Holland Won’t Go Out on a Big West Tournament Limb

Almost anybody could pick a favorite from the Big West men’s basketball tournament field that’s as wide open as a rural freeway at midnight.

Just don’t ask Cal State Fullerton Coach Brad Holland to do it.

“I won’t let you put me on the spot like that,” Holland said, laughing. “There are six or seven possibilities out there. It’s wide open.”

But will it be wide-open enough for the eighth-seeded Titans to become a factor? They will find out at 3 p.m. Thursday, when they play ninth-seeded Nevada in the opening round at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

“You certainly can’t look past anybody the way this conference is,” Holland said.

Especially when the conference champion, New Mexico State (20-7, 12-6 in the conference), finished only two games ahead of fifth-place Nevada Las Vegas. Utah State, Long Beach State and San Jose State all finished 11-7 in the conference.

“Long Beach State has been playing as well as anyone the last month,” Holland said. “UNLV is playing at home and deserves top consideration. New Mexico State won the regular season, and San Jose State and Pacific are capable of playing great basketball.”

And, at times, so can Fullerton (8-18, 6-12). The Titans played one of their best games of the season about a month ago at Thomas & Mack, upsetting UNLV, 84-75.

And the Titans got a nice draw, facing Nevada, a team they beat twice in the regular season. They beat the Wolf Pack, 74-70, at Reno in January and blew them out in the second half of a 97-72 victory last month at Titan Gym.

Nevada (10-16, 6-12) also will be without one of its best players, forward Walt Outlaw, who was suspended Feb. 17 for breaking team rules.

“Outlaw is a fine player,” Holland said. “But Nevada wasn’t missing him when they came into our place and were kicking our behind in the first half last month. Nevada is certainly capable of beating us.”

How the rest of the tournament field shapes up:

UC Irvine (7-19, 4-14)--The 10th-seeded Anteaters have a decent shot at making the semifinals, opening against seventh-seeded UC Santa Barbara, which they lost to last week. A victory would put the Anteaters in the quarterfinals against second-seeded Utah State. Remember, the Anteaters pulled off a huge upset two years ago, beating top-seeded UC Santa Barbara in the first round. Sorry, not this season. The Anteaters have a knack for losing close games--three overtime losses and two more by five points or less in a seven-game conference losing streak. And a good tournament team must deliver in the clutch. One victory, at best, and out for the Anteaters.

New Mexico State (20-7, 12-6)--Go figure this team. In mid-February, the Aggies were nationally ranked, 11-2 in the conference and were heavily favored to win the Big West tournament. Now the Aggies are just another contender, having lost at Long Beach State, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara in late February and barely winning the conference regular-season championship.

Long Beach State (17-9, 11-7)--Here’s the hip pick--take the 49ers to win it all. Coach Seth Greenberg’s 49ers are playing the best basketball of anybody in the conference right now. The third-seeded 49ers, the defending tournament champions, have won five of their past six and seven of their past nine. The 49ers received a tough draw, facing a streak-shooting Pacific team, seeded sixth, in the quarterfinals.

Nevada Las Vegas (14-12, 10-8)--How can the host Rebels, with a lineup that includes Reggie Manuel, Kebu Stewart and Dedan Thomas, not be the tournament favorite? See: Cal State Fullerton 84, UNLV 75, on Feb. 17 at Thomas & Mack. The fifth-seeded Rebels, who face fourth-seeded San Jose State in the quarterfinals, are capable of folding at a moment’s notice. And it probably will happen again, even though the Rebels have the homecourt advantage.

Pacific (16-13, 10-8)--The Tigers had a shot at catching New Mexico State entering the final week of the season, but losses to the Aggies and UNLV dropped them to sixth place in the standings and a difficult quarterfinal matchup with Long Beach State.

San Jose State (15-11, 11-7)--How are the Spartans rewarded for their best season since 1986-87 and their first tournament appearance since 1989? They are matched against host UNLV in the first round. The Spartans, led by guard Terry Cannon, were the Big West’s hottest team from mid-January to mid-February, winning seven of eight. But they probably won’t be around for long in the tournament.

UC Santa Barbara (13-16, 9-9)--The Gauchos have lost three of their last four, but their lone victory in that stretch was at home over New Mexico State.

Utah State (14-12, 11-7)--Playing as well as they have all season, the Aggies enter the tournament on a three-game winning streak, including victories at Pacific and San Jose State.

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Holland supports the conference’s decision to return to the 10-team tournament format and invite all teams. For the past few years, only the top eight teams qualified for the tournament, which would have meant Nevada and UC Irvine stayed home.

“I think the format is good for the conference,” Holland said, “especially in a year such as this, when there’s so much parity. I just wish they would re-seed all the teams after every round.”

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Holland was asked at an Orange County Sportswriters Assn. luncheon Tuesday what he thought of UNLV Coach Rollie Massimino, who is rumored to be a candidate for the Providence job: “I know Rollie is having such a tough time at UNLV, that’s a surprise. He’s been there what? Two years? Maybe they need a young, up and coming coach or something.”

Holland is 37, 22 years younger than Massimino.

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Last add basketball: Nothing better than a game against Nevada to help Fullerton’s Josh King break out of a slump.

King, a 6-foot-7 freshman guard-forward, scored 20 points in each of Fullerton’s regular-season victories over Nevada. But he hasn’t scored in the last two games.

“I think every game is a chance for a player like Josh to break out,” Holland said. “I’m not worried about Josh or (freshman guard) Chris St. Clair at all. They’ve learned a lot in the past year.

“Everyone, every season, has a lull in their game. And they break through it, and I know Josh will.”

Titan Notes

The Titans’ second-ranked baseball team suffered a blow when third baseman Craig Skyberg, the starting third baseman, quit the team for personal reasons. Skyberg was batting .228 with 13 hits and five RBIs this season. . . . The women’s fencing team finished second to Stanford at the NCAA Western Regionals last weekend. The Titans’ Shirley Chan placed sixth in the tournament. The men’s team also finished sixth at the regionals. . . . Seven of the nation’s top-ranked softball teams, including top-ranked Arizona, are scheduled to compete in the PONY tournament, March 23-27 at Fullerton. The host Titans are ranked 16th.