2023-24 Big West Men's Basketball Schedule | Standings | Stats | 2023-24 Notes #8 (.pdf)
What 2 Watch 4
Every team in The Big West has concluded their non-conference portion of the schedule as league play begins on Thursday, Dec. 28.
UC Davis (5-6) hosts UC Santa Barbara (7-3) to start the action in a nationally televised game on ESPNU at 6 p.m. PT. The Gauchos closed out their non-conference slate with three straight wins and are led by Ajay Mitchell who averages 19.8 points and 4.0 assists per game, while Elijah Pepper buoys the Aggies with a conference-leading 20.0 points per game. On the call for ESPN will be Steve Quis (play-by-play) and Corey Williams (color).
The other matchups on Thursday are Cal State Bakersfield at UC San Diego, UC Riverside at UC Irvine, CSUN at Cal Poly and Long Beach State at Cal State Fullerton.
On Saturday, the two hottest teams in The Big West (preceding Thursday’s results) will face off as Long Beach State, winners of five straight, welcomes CSUN, victors in last four games, to the Walter Pyramid. The Matadors feature De’Sean Allen-Eikens, the second-leading scorer in the league at 19.9 points per game, while The Beach have the best rebounder in The Big West with Lassina Traore averaging 9.5 boards per game. The game will be locally televised on Spectrum SportsNet at 1 p.m. PT.
The four other games on Saturday are Cal Poly at UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara at UC Riverside, UC Irvine at Cal State Bakersfield and Cal State Fullerton at Hawai’i.
Weekly Highlights
The final week of non-conference play in The Big West saw six teams close out that portion of the schedule with a win.
The UC Santa Barbara offense could not be stopped Wednesday night in a 94-81 home victory over Howard. Yohan Traore finished with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Josh Pierre-Louis had a near triple-double with 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Cole Anderson pitched in 19 points.
Cal State Fullerton earned a 67-56 home win against Pacific on Wednesday. The Titan duo of Max Jones and DJ Brewton scored 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Four Highlanders scored in double figures as UC Riverside downed Idaho 82-67 Thursday. Ben Griscti led the way with 19 points, while Nate Pickens recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Kobe Sanders had a fantastic Thursday night with 30 points and three blocks as Cal Poly earned a 66-53 home triumph against Omaha.
CSUN closed its non-conference slate with four straight wins and improved to 9-3 on the season. The Matadors earned an 82-70 home win over Montana State, led by a 23-point performance from De’Sean Allen-Eikens, Friday night. Allen-Eikens was subsequently named Big West Player of the Week.
Marvelous Matadors
CSUN is on a four-game win streak and has a 9-3 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 have been the calling card for CSUN, ranking first in the conference in field goal percentage defense (.388), rebounds per game (44.0) and rebounding margin (+12.6). The latter two rebounding statistics both rank seventh in NCAA. Graduate student De’Sean Allen-Eikens is the top scorer for CSUN, averaging a conference second-best 19.9 points per game.
Glorious Gauchos
UC Santa Barbara has gone 7-1 since starting the season 0-2 for a record of 7-3. The Gauchos have the most potent offense in the league averaging 82.7 points per game and shooting 52.2 percent from the floor, a clip which rates sixth 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 third-best 19.8 points to go with 4.0 assists per game since returning. Junior forward Yohan Traore is the second leading scorer for the Gauchos at 15.7 points per game and leads the league in field goal percentage at 64.8 percent (57-of-88). Senior guard Cole Anderson leads the conference in 3-point percentage at 40.9 percent (27-of-66).
Hawai'i 5-0
Propelled by a 5-0 start to the season, Hawai’i finished its non-conference slate with an 8-4 record. The Rainbow Warriors lead The Big West in scoring defense, limiting opponents to an average of 66.4 points per contest. Senior guard Noel Coleman is the leading scorer for the Rainbow Warriors at 15.4 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. 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.
Accomplished Anteaters
UC Irvine is 8-4 on the year highlighted by triumphs at then No-16 USC and winning the Ball Dawgs Classic MTE. The Anteaters’ success has come from sharing the ball, leading The Big West in assists averaging 17.2 per contest. Senior guard Pierre Crockrell II dishes out a league-leading 5.8 assists per game, while senior guard Justin Hohn (13.7), freshman guard Derin Saran (11.5) and junior forward Devin Tillis (10.7) are the top scorers of a balanced lineup. The Anteaters get good production from its reserves and role players with 34.1 bench points per game, which ranks 14th in the nation.
Titan Tough
Cal State Fullerton is 7-5 on the year thanks to a defense has allowed an average of a conference second-best 67.3 points per game. Junior guard Max Jones and senior guard DJ Brewton lead Cal State Fullerton averaging 16.9 and 14.5 points per game, respectively.
Red Hot Chili Pepper
UC Davis senior guard Elijah Pepper leads The Big West in scoring averaging 20.0 points per game. Pepper dropped 21 points against UC Merced on Dec. 21 to become the all-time leading points scorer in UC Davis program history and currently has 1,822 career points.
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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