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| No. 1 seed UC Irvine 75, No. 8 seed CSU Bakersfield 51 |
Box score |
UCI Presser |
CSUB Presser
HENDERSON, Nev. - Top-seeded regular-season co-champion UC Irvine doubled up No. 8 CSU Bakersfield by halftime to open Thursday’s quarterfinal round at the 2023 Hercules Tires Big West Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by The Hawaiian Islands, and went on to win 75-51 inside The Dollar Loan Center.
With a third consecutive victory, UC Irvine improves to 23-10 overall. CSUB’s 2022-23 campaign is over at 11-22, in The Big West tourney quarters for the second year in a row. The Anteaters had taken both regular-season meetings by single digits, including a 52-44 home decision just five days ago on Saturday night. It was a fifth straight win overall for UCI over the Roadrunners.
The ‘Eaters got a Bent Leuchten three-pointer 30 seconds into the contest and led for the remaining 39:30. DJ Davis, who had assisted Leuchten, connected on a three to make it 6-0, and UCI gradually built up to a 36-18 bulge by the break, going 7-of-12 from long range.
CSU Bakersfield was never closer than those 18 points over the final 20 minutes, with the Anteater advantage growing to as many as 30 at 58-28 midway through the second half.
JC Butler led UC Irvine with 13 points, shooting 5-for-7 from the field with three long-range makes in three tries, and adding five rebounds and three steals. Devin Tillis contributed 10 points, two triples and seven boards. Eleven ‘Eaters found their way into the scorebook, with the team finishing a sizzling 11-of-19 from three-point territory for 57.9 percent.
Leuchten chipped in seven points on 3-of-3 shooting, all in just the first 3:28 of the game. Davis had nine points from three triples on six tries.
Antavion Collum and Travis Henson shared the game high with 14 points apiece for the ‘Runners, who managed just one three-point make on 11 tries. Collum grabbed eight rebounds to lead all players, adding three steals and a pair of assists. Cameron Smith was a third player in double digits with 10 points to go with six boards and three steals.
UCI advances into Friday’s first semifinal at 6 p.m. PT on ESPN+ and SiriusXM against either No. 4 Cal State Fullerton or No. 5 Hawai’i. The contest can also be viewed on ESPNU following live coverage of the second semifinal at 8:30 p.m. PT.
| No. 4 seed Cal State Fullerton 62, No. 5 seed Hawai'i 60 (OT) |
Box score | CSF presser | UH presser
HENDERSON, Nev. - Fourth-seeded defending champion Cal State Fullerton bounced back from allowing a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of regulation, to nip No. 5 Hawai’i, 62-60, in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Hercules Tires Big West Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by The Hawaiian Islands, at The Dollar Loan Center on Thursday afternoon.
Cal State Fullerton, idle for 11 days since Feb. 25 as two of its last three contests were canceled due to opponents’ health and safety protocols, improves to 19-12 with a season-best seventh straight win. Hawai’i drops to 22-11. The Titans swept the regular-season series with UH, winning at home by seven also in overtime, and then just one on O’ahu.
Thursday’s game was also a rematch from last year’s semifinals in the same building, won by Cal State Fullerton as well, 58-46, en route to the Titans’ fourth Big West tourney crown.
Hawai’i got out to leads of 6-0 and then 9-1 by the first media timeout as Cal State Fullerton managed just a free throw over the first 6:15 while missing its first seven shots from the field until a jumper by All-Big West First Team selection Latrell Wrightsell Jr. at the 13:45 mark.
The Titans caught the Rainbow Warriors at 13-13, before UH went back in front by five, 18-13, by the under-eight media timeout. Cal State Fullerton took its first lead of the contest at 24-23 following back-to-back tough buckets inside by Max Jones. The Titan run was 8-0 in all at that point with 2:23 left in the half. On the strength of a corner three-point swish from Samuta Avea, UH took a 28-27 edge into the interval.
