Long Beach State won the 2010-11 men's basketball regular season title by a whopping four games, but UC Santa Barbara took home the conference tournament trophy and punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. The 49ers appeared in the National Invitation Tournament to give the Big West two postseason teams.
NOTEWORTHY
UC Santa Barbara Ousted From NCAA Tournament
UC Santa Barbara competed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship for the second straight year and departed with the same outcome, a loss as a No. 15 seed to a No. 2 seed. The Gauchos were defeated, 79-51, at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla as junior Orlando Johnson’s 21 points on 7 of 14 shooting was not enough to offset Florida’s 54.7% accuracy from the field. In 2010, No. 15 UCSB fell to second-seeded Ohio State in the NCAA first round. UCSB made back-to-back NCAA appearances for the first time in school history. It was UCSB’s fifth NCAA trip overall.
Five Finally Thrives
UC Santa Barbara became the first No. 5 seed to capture the ampm Big West Tournament championship in the 36 years the conference has held the postseason event. The Gauchos upended No. 4 Pacific (79-67) in the first round, No. 3 Cal State Northridge (83-63) in the semifinals and top-seeded Long Beach State (64-56) in the championship. They were also the lowest seed to hoist the trophy since San Jose State won the championship in 1996 as a No. 6 seed. UCSB interrupted a pattern of victorious No. 1 seeds, as four of the five previous champions had the top-seeded label.
Long Beach State Makes Postseason NIT Appearance
Long Beach State finished 2010-11 season with a 22-12 record, for the program’s third 20-win campaign since 1999-2000. It continued a progression of success under NABC All-District 9 coach Dan Monson, as the 49er win totals have climbed from six, to 15, to 17, and now 22.
The 49ers fell short of their goal of making the NCAA Tournament field after losing in the conference tournament finals for the second straight year. However, LBSU got a taste of postseason activity with an appearance in the National Invitation Tournament. The No. 7 seed 49ers traveled to No. 2 Washington State for a first round matchup in the Boston College Region. The Cougars prevailed 85-74 as LBSU dropped to 2-6 all-time in six trips to the NIT.
Eleven Reach Millenium Milestone
A total of 11 players reached the 1,000-point career milestone during the 2010-11 season. Long Beach State forward T.J. Robinson will be the Big West’s active career scoring leader when he returns for his senior season with 1,310 points scored. Fellow 49er Casper Ware will enter his senior campaign with 1,250 points, the second-most among returnees. Robinson and Ware will join forces with Larry Anderson to form a solid scoring triumvirate. Anderson’s career scoring total is 1,114 points. Heading into their senior seasons as the Big West’s most potent one-two scoring punch, Orlando Johnson (1,214) and James Nunnally (1,190) look to guide UC Santa Barbara to its third straight NCAA Tournament berth.
UC Davis teammates Mark Payne (1,382) and Joe Harden (1,326), Cal Poly’s Shawn Lewis (1,283), Eric Wise (1,280) of UC Irvine, Pacific’s Sam Willard (1,151) and Greg Plater (1,029) of Long Beach State also surpassed the millenium mark in their final year of Big West competition.
Fresh Squeezed Record
The haul of points UC Santa Barbara junior Orlando Johnson scored in the ampm Big West Tournament and NCAA Tournament– 106 in four games to be exact – enabled the 6-5 guard to set the school’s single-season record with 674 points. Johnson earned ampm Big West Tournament Most Valuable Player honors after amassing 85 points in three wins, then added a game-high 21 points in UCSB’s first round NCAA loss to Florida. Johnson surpassed the previous record of 649 points set by Raymond Tutt during the 1996-97 season. Johnson, who averaged 21.1 ppg, is the first back-to-back Big West scoring champion since Cal Poly’s Varnie Dennis in 2002-03 and 2003-04.
