March is upon us which means buzzer beaters, upsets, Cinderella stories and of course, “One Shining Moment”. The road to March Madness begins Thursday for the Big West Conference at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Only one team can put on their dancing shoes come next week, and here’s a look at how the 38th Big West men’s basketball tournament shapes up.
The favorites
Defending champion Long Beach State is primed to cut down the Honda Center nets once again. Big West coach of the Year Dan Monson earned his 100th victory back in February and didn’t stop there. Big West Player of the Year, senior forward James Ennis (17 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 42 blocks), is hungry for a return trip the NCAA tournament after falling to New Mexico in what was arguably one of the most exciting games of the round of 64 last season.
However, the top-seeded 49ers (18-12, 14-4) stumbled to the finish line, losing three of their last four, and ending the regular season on a bitter note after being blown out in Stockton by Pacific, 71-51.
“This team has never dominated,” Monson said. “With this team, I’d be concerned if we were winning. This team doesn’t handle success very well.”
While the 49ers aren’t invincible, they have had the benefit of seeing the stiffest competition of any other Big West team this season. Long Beach State faced one of the toughest non-conference schedules in Division I. The slim margins of wins shows that The Beach can somehow find a way to win, and this is a battle-tested group.
Strong big men in Dan Jennings and Tony Freeland will be an advantage against a small, guard-heavy Cal State Fullerton team in the first round. The 49ers also posses one of the best student sections in the conference and will undoubtedly have a full section of Monson Maniacs in attendance, making for a loud, proud, home-court feel.
Another team whose coach has lamented its consistency problems is No. 2 seed Pacific (19-12, 13-5). But the Tigers rolled in their final weekend of regular-season play and the team is gunning for that tournament spot in order to prolong the career of head coach Bob Thomason, who is set to step down as head coach after this, his 25th and final season.
Deep and defensively sound, the Tigers may be more of a favorite than the 49ers.
“We’re always trying to get better. We’re just trying to play good basketball,” Thomason said. “I was really happy about our defense against Long Beach, we didn’t foul them too much, we made them make shots and we did some things that we try to do.”
The early game Thursday against UC Santa Barbara, ultimately Thomason just wants to coach another game.
“I sure hope I’m not on a bus back to Stockton at 3 o’clock,” Thomason said.
The underdogs
Cal Poly isn’t a team that creeps up on its opponents. Its opponents are well aware of the Mustangs style of play. Cal Poly (17-12, 12-6) bleeds the clock, runs frustratingly slow yet effective half-court sets and plays gritty, aggressive defense.
Just ask UCLA. The Bruins were knocked out of the top-25 rankings in November after the Mustangs came back from an 18-point deficit to top them 70-68.
It’s this style of play that has frustrated each team in the Big West at some point this season, as the Mustangs recorded wins against all nine other teams. Cal Poly allowed just 63.4 points per game, the top defense in the Big West.
“What we have is a group of guys that we recruited that understood, we may not always win the track meet. But we’re really kind of strategic,” head coach Joe Callero said. “It’s not about your stats, it’s about our team and there is a tremendous amount of pride in being competitive, night in and night out, and doing whatever it takes.”
Fourth-seeded UC Irvine (18-14, 11-7) and sixth-seeded UC Davis (14-16, 9-9) are two other teams that have come on strong as of late.
Jim Les, Davis’ second-year head coach, knows what it takes to win in March, as is evidenced by his Bradley team knocking off powerhouse Kansas in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Les also has one of the nation’s top scoring leaders in Corey Hawkins (20.9 PPG), who was recently named the Big West Newcomer of the Year.
But the Anteaters have two of the conference’s top specialty players in Adam Folker, the back-to-back All-Big West Best Hustle award winner and Will Davis II as the Defensive Player of the Year, in addition to Second Team guard Daman Starring.
The question mark
No. 5 seed Hawaii (17-13, 10-8) came on strong early in the season but have struggled on the mainland, ending the season losing its last two with four losses in the final six regular season games. The Rainbow Warriors were just 3-7 outside the confines of the Stan Sheriff Center.
The ‘Bows possess big guys with the quickness of guards that space the floor well, making defense a challenge. Freshman Isaac Fotu, named co-freshman of the year, at times impressed and times was benched, but ultimately matured into one of the best power forwards in the conference, averaging 9.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
“He’s extremely talented for his size and I really like how he’s come along,” said head coach Gib Arnold. “I think to win co-freshman of the year it takes a lot of confidence and it’s well-deserved so watch out for him.”
The rebuilds
It wasn’t supposed to be a rebuilding year for No. 8 seed Cal State Fullerton (14-17, 6-12). With two of the top guards in the conference in D.J. Seeley and Kwame Vaughn entering their senior seasons and some talented incoming post players to compliment. But the Titans were soon decimated by injuries and lost those post players, often times employing five guards on the floor.
Seeley performed brilliantly all season, playing all five positions at times. The senior guard blocked shots, crashed the boards, distributed and scored 17.9 points per game while Vaughn, the point guard, scored 18.4 per game helping the Titans become the 17th-highest scoring offense in Division I (76.9 PPG).
Seeley, who along with Vaughn was named to the All-Big West second-team, even fell victim to the injury bug and is listed as doubtful for the quarterfinal game against No. 1 Long Beach State.
No. 7 seed UC Santa Barbara (11-19, 7-11) nearly made its third-straight NCAA tournament last season but gone are those stars. The Gauchos do have one of the nation’s best rebounders in Alan Williams (10.7 per game) and point guard Kyle Boswell who has come on strong as of late.
The Gauchos will open up against Pacific and have already upset the Tigers once.
“They really outplayed us,” Thomason said. “(Williams) is the best big guy in the league. He’s not only big but he’s wide and he’s got good hands and he has a great feel for the game. ... He has an ability to make easy shots but he can also make tough shots.”
Bob Williams, another longtime Big West head coach, is looking forward to facing Thomason one final time but took the chance on Monday’s media conference call for one last joke: “Coach Thomason has had a great career. He’s gone on long enough, don’t you think? He’s coached enough games, he doesn’t need any more.”
