Once again we're in the West region, this time as a #13 seed.
UC-Riverside makes the Big Dance as an At-Large team, the first time we've had two Big West teams in the tournament I think. They're an 8 seed in the East, so not only the first time we've had an at-large bid, but the first time one of the conference is favored. And the Big West is still searching for its first NCAA win.
Also for the first time ever, the Big West is nowhere to be found in the NIT. Feels like
UC-Santa Barbara got snubbed here - the Gauchos had a 120 RPI and deserved consideration.
Louisville is the #10 ranked team. Their post players are only decent, and the Cardinals as a whole suffer from really post defense. Perimeter defense is absolutely phenomenal, though, and their backcourt is excellent. Likely a loss here, but they're also not as deep as last year's
Iowa opponent.
We were actually within 2, 42-44, at one point in the second half, but
Major Ramirez fouled out with just 18 minutes played. And without our one potential outside shot at an upset on the court, they won going away.
Code:
Louisville 72, Cal State Northridge 59
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Cal State Northridge (21-12, 11-7):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Major Ramirez C 14 1-3 1-2 1 2 0 5 3
B. Klingensmith PF 26 2-5 0-0 0 2 1 2 4
Jeremiah Hardie SF 27 5-15 2-4 1 2 0 4 15
Robert Serra SG 33 3-6 6-8 0 4 1 1 12
Eutropio Rey PG 32 3-6 1-1 2 6 8 1 9
Ned Fraser PG 19 0-0 2-2 0 2 1 3 2
Rene Abbott SF 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Richard McCowan SG 7 1-1 0-0 1 1 0 1 2
Bradford Taylor PG 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Conrad Magee C 28 3-8 1-1 1 6 0 1 7
Jeffery Aponte PF 11 2-3 0-2 2 3 0 1 5
Levi Ullrich C 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Turnovers: 22 (M.Ramirez 1, J.Hardie 5, R.Serra 6,
E.Rey 6, N.Fraser 2, R.McCowan 2)
Blocked Shots: 3 (J.Hardie 1, E.Rey 1, L.Ullrich 1)
Steals: 4 (B.Klingensmith 2, J.Hardie 1, N.Fraser 1)
3P FGs: 6-16 (J.Hardie 3-10, R.Serra 0-2, E.Rey 2-2,
J.Aponte 1-2)
Louisville (24-7, 11-5):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Edward Smith C 34 4-7 1-2 1 5 0 1 10
Chung Dunlap PF 32 7-12 1-1 3 11 1 3 15
Tony Ridge SF 31 0-3 0-0 0 1 2 4 0
Rod Smith SG 25 7-12 5-5 6 8 1 4 23
Mitch Celestine PG 33 3-13 3-6 1 2 3 2 11
Tracy Ledoux PG 9 1-2 2-2 1 4 2 4 4
Joseph Napoleon PG 13 1-2 2-3 0 0 2 1 4
Shawn Slover PG 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0 0
Chester Burris PF 10 0-0 0-0 0 3 1 1 0
Shad Larue SF 8 1-2 1-2 1 3 1 0 3
Henry Marinelli PF 1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2
Turnovers: 20 (E.Smith 3, C.Dunlap 4, T.Ridge 1,
R.Smith 5, M.Celestine 5, T.Ledoux 1, S.Slover 1)
Blocked Shots: 2 (E.Smith 2)
Steals: 10 (E.Smith 1, C.Dunlap 1, T.Ridge 1, R.Smith
2, M.Celestine 4, J.Napoleon 1)
3P FGs: 7-22 (E.Smith 1-2, T.Ridge 0-2, R.Smith 4-9,
M.Celestine 2-7, T.Ledoux 0-1, J.Napoleon 0-1)
Player of Game: SG Rod Smith (LSVLE)
Zero shame in this loss. The Cardinals are just a really good team, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the Final Four.
Louisville loses by 8 in the next round to
LSU. But we have our first Big West Big Dance win as
UC-Riverside tops 9 seed
Syracuse 63-57 in front of a partisan Orangemen crowd! They get steamrolled by
tk's top seed Terrapins the next round, but
Maryland mauls everyone on their way to the Final Four, where they face 3 seed defending champion
Oklahoma. Over on the other side, it's 1 seed
Stanford vs 3 seed
Florida State.
Cardinal-Terrapins final and
Stanford wins their second title with ease, 82-63. Missed opportunity for the Terps to win their third title, though they did go back-to-back in 2022 and 2023.
Code:
2026 Big West Conference Standings
TEAM CW CL Pct W L Pct RPI Prestige
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UC Riverside Highlanders 17 1 .944 28 6 .824 35 52
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 14 4 .778 18 13 .581 120 33
Cal State Northridge Matadors 11 7 .611 21 12 .636 95 34
UC Davis Aggies 9 9 .500 15 16 .484 151 49
Cal Poly Mustangs 9 9 .500 13 17 .433 247 33
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 7 11 .389 11 19 .367 288 37
UC Irvine Anteaters 6 12 .333 8 22 .267 286 35
Pacific Tigers 6 12 .333 9 21 .300 304 23
Cal State Fullerton Titans 6 12 .333 11 18 .379 282 38
Long Beach State 49ers 5 13 .278 7 22 .241 319 30
Code:
2026 BIG WEST AWARDS
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Player of the Year:
SR PG Eutropio Rey Cal State Northridge 16.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 5.4 APG 0.8 SPG, 0.2 BPG
Freshman of the Year:
FR SF Jeremiah Hardie Cal State Northridge 10.3 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.2 APG 0.8 SPG, 0.2 BPG
Coach of the Year:
John McLain UC Riverside 28 - 6 (17 - 1)
All-league 1st Team:
C SR Delmar Jones UC Riverside 16.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.5 SPG, 3.1 BPG
PF SR William Erskine UC Santa Barbara 9.2 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.5 BPG
SF SO Lucius Drury UC Riverside 14.8 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.4 BPG
SG SO Robert Serra Cal State Northridge 14.7 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG SR Eutropio Rey Cal State Northridge 16.8 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 5.4 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.2 BPG
All-league 2nd Team:
C JR Major Ramirez Cal State Northridge 14.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.5 SPG, 0.3 BPG
PF SR Cecil Flagg Pacific 9.6 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.4 SPG, 0.6 BPG
SF SR Del Holmes Hawaii 16.4 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.4 SPG, 1.3 BPG
SG JR Barton Caine UC Riverside 9.4 PPG, 3.0 RPG, 2.6 APG, 2.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG JR Jerald McElroy Pacific 18.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.2 BPG
All-freshman Team:
C FR Raul Kimbrough Cal State Fullerton 2.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 0.5 APG, 0.2 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PF
SF FR Jeremiah Hardie Cal State Northridge 10.3 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.2 BPG
SG FR Cesar Wisdom Long Beach State 8.1 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.4 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG FR Bruno Dominguez UC Santa Barbara 8.9 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.2 BPG
What an absolutely banner year from an awards standpoint. No disagreements with not getting Coach of the Year. It's the second time we've had the
Big West Freshman of the Year and very first time we've had a
Big West Player of the Year, and I'm totally thrilled. Fantastic way for the
Trop King to go out.
More on his career next.