Pacific owns at least a three-game lead over every team in the Big West men's basketball standings, except for second place UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos are in hot pursuit of the league-leading Tigers, just one-half game back. Both teams have only one conference game on the ledger this week.
NOTEWORTHY
Keep An Eye On
Lorenzo Keeler, Cal Poly
Keeler is five points away from earning 1,000 career points at Cal Poly. The senior hit the 30-point mark for the second time this season when he scored 30 against UC Davis last Thursday. He is tied for third in the Big West with eight games of 20 points or more. In addition, Keeler ranks second in scoring in Big West games only, averaging 19.2 points per game. Keeler aims to become the third Big West player to surpass 1,000 career points this season, joining fellow seniors Michael Hunter of UC Irvine and James Powell of UC Santa Barbara.
MORE NOTABLES
UC Santa Barbara Inches Closer To Top Spot
UC Santa Barbara pulled to within one-half game of first place in the Big West standings after engineering a road sweep of northern California foes Pacific and UC Davis last week. The Gauchos halted Pacific’s 16-game home court winning streak with a convincing 61-48 victory on Thursday, holding the Tigers to 29.4% shooting from the field overall and 22.2% from three-point land. UCSB then toppled the Aggies by four, 81-77. The two wins gives UCSB the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over Pacific for the Big West Tournament top seed in the event both teams tie for first place at regular season’s end.
Fox To Televise Top Two Preseason Picks
FSN Prime Ticket will carry the Big West’s television game of the week from the Central Coast as Long Beach State visits UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The matchup features the two teams picked to finish one-two in the preseason media poll. The preseason favorite 49ers are caught in a four-way tie for third place at 5-5, a byproduct of a topsy turvy performance in league play. LBSU lost four of its first six Big West games, but has recovered to win three of its last four. The Gauchos have won eight of their last 10 contests, but one of those defeats was a 20-point drilling at the hands of the 49ers on Jan. 14.
Pacific Selected To Televised BracketBusters Game
On Feb. 1, Pacific was selected to one of 11 televised games on either ESPN2 or ESPNU as part of the eighth annual ESPN-sponsored BracketBusters event. The Tigers are hosting New Mexico State of the Western Athletic Conference on Saturday, February 20 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPNU. It is the second time that Pacific is appearing in a BracketBusters televised matchup. The Tigers defeated UTEP in front of a nationally televised audience on flagship ESPN in 2005.
Non-Televised BracketBusters Games Named
Eight other Big West schools included in the pool of BracketBusters teams were not selected to a televised game, but instead will play non-conference opponents on Saturday, February 21. Games involving Big West home teams include SIU-Edwardsville at Cal State Fullerton, Drake at Cal State Northridge, Marist at UC Irvine and Youngstown State at UC Riverside. Games involving Big West road teams include Cal Poly at Hawai’i, Long Beach State at Idaho, UC Davis at Boise State and UC Santa Barbara at Fresno State.
Thompson On Pace For 3-Point Percentage Record
If the season ended today, Cal State Fullerton senior Aaron Thompson would become the Big West’s single-season record holder for three-point field goal percentage. The 6-4 guard is hitting at an astounding 54.7% (35 of 64) clip from three-point range. Thompson, who is averaging 1.59 made three-pointers per game, is just ahead of the minimum qualifying standard of 1.5 for that list. Thompson leads current record holder Mike Doktorczyk, who canned 51.9% (40 of 77) of his long range attempts in the 1988-89 season. Thompson is 7-for-11 on three-point tries over his last four games.
Road Team On The Comeback Trail
League play definitely favored the home team through the first three weeks of the Big West schedule, but the road has proven to be kinder recently. The road team is 9-7 during the last two weeks of Big West play, although the home team still sports a .630 (29-17) winning percentage. UC Santa Barbara is the lone remaining unbeaten home team in Big West games, taking a spotless 5-0 mark into Saturday’s game against Long Beach State.
Trivia Question
Name the two players who currently lead the Big West with nine 20-point performances on the season. UC Riverside’s Kyle Austin would be an easy guess. He earned All-Big West First Team honors in 2008-09 after ranking No. 2 in the conference with 16.2 points per game. Austin is carrying this year’s Highlander offense once again, upping his season scoring average to a Big West second-best 17.5 per contest. But what about the other player? That would be UC Davis senior Dominic Calegari. No slouch on the offensive end, Calegari averaged 11.0 points per game in 2008-09, but was still third on the team in scoring. In 2009-10, Calegari is No. 4 overall in Big West scoring at 16.4 points per game, and has scored 20 or more points in six of his last 10 outings.
Hunter Nearing UCI Threes Record
UC Irvine senior Michael Hunter is closing in on the school’s career record for made three-pointers. The guard is currently No. 2 with 217 career threes, trailing only Ross Schraeder, who drained 233 from 2002-06. Hunter also needs just 20 treys to enter the Big West career top 10.
Opting For Overtime
Cal State Fullerton leads all Big West teams by playing in four overtime games this season. Three of the last five games for the Titans have gone to extra time. CSF defeated Long Beach State, 81-75 in overtime, before an overflow crowd of 4,806 on Thursday.
Douglass, Williams Poised To Enter Top Five In Wins
UC Irvine’s Pat Douglass is aiming at joining select company, as he’s just one win away from the Big West’s top five all-time wins list. Douglass is 193-187 in his 13th season at the school. Former Fresno State head coach Boyd Grant is No. 5 on that list with 194 victories. Meanwhile, UC Santa Barbara head coach Bob Williams is looking to lay claim to top five distinction before Douglass. Williams has 192 victories as a Big West coach, ranking No. 7 all-time.
ALL-TIME VICTORY LEADERS - BIG WEST TENURE
Rk. Coach, School No.
1. Jerry Tarkanian, LBSU & UNLV 405
2. Bob Thomason, Pacific 379
3. Neil McCarthy, New Mexico State 248
4. Jerry Pimm, UC Santa Barbara 222
5. Boyd Grant, Fresno State 194
6. Pat Douglass, UC Irvine 193
7. Bob Williams, UC Santa Barbara 192
8. Stew Morrill, Utah State 167
9. Bill Mulligan, UC Irvine 163
10. Rod Tueller, Utah State 158
Bold denotes active Big West head coach
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