Hawai’i led by as many as six across the first 11 minutes of the second half, before the Titans reigned a 47-46 edge at 8:40 on a driving layup by The Big West Best Defensive Player Tory San Antonio.
The lead changed hands a total of five times after halftime. The teams combined to go scoreless for 3:19 late between a two Jones free throws and then a steal and fast-break dunk by the junior guard at 4:38, and again a put-back Jones layup at 1:19 to make it 55-50 Fullerton.
After Bernardo da Silva and Wrightsell Jr. traded single free throws, JoVon McClanahan got it down to a one-possession contest. With Hawai’i having the ball back and inbounding in the frontcourt with 5.5 ticks left in regulation, Noel Coleman shot-faked Jones up in the air, and drained a game-tying triple from the top of the key as the horn sounded.
Wrightsell Jr.’s runner in the lane broke a final tie at 60-60 with 1:13 to go in the extra session. With 3.5 seconds left, McClanahan missed the first free throw, and then had to miss the second on purpose, but Wrightsell Jr. corralled the rebound as time ran out.
Wrightsell Jr., who entered as The Big West’s fifth-leading scorer at 16.3 points per game, wound up with 14, completing a second double-double with a team-best 10 rebounds. Jones, a first-year Titan who spent the past two seasons at Tampa, collected 18 points, reaching double digits for a ninth straight game while adding six boards, three assists and two steals. San Antonio had 11 points and five rebounds.
Avea, a sixth-year Hawai’i senior, produced a fourth collegiate double-double of a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. It was in fact a first double-double since the O’ahu native had 12 points and a career-high 17 boards in the home meeting with the Titans on Feb. 11. Coleman contributed 14 points, shooting 4-of-8 from deep, to go with a season-high seven boards. McClanahan had 12 points and five assists. Kamaka Hepa collected seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Cal State Fullerton committed a season-low four turnovers, to 18 by UH, who also got zero points from its bench.
Cal State Fullerton moves on to the first semifinal this Friday, March 10, at 6 p.m. PT against top-seeded regular-season co-champion UC Irvine. The game will air live on ESPN+ and SiriusXM, and then also on tape delay on ESPNU following live coverage of the second semifinal at 8:30 p.m. PT. Roxy Bernstein and Corey Williams are on the call.
| No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara 64, No. 10 seed Cal Poly 54 |
Box score | UCSB presser | CP presser
HENDERSON, Nev. - Tenth-seeded Cal Poly did more than just hang around, leading by six at the break, but second-seeded regular-season co-champion UC Santa Barbara wrestled control in the second half and earned a hard-fought 64-54 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Hercules Tires Big West Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by The Hawaiian Islands, Thursday night at The Dollar Loan Center.
A fifth consecutive win moves UC Santa Barbara to 25-7 overall. Cal Poly’s year ends at 8-25. The Gauchos had swept the regular-season series with a pair of single-digit victories, and are now winners of 12 straight meetings since 2018.
Cal Poly used its momentum from an emphatic 20-point upset of seventh-seeded Long Beach State two nights prior, to put together another stellar half over the first 20 minutes. A 7-0 run gave the Mustangs a 10-point advantage at 22-12 with 7:04 to go.
Trailing 32-26 at the interval, UCSB came out of the locker room and got a three-pointer from The Big West Player of the Year Ajay Mitchell and a jumper from Andre Kelly to force a quick Mustang timeout.
Miles Norris’ driving layup at the 15:02 mark pulled the Gauchos to within two at 37-35 and gave the senior forward 1,000 points at UCSB. The San Diego product, who had also tallied 88 points as a true freshman at Oregon in 2018-19, was fouled and tacked on the free throw. Moments later following a Mitchell steal, Norris scored again inside to give UCSB its first lead since it was 5-4 early, at 38-37.
Mitchell, The Big Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year now in back-to-back seasons, showed why and really got it going from there, scoring nine straight UC Santa Barbara points. The stretch culminated in a pull-up three that gave the Gauchos a 51-45 lead at 8:31.
