Mid-Season Big West Conference Preview

All the pre-conference games have been played. Rust has been knocked-off. New players have been integrated into teams. Big West schools have played a huge range of opponents from BCS conferences, NAIA, Division II, and others.

On Wednesday night, six of the nine conference schools will tip-off their 16-game Big West season, hoping to earn a top seed in the Big West Tournament, which takes place March 9-11 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Here are a few pages I’ll be using consistently. I recommend you get a subscription to KenPom.com if you haven’t already.

CBS Sports strength of schedule

KenPom.com

Big West Men’s Basketball page

Let’s take a look at each team’s preseason, how they’ve done, and what it means for the next 10 weeks.

UC Davis Link to Team’s Site

Record: 8-7

Strength of Schedule – 301/351

KenPom Ranking – 229/351 (3rd in the Big West)

Preseason Media Poll: 5th

UC Davis has the best record this year in the Big West’s non-conference. While several other Big West teams have a top-100 non-conference schedule this season, the Aggies have gotten used to winning against teams who largely play at the level of many Big West Schools.

6’6″ Junior forward Chima Moneke — a JUCO transfer who is originally from Australia — has been a revelation for head coach Jim Les. Moneke leads the team in both scoring (14.9 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg) and is one frontrunner for the Big West’s newcomer of the year award. Brynton Lemar, Seiler Schneider, and Darius Graham all shoot 39 percent or better from three point range, giving  Moneke and super senior JT Adenrele room to operate down low. Adenrele is second on the team in rebounding, with five per game.

Cal State Fullerton Link to Team’s Website

Record: 6-7

Strength of Schedule: 325/351

KenPom Ranking: 291/351 (8th in the Big West)

Preseason Media Poll: 6th

Dedrique Taylor’s squad this year has been generally competitive, if a little inconsistent this year. They have four Division I wins, including against a few average Division I teams — but they’ve also lost against Alabama State – ranked 335/351 on KenPom.com. Senior Tre Coggins is averaging over 20 points per game and could be a sleeper Big West Player of the Year candidate. Sophomore Khalil Ahmad has played in just two games (16.5 ppg), but figures to pair with Coggins to make Fullerton’s back court one of the best in the conference offensively.

Jackson Rowe, a 6′ 7″ freshman from Toronto, leads the team in rebounding and he and Lionheart Leslie both average in double digits in scoring. A combination of conference parody, great guards, and some program consistency means this year’s Fullerton team may finally be ready to start to fulfill Taylor’s vision for the program and compete for a spot in the top half of the conference.

Hawai’i Link to Team’s Website

Record: 6-7

Strength of Schedule: 286/351

KenPom Ranking: 261/351 (5th in the Big West)

Preseason Media Poll: 8th

With a year to plan for the Rainbow Warriors’ postseason ban in 2017, head coach Eron Ganot and co. saw some familiar faces leave this past offseason, including center Stefan Jovanovic (Loyola Marymount).

In this, a rebuilding year, Hawai’i has beaten a number of the bottom 20-50 Division I teams in the country. A number of new faces lead Hawai’i this year, including Australian Jack Purchase — an Auburn transfer — JUCO transfer F Gibson Johnson, and senior UCLA transfer Noah Allen, who leads the team in scoring and rebounding.

Look for Hawai’i to be in games throughout the conference season. They’re not as talented as last year, but a record at or above .500 for conference would not be a surprise given Ganot’s pedigree. Even though they are ineligible for postseason play, Ganot’s team should keep up in a down year in the Big West.

If you want to read more about Hawai’i, Brian McInnis is a great read in the Holonolu Star Advertiser.

UC Irvine Link to Team’s Website

Record: 7-9

Strength of Schedule: 81/351

KenPom Ranking: 181/351 (First in the Big West)

Preseason Media Poll: 2nd 

Russell Turner’s team has become a perennial Big West contender. Sure, the departed Mamadou Ndiaye had something to do with that, but senior Luke Nelson was this author’s preseason pick for Big West Player of the Year. Nelson, out with injury for much of the preseason, would have made a difference in Irvine’s pre-conference record. Irvine’s top-100 strength of schedule makes their 7-9 record without Nelson actually really good.

In Nelson’s absence, Jaron Martin has shown marked improvement from last year as the team’s leading scorer at 14.3 points per game over the first 16. Martin is a notorious clutch shooter, making UC Irvine’s backcourt tandem really, really good.

Without Ndiaye, look for Ioannis Dimakopoulos to go to work inside. A 7′ 2″ senior, Dimakopoulos averages 10 points and four rebounds in just over 20 minutes per game. Jonathan Galloway, listed at 6′ 10″ (did he grow?!), plays good defense and is a role player that great teams need to have.

There is a next generation of UCI players that fans will see this season too. Max Hazzard and Eyassu Worku — freshman guards also recruited by other Big West schools, along with 6′ 8″ freshman forward Tommy Rutherford will see lots of minutes for the Anteaters.

Add up the star power, depth, discipline, leadership and athleticism, and the Anteaters are one of the top two teams going into conference play — if not the best.

Cal Poly Link to Team’s Website

Record: 5-9

Strength of Schedule: 236/351

KenPom Ranking: 270/351 (7th in the Big West)

Preseason Big West Media Poll: 9th

It’s weird that Cal Poly has played at three Pac 12 schools and still has a SOS as low as they do, but here they are.

Joe Callero’s team was already thin enough for the Mustangs to be picked 9th in the preseason media poll, but they’ve also lost probably their two best players in the preseason. Josh Martin only played in five games before a season-ending foot injury. Guard Jaylen Shead — the team leader in assists — left the program as soon as finals were done.

