9:30am | The Big West conference now has the teams and pairings for their upcoming tournament at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Game time assignments by seed for the Thursday, March 8 Big West Basketball Men’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals were announced last week.
The order of men’s games is as follows:
Thursday, March 8 – Honda Center: Men’s Quarterfinals
- 12:00pm Pacific vs. UCSB
- 30 minutes after game one, CSU Fullerton vs UC Irvine
- 6:00pm #1 Long Beach State vs. #8 UC Davis
- 30 minutes after game one, UC Riverside vs Cal Poly
In the next round (on Friday) the highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed and the championship game will be nationally televised and played at 7 p.m.
Big West Women’s Basketball Tournament
The seeds and pairings for the 2011-12 Big West Women’s Basketball Tournament have also been determined. No. 1 Cal Poly, No. 2 Cal State Northridge, No. 3 UC Irvine and No. 4 UC Davis will serve as hosts for quarterfinal action on Tuesday, March 6. All four games will tip at 7:00pm.
In its final win of the regular season, Cal Poly clinched the regular season title, its second straight after splitting the championship with UC Santa Barbara in 2010-11. Cal Poly will face No. 8 Cal State Fullerton at Mott Gym. Cal Poly holds a 2-0 advantage over the Titans in regular season play.
Cal State Northridge earned the No. 2 seed with the biggest turnaround season collecting 15 wins, in comparison to last season’s four victories. The Matadors will house No. 7 Long Beach State at The Matadome where they hold a 10-4 home court record. The two competitors have split the season series this season with each team winning on its home court.
A three way tie at 9-7 left UC Davis, UC Irvine and Pacific’s tournament fate in the hands of the Big West’s tiebreaker system. UC Irvine took the top slot at No. 3 with a 3-1 record against the other two tied teams. UC Davis claimed the fourth seed and Pacific was fifth.
UC Santa Barbara finished at .500 (8-8) for the No. 6 seed and travels to host site No. 3 UC Irvine at the Bren Events Center. The final match-up will take place with No. 4 UC Davis entertaining No. 5 Pacific at The Pavilion, as the Aggies hold a 2-0 regular season record over the Tigers.
The four advancing teams will play Friday, March 9 starting at noon in the semifinals at Honda Center, with the ladies championship game taking place Saturday, March 10 at 2:00pm. Single session tickets for all men’s and women’s tournament games at Honda Center are now on sale to the general public through Ticketmaster and Honda Center Box Office. Tickets range in price from $10-22 for general admission seats for the women’s tournament games and $27-$34 for reserved seating at the men’s tournament games. The men’s championship game is at 7:00pm Saturday.