UC Santa Barbara is in sole possession of first place in the men's basketball standings, and controls its own destiny for the No. 1 seed in next month's Big West Tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center.
NOTEWORTHY
Keep An Eye On
Kyle Austin, UC Riverside
Austin has delivered back-to-back exceptional scoring performances for the Highlanders, scoring 35 and 39 points against Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly, respectively. The 35 points versus the Titans was Austin career-high until he broke that mark a week later against the Mustangs. In addition, the 39 points were the most in a Big West game since former Highlander Rickey Porter dropped 40 on Pacific on January 7, 2006. The 6-8 junior forward leads the Big West in scoring in overall (18.4 ppg) and conference games (21.3 ppg), and his 10 games of 20 points or more tops the league circuit.
MORE NOTABLES
UC Santa Barbara In Drivers Seat For No. 1 Seed
UC Santa Barbara stands in sole possession of first place in the Big West standings with a 9-3 record and four league games remaining. The Gauchos are assured of the Big West Tournament No. 1 seed in the event they win out. Pacific (16-8, 8-3), which trails the Gauchos by a half game, could tie UCSB for the conference’s best record but tournament tiebreaker criteria would slide the Tigers to the No. 2 seed by virtue of them losing twice to UCSB this season. UCSB controls its own destiny, but must get past a Cal State Fullerton team that has won five of its last six games. The Titans currently sit in third place (13-11, 7-5) and are in title contention - especially with head-to-head matchups against UCSB (Feb. 17) and Pacific (Mar. 4) on the horizon.
Title Talk
The Gauchos are aiming for their first outright Big West regular season title since the 2002-03 season. UC Santa Barbara shared the regular season crown with Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge at 12-4 in 2007-08, earning a selection to the National Invitation Tournament. The last NCAA Tournament appearance for UCSB occurred in 2001 when the Gauchos captured the Big West Tournament as a No. 3 seed.
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.
Game For The Ages
Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge played one of the most exciting games in the 41-year history of Big West men’s basketball on Saturday. The Titans came away with a 113-112 victory in triple overtime - overcoming late deficits in regulation and in each of the overtimes. Devon Peltier hit a trey with 3.9 seconds to go in regulation to tie the game at 76. In the first overtime, Gerard Anderson sank two free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining to knot the score at 83-83. The Titans led by as many as five points, 92-87, in the second extra period, but watched the Matadors storm back to take a 97-94 lead. However, Jacques Streeter tied the game with a three-pointer to send it to a third overtime. The two teams, which combined for 73 points in the three overtimes, went back-and-forth in the final overtime before CSUN took a 112-109 lead with four seconds left. Anderson, the reigning Big West Player of the Week, went to the free throw line and made the first to make the score 112-110. He missed the second intentionally, and Eric Williams, a walk on pressed into service as the result of five teammates fouling out, corraled the carom. He made the putback, got fouled, and hit the ensuing free throw for the winning points.
More On The Titans And Matadors
The instant classic between CSF and CSUN featured a number of mind boggling stats. The two teams combined for 225 points, 75 fouls, 11 player foul outs, 110 free throws, 17 ties and 15 lead changes. Ten players scored in double figures, three Titans scored 21 points or more, and the Matador bench outscored CSF’s 77-28. Among current Big West schools, the nine members have played 15,407 games dating back to the 1921-22 season. Only 19 of the 15,407 games have gone to triple overtime. The combined record is 14-5. CSF is 3-0 in triple overtime games in its 50-year history. CSUN’s 51-year history includes just two 3 OT games - the Matadors are 1-1 in those games.
UCSB Still Undefeated In Conference Home Games
UC Santa Barbara is 6-0 at home in Big West home games after ekeing out a 64-62 victory over Long Beach State on Saturday. The Gauchos are 9-2 overall at the Thunderdome this season.
FSN West Live From The Matadome This Week
The Big West Game of the Week comes from the Matadome at Cal State Northridge, which hosts Cal Poly on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Mustangs are coming off an 87-84 win in double overtime at UC Riverside, while the Matadors hope to rebound from their triple overtime setback to Cal State Fullerton.
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 221 career threes, trailing only Ross Schraeder, who drained 233 from 2002-06. Hunter also needs just 16 treys to enter the Big West career top 10.
Ware Poised To Enter 49er Top 10 List In Assists
Long Beach State sophomore guard Casper Ware, the Big West leader in assists (131) and assists per game (5.2 apg), is nine assists away from taking over the No. 10 spot on the 49er single-season chart.
Douglass Ties Grant For Fifth On Wins List
UC Irvine’s Pat Douglass is now tied for fifth in Big West history for most overall wins after his Anteaters picked up a 69-67 victory over UC Davis on Saturday. Douglass won his 194th game at UCI, tying former Fresno State boss Boyd Grant. Douglass, the winningest head coach in school history, is one win ahead of UC Santa Barbara mentor Bob Williams, who has 193 victories at the school.
ALL-TIME VICTORY LEADERS - BIG WEST TENURE
Rk. Coach, School No.
1. Jerry Tarkanian, LBSU & UNLV 405
2. Bob Thomason, Pacific 380
3. Neil McCarthy, New Mexico State 248
4. Jerry Pimm, UC Santa Barbara 222
5. Boyd Grant, Fresno State 194
Pat Douglass, UC Irvine 194
7. Bob Williams, UC Santa Barbara 193
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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