big West has three guards ranked in the nation’s top 10 for assist-to-turnover ratio. CSUN junior Darius Brown II ranks No. 4 on the list at 4.69. UC Santa Barbara senior Devearl Ramsey is No. 5 (4.43). UC Riverside senior Dominick Pickett (4.00) ranks No. 8 overall.

5 – UC Riverside ranks fifth nationally in field goal percentage defense this season, allowing teams to shoot 38.0 percent. The Highlanders actually have held opponents to 30 percent or below four times.

10 – UC Santa Barbara’s current win streak length, the longest under head coach Joe Pasternack and the second-longest in school history.

14 – UC Riverside is the only Big West squad to utilize the same starting lineup in every game. The Highlanders have started Flynn Cameron, Arinze Chidom, Jock Perry, Dominick Pickett and Zyon Pullin in all 14 games.

19 – UC Irvine junior forward Collin Welp needs to score just 19 points to reach 1,000 for his career, which would make him the 31st player in school history to achieve the milestone.

99 – Victory total for Cal State Fullerton head coach Dedrique Taylor. He needs one win to become the 21st coach in league history to accumulate at least 100 at a conference school.

PRIOR TO TIPOFF – FEBRUARY 19-20, 2021

CAL POLY AT LONG BEACH STATE (BIGWEST.TV)
• Long Beach State has won nine of the last 10 games at home against Cal Poly.
• Cal Poly forward Alimamy Koroma has scored in double figures five straight games and is averaging 15.0 PPG over that span.
• Five of LBSU’s six conference games have been decided by a combined total of 10 points. LBSU is 2-3 in those contests.

HAWAI‘I AT CSUN (BIGWEST.TV/ESPN3 SAT.)
PXP: Matt Brown | COLOR: Richie Schueler | SIDELINE: Courtney Sweet
• CSUN junior TJ Starks leads the Big West with six 20-point games and in scoring with an average of 19.7 points per game.
• CSUN is 5-2 when shooting at least 45 percent from the floor and 2-6 in all other games.
• Hawaii’s quartet of Justin Webster, James Jean-Marie, Casdon Jardine and Junior Madut average nearly 48 of the team’s 71.4 PPG.

UC IRVINE AT CAL STATE FULLERTON (BIGWEST.TV)
• UC Irvine’s Russell Turner needs two wins to tie UC Santa Barbara’s Jerry Pimm (222) for fifth on the all-time Big West wins list.
• UCI junior Collin Welp is the only Big West player ranking top 10 in scoring (7th, 13.7 PPG) and rebounding (4th, 6.9 RPG).
• Cal State Fullerton’s Latrell Wrightsell Jr. has made 35-of-37 on free throws, ranking No. 4 nationally in free throw percentage (.946).

UC RIVERSIDE AT UC SAN DIEGO (ESPN3)
PXP: Steve Quis | COLOR: Ted Mendenhall
• The series matches the Big West’s top two three-point shooting teams – UC San Diego (10.6 PG) and UC Riverside (9.9 PG).
• UC Riverside sophomore Zyon Pullin leads all Big West guards in rebounding (5.8 RPG), tied for No. 7 overall in the conference.
• Junior Toni Rocak produced UC San Diego’s first double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds against CSU Bakersfield.

CSU BAKERSFIELD AT UC SANTA BARBARA (ESPNU FRI. & ESPN3 SAT.)
ESPNU PXP: Dave Feldman | COLOR: Corey Williams | ESPN3 PXP: Gerry Fall | COLOR: Jerry Pimm
• CSU Bakersfield is 6-1 in the second game of a back-to-back against Big West opponents.
• UC Santa Barbara is receiving votes in the Associated Press top 25 poll and is ranked No. 20 in CollegeInsider.com mid-major poll.
• CSUB has pulled down 10 or more offensive rebounds in 18 of 21 games. CSUB ranks No. 6 nationally in offensive rebounds per game.