Utah State’s Success Good for Big West

Utah State is off to a 15-1 start, the best in school history, and halfway through the Big West Conference schedule it looks as if the Aggies might run away with the league’s regular-season championship.

All of which might seem to be bad news for the conference’s other nine teams.

But it’s not.

If the Aggies can crack the Associated Press Top 25, the Big West can hope not only for some much-needed national recognition but also that it might sneak a second team into the NCAA tournament.

The Big West hasn’t had two teams in the same NCAA field since 1993, but it could happen this year if Utah State extends its winning streak -- only to lose in the championship game of the Big West tournament.

It could happen. Utah State has won 12 in a row and plays its next four games at home, where it is 78-7 in Stew Morrill’s six years as coach.

And if it does, it could mean tens of thousands of dollars more in revenue for each conference member -- a nice bonus for what are mostly cash-strapped state universities.

First, however, there is the matter of finishing up the regular season, and some coaches are still hopeful they can reel in the Aggies.

“They’ve still got to go to [Pacific], who’s obviously playing well,” said UC Santa Barbara Coach Bob Williams, whose Gauchos are in a third-place tie with UC Irvine, three games back.

“They’ve definitely separated themselves at this time, but I think there’s a great opportunity for them to come back to the pack.”

Pacific, 12-7 overall, 7-1 in conference play, has been the league’s surprise team. But the Tigers, who have had the most favorable home schedule of any contender, lost by 15 to Utah State in Logan.

“Pacific has to go to Irvine, go to Santa Barbara and go to Cal Poly and they’ve got Utah State at home,” Williams said. “Those are pretty tough games.” Williams said Utah State’s best trait was its ability to take over games in the final minutes.

“They are the masters of the last three minutes,” he said. “They’ve won four conference games where it was tied or they were behind inside of three minutes.

“Confidence breeds success. They were down seven with six minutes to go against us. If we win that game, then maybe they aren’t as confident.”

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Long Beach State remains in transition mode in Coach Larry Reynolds’ second year, but the 49ers can claim the two most surprising Big West victories of the season -- over Santa Barbara and Irvine after trailing by 18 points or more in each.

Those wins have helped create the great divide in the league standings. Long Beach’s next order of business is to win on the road, where it has lost 21 in a row.

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Cal State Fullerton Coach Bob Burton will be inducted into the California Community College men’s basketball coaches hall of fame on March 12.

Burton, in his first year with the Titans, won more than 75% of his games and eight league titles in 21 seasons at West Valley College near San Jose.

West Coast Conference

Can one player lift an entire team? Pepperdine thinks so.

Yakhouba Diawara is averaging 19.3 points and five rebounds in three games, lending a boost to the Waves, who stumbled while their star player sat out 17 games awaiting an eligibility decision by the NCAA.

Pepperdine (8-12 overall) has won three of its last four and is 3-2 in conference games. First-place Gonzaga is still off in the distance, but second place is back into focus for the Waves, who are tied for third.

“We’ve got all the pieces together,” guard Alex Acker said after Diawara scored 24 points in a victory over Loyola Marymount.