What Callero is left with is a weird situation. The Mustangs basically start three point guards (some combination of Kyle Toth, Ridge Shipley, Victor Joseph, and Donovan Fields), a stretch-four (Luke Meikle), and a defense/rebounding specializing center (Zach Gordon, Aleks Abrams, or Hank Hollingsworth).

Joseph, Fields, Toth, and Hollingsworth have never played in a Big West Conference game before and only Shipley, Meikle, and Gordon have seen consistent minutes.

Things might pivot on Meikle’s ability to carry the load both in rebounding and scoring in the half-court against athletic defenders in the Big West.

Cal Poly’s roster is weird and they haven’t won a game in the four since Shead left, but Callero and his staff often do their best work when things get weird. With as small as this team is, a lot will ride on their ability to defend the paint, rebound, and make three pointers. Look for the 40 percent mark from downtown and free throw differential to be good barometers of how the Mustangs are playing on a given night.

Long Beach State Link to Team’s Website

Record: 5-11

Strength of Schedule: 32/351

KenPom Ranking: 188/351 (2nd in the Big West)

Preseason Big West Media Poll: 1st

Dan Monson’s team always plays one of the toughest pre-conference schedules in the country, and this season was no different. After losing to a number of great teams early in the season, the 49ers rattled off back-to-back wins at Oregon State and at home against Colorado State.

Long Beach brings back firepower in Evan Payne and Gabe Levin — former Loyola Marymount players who transferred to Long Beach. Payne is a pure scorer (14.5 ppg) and Levin does a lot of dirty work, averaging 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest.

Noah Blackwell, Roschon Prince, and Temidayo Yussuf are all solid rotation players who do a lot of work on both ends of the floor.

The heartbeat of Long Beach State, though, is 5’8″ Justin Bibbins. A junior this year, Bibbins was a vocal leader on the court as an underclassman last season. Bibbins was injured at the end of the Colorado State win on December 22nd and didn’t play at Eastern Michigan. His ability to be full-speed will mean A LOT for a Long Beach State team that is battle-tested and ready to compete for a Big West title once again.

They’ll get a test right out of the gate, facing UC Irvine on Thursday night in Irvine. The game will be an ESPN3 production.

CSUN Link to Team’s Website

Record: 4-9

Strength of Schedule: 139/351

KenPom Ranking: 239/351 (4th in Big West)

Preseason Media Poll: 3rd

Reggie Theus‘ team has been one of the hardest to figure out thus far. With a bevy of transfers from schools in power conferences, CSUN was poised to make a big improvement this year. Maybe they still are.

They still have those talented players. Rakim Lubin (UCONN), Darin Johnson (Washington) Kendall Smith (UNLV), Reggie Theus Jr. (South Carolina) and Dylan Johns (Texas A&M) are all contributing this year. Tavrion Dawson is a talented wing player too.

But inconsistent pre-conference play has given reason for pause. Losses to teams like UCLA and Texas A&M don’t look bad, but the loss to Bethesda at home is a real head-scratcher. Maybe senior Aaron Parks (11.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists per game), who didn’t play in the Bethesda game, really means that much to the Matadors.

This team will go as far as it is willing to stay disciplined on defense. The Matadors will get their 75 or so points (they average almost 80 per game so far), but their ability to limit turnovers and get defensive stops will be the difference between a winning or losing conference record.

UC Riverside Link to Team’s Website

Record: 2-9

Strength of Schedule: 131/351

KenPom Ranking: 301/351 (9th in the Big West)

Preseason Media Poll: 7th

There’s no doubt about it, UC Riverside has struggled this preseason. Before December 31st, they hadn’t beaten a Division I team this year. But on New Years Eve, they hosted Grand Canyon, a top-200 team, and came away with a victory at the SRC.

The win may be a building block for a team looking for positives.

Secean Johnson is the team’s scoring and rebounding leader at 11.4 points and 5 rebounds per game. Gentry Thomas and Chance Murray are the other Highlanders averaging double-figure points. Dikymbe Martin, a freshman guard from local high school JW North, might be the most interesting player on the team. Martin leads the team in assists and steals and averages 8.5 points per game.

With their overall performance this year, it’s hard to see UC Riverside finishing near the top half of the conference, but the league is so weird this year that anybody could convince themselves they belong in the top four.

UC Santa Barbara Link to Team’s Website

Record: 2-10 

Strength of Schedule: 34/351

KenPom Ranking: 269/351 (6th in the Big West)

Preseason Media Poll: 4th

It’s unusual to see Bob Williams teams struggle, but struggle this year’s squad has. Their only Division I win was against Cal State Bakersfield and losses to San Diego and Seattle weren’t particularly good. In the Seattle game over winter break, the Gauchos gave up a 20-point lead with 9:09 left in the game to lose at the Thunderdome.

Things aren’t all doom and gloom in Goleta, though. UCSB has played the 34th toughest schedule this season and it would be easy to see Williams’ players improving and adjusting as they got into conference. This year’s team is led by junior Gabe Vincent — a sharp shooter deluxe who averages 16.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Junior Jalen Canty is a big 6’8″ JUCO transfer from San Francisco who was the California JUCO Player of the Year last season. He averages 10 points and seven rebounds for the Gauchos while sharpshooting freshman Max Heidegger (Oaks Christian High School) is averaging nine points. Senior Eric Childress leads the team with 3.8 assists per game.

It’s always hard to imagine UCSB near or at the bottom of the Big West when the dust settles, so don’t be surprised if you see them seeded in the 4-6 range in the conference tournament, despite their slow start.