BIG WEST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS : Titans Draw Long Beach; UCI Gets Santa Barbara

The Cal State Fullerton men’s basketball team will play Cal State Long Beach at 9 p.m., and UC Irvine will play UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Big West Conference tournament beginning Friday at the Long Beach Sports Arena.

The Titans (12-15, 8-10 in conference) tied University of the Pacific for sixth place, but Pacific was seeded fifth by virtue of a coin flip and will play fourth-seeded Utah State in the first round.

Fullerton and Long Beach (17-10, 11-7) split two games this season, with the Titans winning, 78-77, in overtime Jan. 25 in Titan Gym and the 49ers winning, 85-71, Feb. 20 in Long Beach’s Campus Gym.

The Anteaters (6-21, 3-15) are the eighth-seeded team and drew top-seeded Santa Barbara (20-7, 13-5). Santa Barbara has defeated Irvine twice this season, 61-59, Jan. 25 and, 80-74, Feb. 20.

If Fullerton wins, it would play the winner of the New Mexico State-Fresno State game in Saturday’s semifinals. An Irvine upset would give the Anteaters a semifinal berth against either Utah State or Pacific.

The tournament, normally little more than a showcase for Nevada Las Vegas, holds much more relevance for the rest of conference this season.

The Rebels, who have won the conference tournament seven of the past nine years, including three in a row, are ineligible for post-season play.

UNLV (26-2) can only watch despite an 18-0 conference record and taking the conference title. The winner of the tournament gets an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

In other first-round matchups: No. 2 New Mexico State (20-7) plays No. 7 Fresno State (15-15) at 3 p.m.; and No. 4 Utah State (16-11) plays No. 5 Pacific (12-15) at 1 p.m.

The semifinals will be played at 7 and 9 p.m. Saturday and the title game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

Cal State Fullerton faces a difficult task in the first round of the Big West Conference women’s basketball tournament that begins Wednesday at Long Beach Arena.

The Titans (11-16) play UC Santa Barbara (23-4), the conference champion and the top-seeded team, at 3 p.m.

Cal State Long Beach (19-8) is seeded second and plays Fresno State (13-14) at 7 p.m. Las Vegas (16-9) is No. 3 and plays New Mexico State (15-13) at 9 p.m. and fourth-seeded Hawaii (21-5) plays No. 5 Pacific (13-14) at 1 p.m.

The semifinals are at 7 and 9 p.m. Thursday and the championship game begins at 3 p.m. Saturday. The tournament winner receives an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.