Five men's basketball teams have punched their ticket to the 2011 ampm Big West Tournament on March 10-12 at Honda Center.  Four schools are battling for the remaining three spots.

By virtue of having seven conference victories, Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara and Pacific are assured of participating when men's tournament play begins on Thursday, March 10 with four first round games.  No seeds have yet been determined.

Whichever team loses in this Thursday's matchup between UC Davis (9-17, 3-9) and UC Irvine (11-17, 4-9) will be unable to finish with more than six conference wins, meaning all teams with seven wins qualify for the tournament field.

Single session tickets for the 2011 ampm Big West Basketball Tournament went on sale to the general public today at 10:00 a.m.  Fans can purchase tickets through Honda Center Box Office or Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com).  Please click here to go to the Ticketmaster link.  Honda Center Box Office hours are from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, please call (714) 704-2500 or visit the ampm Big West Basketball Tournament website at www.bigwesttourney2011.com.

Tickets for the event range from $10-$22 for general admission seats for the women’s tournament games and $27-$34 for reserved seating at men’s tournament games.  Big West students can purchase a ticket to any Honda Center session for $10 with a valid student I.D.

The tournament will begin Tuesday, March 8 with the women's first round being played on campus sites.  The tournament moves to Honda Center on Thursday, March 10 with four first round men's games.  The semifinals and championship games for both the men and the women will take place Friday and Saturday.