2023-24 Big West Men's Basketball Schedule | Standings | Stats | 2023-24 Notes #7 (.pdf)
What 2 Watch 4
It is the final week of non-conference action in The Big West with league play right around the corner.
The weekend is highlighted by Hawai’i (7-2) hosting its annual Diamond Head Classic. The event starts on Thursday with the Rainbow Warriors getting Portland (6-6) in the opening round. The field is expected to be competitive as the other six teams in the tournament are Nevada (9-1), Temple (6-4), TCU (8-1), Old Dominion (3-6), Georgia Tech (6-3) and UMass (6-2).
Four teams will close out their non-conference slate on Wednesday. UC San Diego (6-5) looks to improve to 3-0 all-time against Cal (3-7) after having won the last two iterations of the matchup in each of the previous two seasons. UC Irvine (7-4) travels to The Pit for a battle at New Mexico (10-1). The Anteaters are coming off their most productive offensive outing this season, while the Lobos are on a nine-game win streak and are undefeated at home. The other two contests on Wednesday are Pacific (5-8) at Cal State Fullerton (6-5) and Howard (4-8) at UC Santa Barbara (6-3).
On Thursday, UC Riverside (4-7) will host Idaho (6-5), while Cal Poly (3-8) welcomes Omaha (7-6). CSUN’s (8-3) final non-conference game will be at home against Montana State (5-5) on Friday.
Big West Men's Basketball Schedule
Weekly Highlights
The Big West’s week was highlighted by CSUN’s 76-72 Tuesday night win over perrenial powerhouse UCLA. Five Matadors scored in double figures, led by Dionte Bostick and De’Sean Allen-Eikens with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Mahmoud Fofana recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
On Saturday, UC Davis took down local rival Pacific 82-61. Ty Johnson compiled 30 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers, with three rebounds, three assists and four steals to lead the Aggies, and was subsequently named Big West Player of the Week.
UC Irvine had one of its best offensive outputs in program history, dismantling South Dakota 121-78 Saturday night. Seven Anteaters scored in double figures, led by Dean Keeler’s 22 points. Pierre Crockrell II dished out a career-high 11 assists to go along with 12 points.
Cal State Bakersfield made it a 0-2 road trip for South Dakota with Tuesday’s 96-76 home victory. Kaleb Higgins amassed a career-high 28 points with five assists.
UC Santa Barbara defeated Loyola Marmount 68-59 as part of the Jerry Colangelo Classic, Saturday at the Footprint Center. Ajay Mitchell led all players on the court in scoring with 25 points and added six rebounds, two blocks, two assists and a steal. Josh Pierre-Louis pitched in 10 points and 10 rebounds for the senior’s third double-double of the season.
On Monday, UC San Diego downed Sacramento State on the road 83-52. The Tritons sank 15 3-pointers, with Tyler McGhie claiming six of those for a total of 22 points in the junior’s UCSD debut.
Hawai'i 5-0
Propelled by a 5-0 start to the season, Hawai’i currently sports a 7-2 record. Senior guard Noel Coleman is the leading scorer for the Rainbow Warriors at 16.9 points per game, hitting 40.4 percent (19-of-47) of shots from behind the arc. Senior guard Juan Munoz and Coleman lead the league in 3-point percentage at 48.6 (17-of-35) and 40.4 (19-of-47) percent, respectively.
Marvelous Matadors
CSUN has begun the season with a strong 8-3 record under first-year head coach Andy Newman. It is the best start for the Matador program in more than a decade. Defense and rebounding has been the calling card for CSUN, ranking first in the conference in field goal percentage defense (.387), rebounds per game (44.2) and rebounding margin (+13.5). Graduate student De’Sean Allen-Eikens is the top scorer for CSUN, averaging a conference third-best 19.6 points per game.
Beach Bash
Long Beach State closed out its non-conference schedule with five straight wins to improve to 8-4. The Beach have put together a good resume with road wins at DePaul, Michigan and Montana State. Senior guard Marcus Tsohonis leads the team in scoring at 17.7 points per game, good for fifth in The Big West. Junior forward Lassina Traore is the best rebounder in the league at 9.5 boards per game, junior forward Aboubacar Traore leads the conference in blocked shots at 2.0 per game and junior guard Jadon Jones is the top ball hawk in The Big West averaging 2.2 steals per game.
Glorious Gauchos
UC Santa Barbara has gone 6-1 since starting the season 0-2 for a record of 6-3. The Gauchos have the most potent offense in the league averaging 81.4 points per game and shooting 51.7 percent from the floor, a clip which rates seventh in the nation. Junior guard Ajay Mitchell, the reigning Big West Player of the Year, was unable to compete in the first two losses, but has averaged a conference-best 21.7 points and 3.9 assists per game since returning. Junior forward Yohan Traore is the second leading scorer for the Gauchos at 14.6 points per game and leads the league in field goal percentage at 62.8 percent (49-of-78).
