t all comes down to three games.
With the Big West assuredly a one-bid conference for this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the next three days will provide a winner-take-all battle at the Honda Center.
As the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, the ‘Niners have earned the luxury of playing the lowest remaining seed in each round.
The Beach (18-12, 14-4 Big West) will play its opening round contest against eighth-seeded Cal State Fullerton (14-17, 6-12) on Thursday at 6 p.m.
The Titans are led by Kwame Vaughn and D.J. Seeley, who average 18.4 and 17.9 points per game, good for second and third in the Big West, respectively. Fullerton is 18th in the country in scoring, averaging 76.9 points a night.
The ‘Niners counter with Big West Player of the Year James Ennis, who is riding a 35-game double digit scoring streak.
The senior guard put up 17 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.4 blocks a game during the regular season, finishing fifth, eighth, third and fourth in the conference in the respective categories. He is the third 49er in a row to earn the honor, as Casper Ware was named Player of the Year each of the last two seasons.
Mike Caffey, who has seen his production grow throughout the season, said his role is to help his team win, no matter what the situation asks of him.
“I see what the defense gives me most of the time,” Caffey said. “If I’ve got to score, then I’ve got to score. If I’ve got to distribute more, then I see my guys. It’s basically in the moment when I see how the game is.”
The sophomore point guard averages 12.3 points and a team-high 3.8 assists per game and was named first team All-Big West along with Ennis.
Juniors Keala King and Tony Freeland were named honorable mentions.
Dan Monson, who was named Big West Coach of the Year on Monday for the third straight season, said his team must continue to grow, beginning in practice.
“What concerns me about this team is consistency,” he said. “It’s about changing, instead of doing what they want to do to doing what they need to do. It’s just discouraging that it’s March and we’re still trying to sort through some of that.”
In order for the team to win the Big West tournament and compete at the highest level, Monson said it will have to put together 40 minutes of sustained effort three nights in a row.
“You can’t go to the NCAA tournament on 10 minutes,” he said. “You’ve got 120.”
Of the 49ers’ five starters, only Ennis and Caffey have had Big West tournament experience.
Dan Jennings, who started his collegiate career at West Virginia, was with the Mountaineers during the 2010 Big East tournament. He hasn’t played any postseason basketball in the three years since though.
Freeland also has Big East tournament experience, as he played in the tournament with DePaul in 2010 and 2011.
King, who played at Arizona State before his transfer to The Beah, played in the Pac-10 tournament in 2011.
LBSU swept the regular season series with Fullerton, defeating the Titans 81-71 on the road and 85-65 at the Pyramid.
Thursday’s tilt will be televised on Fox Prime Ticket but will be delayed until the conclusion of the matchup between fourth-seeded UC Irvine (18-14) and fifth-seeded Hawaii (17-13), which is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
All of the other Big West tournament games will be televised as well. Each quarterfinal game will be broadcast on Fox Prime Ticket, and each semifinal will be televised by ESPN3 and ESPNU. The Big West finals will be on ESPN2.