In a crucial week in Big West play, Cal Poly and UC Irvine played hungry while UC Davis continued its quest for its first winning season in Division I with an impressive week.
Here’s a recap of all of the action in one of the final weeks of regular-season play:
Eversley leads the way
Cal Poly (15-12, 10-6) went 2-0 with wins over Cal State Northridge (13-17, 4-13) and a strong showing against Hawaii, moving back into a tie for third place in the Big West standings thanks in no small part to the play of Chris Eversley.
The junior forward exploded for 23 points last Thursday against Cal State Northridge and continued the scoring spree Saturday at Hawaii. In a tight game against the Rainbow Warriors in the always-tough Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Eversley took the Mustangs on his back and carried them, playing 36 minutes and knocking down 11 field goals en route to a game-leading 25 points.
Eversley’s two hot performances earned him a Big West Player of the Week award.
Cal Poly has now won six of its last seven. More importantly, the Mustangs earned two tough road wins over the weekend, snapping a six-game Big West road game losing streak. With just two games left on the schedule until the Mustangs are forced to travel down to Anaheim for the Big West Tournament, the streak couldn’t have ended at a better time.
‘Eaters defend the Bren
UC Irvine (17-13, 10-6) won a thriller against Long Beach State (17-11, 13-3) to stay unbeaten at home for the season, effectively defending its home court of the Bren Center. The Anteaters went 9-0 in Big West play at home and 12-1 at home overall, only falling in a tough contest to visiting LSU back in December.
It was the first time The ‘Eaters have gone undefeated in conference play at home since 2000-2001 when they finished with a perfect 8-0 mark.
The Anteaters held off a furious rally by The Beach in the opening minutes of the second half. After going up 33-22 at the half, the 49ers went on a 10-4 run to come to within just three points, 37-34. The second half continued to develop into a battle between the two rivals. With just 22 seconds left to play, Long Beach’s Mike Caffey hit a three in transition to cut the lead to two, 68-66, but UC Irvine came through in the clutch with something the team has struggled with at times this season – free throws.
Alex Young knocked down two from the stripe and after another Caffey three with four seconds left that made the score 70-69, Michael Wilder, the senior captain and four-year UCI favorite, hit two of his own to clinch the game for the ‘Eaters in his final performance at the Bren.
"I didn't think we played that well in the second half, but give Long Beach credit, they are a well-coached team that made adjustments,” said UCI head coach Russell Turner. “I am happy for the seniors and all of our guys. They embody what we want this program to be with their character, integrity, and they appreciate the opportunity to play college basketball.”
Aggies’ milestone win
UC Davis (14-14, 9-7) earned a hard-fought win at Cal State Fullerton (14-15, 6-10) to reach an important milestone in the burgeoning program’s development: The Aggies reached the 14-win mark for only the second time in its Division I history. In addition, their nine Big West wins are also a program-best, and Davis still has a chance to capture its first winning season in the program’s short Division I history.
It was a gutsy performance for all involved.
A depleted Titan squad, missing two of its best players in D.J. Seeley and Sammy Yeager, never gave up. The game was tied nine times and featured 18 lead changes. With UC Davis holding only a one-point lead with 1:42 left on the clock, no one scored for 1:36 until Tyler Les hit two free throws.
But Alex Harris then countered with two free throws of his own for the Titans and with two seconds left, it was back to a one-point game. But Corey Hawkins then hit two, final shots from the stripe to give the Aggies the win.
"I could not be more proud of these guys for gutting one out,” said head coach Jim Les. “At the eight-minute mark it was a tied game, everyone stepped up and dug deep to make plays. To make this kind of surge toward the end of the game, this team is growing up before our eyes.”
The Aggies’ quest for a program-record 15th win will be a nationally-televised affair Thursday, when UC Davis hosts Long Beach State in the Pavilion’s first-ever nationally-televised game on ESPN2.
"We knew we were a good team from the start, we just needed to build chemistry to allow us to play the type of basketball we know how to play,” said J.T. Adrenele. “Right now we are doing exactly that. We are playing well on the defensive side, running the offense well and winning games."
Top-half turbulence
Pacific (17-12, 11-5) escaped the weekend unscathed to remain in second place in the Big West Standings, but the same can’t be said for Long Beach State and Hawaii, who have occupied the Nos. 1 and 3 spots in the standings throughout much of the season.
Hawaii dropped to fifth place in the Big West behind both UC Irvine and Cal Poly.
The Beach still remains in first place but has now dropped two in a row dating back to its BracketBuster game two weeks ago against Stephen F. Austin. A poor showing against the Anteaters has the 49ers looking vulnerable heading into the final week of the regular season.
"It's very hard to come from behind because your margin for error is a lot smaller," said head coach Dan Monson. "We just couldn't put our offense and defense together at the same time and we dug a pretty big hole for ourselves in the first half. The guys battled back, but couldn't quite get over that 11-point deficit."
Pacific had a strong showing against Cal State Fullerton, with Travis Fulton’s 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting leading the way in a 64-55 road win. The Tigers shot 48.9 percent from the field and held the Titans, the nation’s eighth-best offensive team, to a season-low 55 points.
Quick hitters
Cal State Fullerton’s Kwame Vaughn needed only 18 points to become the 22nd Cal State Fullerton player to reach the 1,000-point milestone going into last weekend’s game against UC Davis. In his final performance at Titan Gym, the senior point guard bettered that, scoring 29 points. It was the first time in 21 years that two Titans have reached the milestone in the same season, as teammate D.J. Seeley reached it earlier in the season. ... On senior night, UC Riverside’s lone senior in Robert Smith nearly had his most memorable shot as a Highlander. However, his buzzer-beater three-point attempt came up just short, and the Highlanders (6-23, 3-13) fell 70-68 to Pacific. ... Pacific has a chance to avenge it’s Big West-opening loss to Long Beach State when it hosts the conference’s top team Saturday afternoon. A lot is on the line for the Tigers as they not only say goodbye to seven seniors but it will also be head coach Bob Thomason’s farewell performance at the Spanos Center, as the head coach and all-time Big West wins leader is set to retire after 25 seasons.
