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| No. 4 seed Cal State Fullerton 83, No. 1 seed UC Irvine 80 |
Box score | CSF presser | UCI presser
HENDERSON, Nev. -- No. 4 seed Cal State Fullerton is headed to its second consecutive Big West Championship game, seventh overall, after defeating top-seeded UC Irvine 83-80 in the semifinals of the 2023 Hercules Tires Big West Basketball Championships, presented by The Hawaiian Islands.
Both teams shot the ball well in the high-scoring game. Cal State Fullerton was 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the floor and 58.8 (10-of-17) from behind the arc. The Anteaters were 52 percent (26-of-50) on field goals and 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from 3-point range.
Latrell Wrightsell Jr. paced the Titans with 22 points, 14 of those coming in the second half. It is the ninth time this season that Wrightsell Jr. has eclipsed the 20-point mark. Tory San Antonio and Max Jones contributed 17 and 14 points, respectively. The Anteater duo of Dawson Baker and DJ Davis scored 22 and 20 points, respectively.
Cal State Fullerton grabbed the lead to start and led by as much as eight points on two different occasions in the first half. UC Irvine clawed back and was able to even the score 36-36 on a 3-pointer by Baker with 3:27 remaining. The two teams traded baskets before halftime, with a successful layup and-one by Wrightsell Jr. and a Davis 3-pointer at the buzzer, evened the score at the intermission, 36-36. San Antonio, the Big West's Best Defensive Player, had a big first 20 minutes for the Titans with 15 points.
Cal State Fullerton built a 10-point lead with 10 minutes left, 67-57, thanks to back-to-back buckets from Wrightsell Jr. The Anteaters made it a one-point game, twice in the final two minutes, but were not able to get any closer as the Titans successfully made their free throws down stretch.
The Titans win their eight-straight game and improve to 20-12 overall on the year, while Anteaters drop to 23-11. UC Irvine's season is not done yet as they qualify for the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) by virtue of winning The Big West regular season title.
Cal State Fullerton advances into Saturday’s Championship game, slated for 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, March 11 on ESPN2 and SiriusXM. The Titans will play No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara.
| No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara 92, No. 3 seed UC Riverside 87 |
Box score | UCSB presser | UCR presser
HENDERSON, Nev. -- No. 2 Seed UC Santa Barbara is headed to its sixth Big West Championship game after taking down UC Riverside 92-87 in the semifinals of the 2023 Hercules Tires Big West Basketball Championships, presented by the Hawaiian Islands. The Gauchos make their second appearance in the title game after winning it in 2021.
Ajay Mitchell led UC Santa Barbara with 28 points, 18 of those coming in the second half. The 2022-23 Big West Player of the Year also pitched in a game-high seven assists. It is the eighth time this season that Mitchell has eclipsed the 20-point mark. Josh Pierre-Louis and Miles Norris were the other Gauchos in double figures with 20 and 16 points, respectively.
Zyon Pullin recorded a game-high 31 points and dished out six assists to drive the Highlanders. Flynn Cameron had 24 points and five assists.
UC Riverside got off to a hot start and grabbed its biggest lead of the game, 13-2, four and a half minutes into the first half, with all points coming from Lachlan Olbrich and Flynn Cameron. The lead was short lived as UC Santa Barbara responded and the score would be tied four more times in the first half. With the score even at 39-39, Flynn Cameron hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give UC Riverside a 42-39 lead at halftime.
With the score even at 53-53, Norris drained a 3-pointer to give the Gauchos the lead for good. UC Santa Barbara grabbed its biggest lead of the contest, 80-73, after a successful layup-and-one with two minutes remaining. The Highlanders got to within three in the closing moments but couldn’t get any closer as the Gauchos hit eight consecutive free throws to ice the game.
UC Santa Barbara was 57.4 percent (31-of-54) from the field, 53 percent (8-for-15) from behind the arc and 73.3 percent (22-of-30) from the charity stripe. UC Riverside was 50 percent (28-of-56) on field goals. 47.6 percent (10-of-21) from deep and 87.5 percent (21-of-24) on free throws.
UC Santa Barbara advances into Saturday’s Championship game, slated for 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, March 11 on ESPN2 and SiriusXM. The Gauchos will play No. 4 seed Cal State Fullerton