Men's Basketball Weekly Release No. 21 - FINAL

A record five Big West schools made postseason appearances to highlight the 2012-13 men's basketball season.  Pacific made the NCAA Tournament in Bob Thomason's final year as head coach, Long Beach State won its third straight regular season title, and UC Irvine recorded a postseason victory for the first time since 1986.

BIG WEST AT A GLANCE

• The 2012-13 Big West men’s basketball season came to a close with a record five teams making the postseason.  In addition to Pacific being the league representative to the NCAA Tournament, Long Beach State appeared in the National Invitational Tournament, and three schools – Cal Poly, UC Irvine and Hawai’i – played in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

• UCI won its first round CIT game against High Point to give the program its first postseason victory since the 1986 NIT First Round when the Anteaters defeated UCLA.  UCI’s 21 wins this season tied for the third-most in the school’s single-season history.

• Pacific’s Bob Thomason retired as head coach at season’s end following 25 years of service to the program.  His legacy includes being the Big West’s all-time leader in overall (436) and conference (248) victories.  Thomason notched his fourth Big West Tournament championship (1997, 2004, 2006) and took the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time during his tenure.  The four conference tournament titles tied Thomason for second all-time with Utah State’s Stew Morrill.

• With a final record of 22-13, Thomason’s clubs recorded 20 or more wins in 10 of his last 17 seasons.  CollegeInsider.com made Thomason the recipient of the Gene Bartow Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement and contributions to the game.  Bartow spent 36 years as a head coach, posting a 647-353 record with stints at Memphis State, UCLA and UAB.

• Long Beach State continued a string of success under head coach Dan Monson as the program earned its third consecutive outright regular season championship.  The 49ers, who went 14-4 in league play after transfers Keala King and Tony Freeland joined the team, went 6-1 in Big West games decided by five points or less.  Monson reached a coaching milestone with his 100th career victory at LBSU on Feb. 13 against Cal State Fullerton.

• Cal Poly’s climb into the upper echelon of the Big West built more steam in 2012-13 as the program recorded one of the finest seasons in its 19-year Division I history.  With 18 overall victories, the Mustangs collected their second-highest total at the Division I level.  In addition, Cal Poly finished third in the conference with a 12-6 record, setting program records for Big West victories and winning percentage (.667).
 
• The inaugural season for Hawai’i in the Big West resulted in a CIT appearance for the second time in three years.  The ‘Bows finished the 2012-13 campaign with a 17-15 overall record and leaned on the exploits of first-team All-Big West standout Christian Standhardinger, who finished fourth with nine double-doubles.  UH ranked No. 1 in the Big West in average home attendance with 6,372 fans per contest. 

• UC Davis standout Corey Hawkins, the Big West Newcomer of the Year, was the league’s scoring champion at 20.3 points per game.  He was a primary reason the Aggies made a nine-game improvement in the win column, going from five wins in 2011-12 to 14 this season.

• Four schools – Cal Poly, Long Beach State, UC Irvine and Pacific – were undefeated in Big West home games at 9-0 this season.