ANAHEIM, Calif. — Josh Greene scored 27 points and Stephan Hicks added 21 to help No. 5 seed Cal State Northridge outlast fourth-seeded Hawaii in overtime 87-84 in the Big West Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday night. ADVERTISING ANAHEIM, Calif. —
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Josh Greene scored 27 points and Stephan Hicks added 21 to help No. 5 seed Cal State Northridge outlast fourth-seeded Hawaii in overtime 87-84 in the Big West Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday night.
The Matadors (16-17) shot 53.6 percent from the field and will face third-seeded Long Beach State in the semifinals Friday.
Christian Standhardinger paced Hawaii (20-11) with 28 points (14-of-16 free throws). Keith Shamburger finished with 20 points and Brandon Spearman had 17.
CS Northridge led 37-21 in the first half, but Hawaii stormed back to lead by 13 in the second. A 3-pointer by Greene with 16 seconds left forced overtime.
Shamburger hit a jumper and free throw to go up 84-81 in overtime, but two Hawaii turnovers allowed CS Northridge to move ahead as Stephen Maxwell hit a jumper and Tre Hale-Edmerson sank two free throws. Spearman couldn’t connect on a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
UC Irvine, 63, UC Riverside 43
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Will Davis II and Luke Nelson combined for 30 points to lead No. 1 seed UC Irvine past No. 8 seed UC Riverside 63-43 in a Big West Conference tournament quarterfinal Thursday.
The Anteaters (23-10) built a 12-point lead in the first half and extended it through the final 20 minutes. They advance to play No. 7 seed Cal Poly in a semifinal game Friday.
Russell Turner, the 2014 Big West Conference Coach of the Year has led UC Irvine to 10 wins in its last 11 games and 16 in their last 19.
UC Irvine used a 14-1 run in the first half to take control of the game, fashioning a 16-5 lead just eight minutes into the contest.
Davis was 6 of 10 from the field to finish with 16 points. Nelson was 5 of 10 for 14 points.
Nick Gruninger had 10 points for Riverside (10-21).
Long Beach State 66, Cal State Fullerton 56
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mike Caffey scored 14 points and No. 3 seed Long Beach State beat sixth-seeded Cal State Fullerton 66-56 in the first round of the Big West Conference tournament Thursday.
Tyler Lamb added 13 points, Travis Hammonds scored 12 and A.J. Spencer 10 for LBSU (15-16), which has now advanced to at least the semifinals of the Big West Conference tournament in each of coach Dan Monson’s seven seasons. They will face fifth-seeded Cal State Northridge in the semifinals Friday.
CS Fullerton had one of its worst shooting performances of the season, shooting 20-of-60 from the field (33 percent), 9-of-28 from 3-point range (32 percent) and 7-of-13 from the free-throw line (54 percent). Michael Williams, who came into the game averaging a team-leading 17.6 points, made just 3 of 17 from the field and tied a season-low with 10 points.
Alex Harris led the Titans with 17 points.
Cal Poly 69, Santa Barbara 38
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Ridge Shipley scored 15 points in a balanced attack and seventh-seeded Cal Poly used two big first-half runs to crush second-seeded Santa Barbara 69-38 in the opening game of the Big West tournament on Thursday.
The Mustangs (11-19) dominated the first half with runs of 13-0 and 12-0 to open a 41-20 lead and the Gauchos (21-9) never got untracked. They will face top-seeded UC Irvine in the semifinals Friday.
UCSB scored the first seven points. Down 12-9, Cal Poly reeled off 13 straight points and built on a 25-17 lead with a 12-0 run. The Mustangs shot 59 percent, hitting 6 of 8 3-pointers.
Cal Poly shot just 25 percent in the second half but made 14 of 16 free throws to finish 17 for 20. The Mustangs turned 13 UCSB turnovers into 21 points.
Michael Bryson had 19 points for the Gauchos, who shot 32 percent.
