New Mexico State Rated a Slight Favorite in Tournament Opening in L.B. Friday

Defending tournament champion New Mexico State, which has the deepest bench in the Big West Conference, rates a slight favorite in the league’s men’s basketball tournament.

The tournament, which begins Friday at the Long Beach Arena, appears to be one of the most balanced in its 18-year history.

“I’ve been in the conference for eight years, and the conference is stronger than in any time in the past,” said New Mexico State Coach Neil McCarthy, whose team is rated 24th in the USA Today/CNN poll.

The Aggies, 23-6 overall and 15-3 in the Big West, won the regular season title by two games over Nevada Las Vegas. They face pesky UC Irvine (6-20, 4-14) in the opening round Friday at 3 p.m.

Irvine, which finished in eighth place, has played two close games against New Mexico State--losing 72-67 and 76-74. Last year, when Irvine also was eighth-seeded, the Anteaters upset top-seeded UC Santa Barbara, 88-67, in the opening round.

Fourth-place Cal State Long Beach (19-9, 11-7) plays Cal State Fullerton (15-11, 10-8), which tied for fifth place with Santa Barbara, at 9 p.m. It’s a rematch of last season’s Big West Tournament opener, won by Long Beach, 77-71. The 49ers and Titans split their regular-season games, Long Beach winning, 72-58, and Fullerton winning, 68-61.

Another opener at 1 p.m. matches two of the hottest teams in the conference--third-place Pacific (16-10, 12-6) and Santa Barbara (17-9, 10-8). Second-place and 16th-ranked Las Vegas (20-6, 13-5) and seventh-place Utah State (10-16, 7-11) will play at 7.

Pacific, which has won 10 of its last 13, lost both regular-season games to Santa Barbara. The Gauchos have won four consecutive games and eight of their last 11.

Las Vegas, which was on probation last year and ineligible for postseason play, has won seven of the last 10 tournament titles.

The semifinals will be played Saturday and the title game will be Sunday afternoon at 12:30.

The women’s portion of the tournament began Wednesday. The semifinals will be played at 7 and 9 p.m. tonight, with the title game scheduled Saturday afternoon at 3. Cal State Long Beach (9-16, 8-10) opened against UC Santa Barbara (13-5, 15-11) Wednesday night.

For the first time, pairings will be adjusted after the first round so the highest remaining seed plays the lowest remaining team in the semifinals. Coaches voted for the proposal, feeling that it was fairer to teams that had better regular-season records and that it prevented two of the better teams meeting in the semifinals, rather than in the final game.

The men’s and women’s champions receive automatic berths in the NCAA Tournament.

After five seasons in Long Beach, the tournament will move to the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas in 1994.