Thomason Poised To Rewrite Record Book
Pacific’s Bob Thomason finished the 2010-11 season with a career record of 403-290. The 403 victories puts him second all-time among Big West head coaches, leaving him just three short of record holder Jerry Tarkanian’s 405 mark. The Tigers posted a 16-15 record in 2010-11 to secure a winning season for the seventh time in the last eight years. Thomason already is the Big West record holder for most conference victories (229) and tournament games coached (27).
ampm Big West Tournament Gets Strong Turnout
The Big West and title sponsor ampm began their new relationship with Honda Center in an auspicious way as a three-day total of 15,396 fans attended this year’s event. This was the first of a five-year partnership to host the event at Honda Center. The cumulative attendance total represented a 47% increase over last year. Saturday’s men’s and women’s combined attendance of 6,474 was a single-day increase of 68%. In addition, the 5,341 fans who witnessed the men’s basketball championship game was the third largest crowd to see a Big West final during its 17-year tenure in Anaheim (1977-82, 2001-11).
Cal Poly Makes Strides In Year Two Of Callero Regime
Improvement took place at Cal Poly in the second season of the Joe Callero era. The Mustangs finished 15-15 overall and 10-6 in conference play, good for second place. The 10 conference victories and second place finish matched Cal Poly bests for a single-season, and the 15 wins overall was a three game improvement over the 2009-10 squad. The Mustangs earned the No. 2 seed in the ampm Big West Tournament for just the second time ever. Defense was a cornerstone of the team’s success – the Mustangs finished third nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense (.287) and sixth in scoring defense (58.9 ppg).
Willard Among Best Rebounders In Big West History
Pacific senior Sam Willard finished his Tiger career ranked No. 9 in Big West history with 880 rebounds. He was the first player in 15 years to crack the top 10 list. Willard led the league circuit in 2010-11 with a 10.6 rebounds per game average. He posted a league-best 20 games with at least 10 rebounds and led in double-doubles (18) as well.
Robinson Now 10th All-Time In Rebounding
Long Beach State forward T.J. Robinson’s consistency catapulted the junior into the Big West’s top 10 career rebounding list after only three years. He ended the year with 861 career rebounds, placing him No. 10 all-time. Robinson, who has compiled rebounding totals of 185, 332 and 344 in his first three seasons, will enter 2011-12 well within reach of the all-time conference record. Robinson sits 254 caroms shy of equalling Cal State Fullerton’s Tony Neal’s (1981-85) total of 1,115. Robinson is just 139 rebounds away from becoming only the fourth player in league history to collect 1,000 in a career.
Honor Roll Review
Several Big West players were honored with postseason accolades at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season. Long Beach State junior Casper Ware, who became the first individual in league history to be named Big West Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, was also only the second 49er in the last three decades to receive Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America plaudits. Ware also earned a spot on the Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team and Lou Henson Mid-Major All-America Team, according to CollegeInsider.com. UC Santa Barbara’s Orlando Johnson joined Ware on the Lou Henson Mid-Major All-America Team and NABC All-District 9 First Team. Pacific’s Sam Willard and Long Beach State’s Larry Anderson were named NABC All-District 9 Second Team honorees. In addition, Josh Ritchart of UC Davis merited a selection on the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Freshman All-America Team.
2011 HONORS
NABC ALL-DISTRICT 9 TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Casper Ware, Long Beach State
Orlando Johnson, UC Santa Barbara
SECOND TEAM
Larry Anderson, Long Beach State
Sam Willard, Pacific
COACH
Dan Monson, Long Beach State
USBWA ALL-DISTRICT IX
Casper Ware, Long Beach State
ASSOCIATED PRESS HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICA
Casper Ware, Long Beach State
COLLEGEINSIDER.COM AWARDS
LOU HENSON MID-MAJOR ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
Casper Ware, Long Beach State
Orlando Johnson, UC Santa Barbara
FRESHMAN MID-MAJOR ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
Josh Ritchart, UC Davis
LEFTY DRIESELL DEFENSIVE ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
Casper Ware, Long Beach State