Accomplished Anteaters
UC Irvine is 7-4 on the year. The Anteaters’ success has come from sharing the ball, leading The Big West in assists averaging 17.3 per contest. Senior guard Pierre Crockrell II dishes out a league-leading 5.8 assists per game, while senior guard Justin Hohn (13.6), freshman guard Derin Saran (11.7) and junior forward Devin Tillis (11.2) are the top scorers. The Anteaters get good production from its reserves and role players with 31.8 bench points per game, which ranks 11th in the nation.
Titan Tough
Cal State Fullerton has a 6-5 record currently riding a four-game win streak. The Titan defense has stepped up this season, allowing an average of 68.4 points per game and limiting opponents to 31.4 percent on 3-pointers. Junior guard Max Jones and senior guard DJ Brewton lead Cal State Fullerton averaging 17.0 and 14.5 points per game, respectively.
Preseason Prognostications
UC Santa Barbara tops The Big West men’s basketball preseason poll for the third year in succession, having garnered nine of the 11 first-place votes by league head coaches.
The Gauchos received nine first-place votes for a total of 92 points. Last season UC Santa Barbara went 27-8 overall, won a share of the regular season title with a 15-5 conference record and were victorious in The Big West Championship, earning the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Gauchos were defeated in the first round of the tournament by No. 3 seed Baylor.
UC Santa Barbara is expected to be led by preseason All-Big West selection Ajay Mitchell. The junior guard from Ans, Belgium is a two-time All-Big West honoree and was last season’s Player of the Year after averaging 16.3 points and a league-leading 5.1 assists. Also returning the Gauchos are senior guard Josh Pierre-Louis (9.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.4 apg) and junior guard Cole Anderson (7.2 ppg, .405 3P%) who were mainstays in last year’s championship run.
The remaining two first-place nods went to Long Beach State for a total of 82 points. Hawai’i (80), 2022-23 co-regular season champion UC Irvine (75) and UC Davis (69) fill out the top five.
The Long Beach State duo of junior forward Aboubacar Traore, an All-Big West Honorable Mention selection last year, and junior forward Lassina Traore, the reigning Big West Newcomer of the Year and First Teamer, get nods onto the preseason team. The two were the top rebounders in the league last season with Lassina grabbing 10.5 boards to go along with 12.9 points per game. Aboubacar pulled down 8.8 rebounds with 10.1 points and 3.5 assists per contest. The Beach will also look to depend on senior guard Marcus Tsohonis, who set the Long Beach State single-game scoring record with 46 points in a win at UC San Diego, and junior guard Jadon Jones, the 2021-22 Big West Defensive Player of the Year, for contributions.
Hawai’i senior guard JoVon McClanahan earns a spot on the preseason team after averaging 11.3 points and 3.5 assists per game last season that culminated into an All-Big West Second Team selection. Senior guard Noel Coleman, a two-time All-Big West honoree that put up 12.2 points per contest last season, and senior forward Bernardo da Silva, who recorded 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game a year ago, are key veterans that are expected to bolster the starting lineup for the Rainbow Warriors.
UC Davis senior guard Elijah Pepper claims territory on the preseason team after being the leading scorer in The Big West last season, putting up 22.5 points, along with 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game for an All-Big West First Team membership. The Aggie backcourt will be potent with the return of junior guard Ty Johnson, an all-conference honorable mention selection who logged 14.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game a season ago.
Cal State Fullerton (58), last year’s championship runner-up, is selected sixth, followed by UC Riverside (45), Cal State Bakersfield (36), UC San Diego (31), CSUN (18) and Cal Poly (12) to round out the poll.
Triton senior guard Bryce Pope takes the final spot on this year’s preseason team. Pope was an All-Big West Second Team selection and the second-leading scorer in the conference averaging 18.4 points per game last season.
2023-24 Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll and Team
2023 Big West Championship Recap
No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara defeated No. 4 seed Cal State Fullerton 72-62 in the 2023 Big West Championship title game to win its second crown in three seasons and fifth overall at The Dollar Loan Center.
Ajay Mitchell scored 20 points and dished out four assists in the title game to lead the Gauchos and was named the Tournament MVP. Teammate Miles Norris averaged 13.3 points over three games and was also named to the All-Tournament Team.
Dawson Baker (UC Irvine), Flynn Cameron (UC Riverside), Tory San Antonio (Cal State Fullerton) and Latrell Wrightsell Jr. (Cal State Fullerton) rounded the All-Tournament Team.
No. 8 seed Cal State Bakersfield defeated No. 9 seed CSUN 61-47 and No. 10 seed Cal Poly upset No. 7 seed Long Beach State 88-68 in the first round.
In the qurterfinals, top-seeded UC Irvine cruised past the Roadrunners 75-51, Cal State Fullerton outlasted No. 5 seed Hawai’i 62-60 in overtime, UC Santa Barbara bested the Mustangs 64-54, and No. 3 seed UC Riverside downed No. 6 seed UC Davis 68-52.
In two competitive semifinals, the Titans defeated the Anteaters 83-80 and the Gauchos topped the Highalnders 92-87 to set up the title game matchup.
2023 Big West Men's Basketball Championship |
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