An immediate Brantly Stevenson bucket to make it 51-47 was as close as Cal Poly would get the rest of the way, with the Gauchos clinching the result through four late free throws.
Mitchell finished with 24 points and five assists to lead all players and push above the 500-point plateau for the season. Norris contributed 12 points. Kelly had 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Mitchell and Norris had 21 and nine points in the second half, respectively, combining for 30 of 38 Gaucho points in the period. A sophomore from Belgium, Mitchell shot 7-of-8 from the floor, 2-of-2 from long range, and 5-of-5 at the line for a near-flawless 20 minutes.
Stevenson paced Cal Poly again with 18 points. The true junior guard had totaled 60 points over the previous two contests, including a game-high 28 Tuesday against LBSU. Fourth-year senior big Alimamy Koroma provided 17 points. Camren Pierce had 10.
UC Santa Barbara advances to Friday’s second semifinal against the winner of Thursday’s late quarterfinal between No. 3 UC Riverside and No. 6 UC Davis, at 8:30 p.m. PT on ESPNU and SiriusXM.
| No. 3 seed UC Riverside 68, No. 6 seed UC Davis 52 |
Box score | UCR presser | UCD presser
HENDERSON, Nev. - Third-seeded UC Riverside broke open a close game in the second half and dispatched No. 6 UC Davis, 68-52, to wrap up the quarterfinal round of the 2023 Hercules Tires Big West Men’s Basketball Championship, presented by The Hawaiian Islands, at The Dollar Loan Center on Thursday night.
With the result, UC Riverside improves to 22-11 overall under first-time Big West Coach of the Year Mike Magpayo. UC Davis falls to 18-14. UCR had swept the regular-season series, both by single-digit margins.
The game began with runs, as UC Davis scored the first six points and UC Riverside the next 10. The Aggies later were held without a field goal for 6:51 while the Highlanders built a 23-11 lead by the 5:23 mark, with leading scorer Zyon Pullin accounting for 13 of those 23, including a left-wing triple at the end of the stretch.
UC Davis closed the gap somewhat via 7-0 run, the last six of which came from fourth-year junior guard Elijah Pepper as the game featured a marquee showdown of The Big West’s top scorer in Pepper at a career-best 22.5 per game coming in, and fellow All-Big West first-teamer Pullin in third at a career-high 18.1 per outing.
UCR turned 12 first-half turnovers by UC Davis into nine points and led 28-24 at the break. The Aggies were 0-for-7 from beyond the arc, while the Highlanders were just 2-of-10 with no free throw attempts.
A 10-0 run midway through the second half was decisive as UCR got three-pointers from Nate Pickens, The Big West Best Sixth Player Jamal Hartwell II, and Jhaylon Martinez to go up 51-36 at the 10:00 mark.
UC Davis could not get any closer than within 11 points the rest of the way. Pickens, Luke Turner and Flynn Cameron added triples over the final eight minutes. The bulge finally hit 20 at 66-46 as Pullin stepped back with a foot on the three-point line to drill a jumper.
Pullin, a fourth-year senior guard from Pleasant Hill, finished with a team-high 19 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field. Cameron produced 14 points and game highs of nine rebounds and five assists. Martinez contributed 11 points, going 4-of-4 from the floor with a pair of three-pointers and three boards. Pickens had nine points.
Pepper topped all players with 22 points, adding three boards and three steals. Remarkably, it was a 12th straight 20-point effort for the Selah, Wash., native. Ty Johnson had seven points, all in the first half, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. UCD finished 1-of-16 from long range.
UC Riverside moves into Friday’s second semifinal against second-seeded regular-season co-champion UC Santa Barbara at 8:30 p.m. PT. The contest will air live on ESPNU with Roxy Bernstein and Corey Williams on the call, as well as on SiriusXM.