UCSB-LONG BEACH STATE REMATCH DREW BIGGEST ANAHEIM CROWD EVER
GAUCHOS-49ERS SQUARE OFF FOR THIRD-STRAIGHT YEAR For the third consecutive year, UCSB and Long Beach State met for the Big West Conference men’s championship. It was the first time in league history that the same teams met three consecutive times. After defeating the 49ers in 2010 and 2011, the Gauchos dropped a 77-64 decision in 2012. Orlando Johnson and James Nunnally were each named to the all-tournament team.
BIG WEST WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND SET FOR UC IRVINE IN 2013 For the past two years, the first round of the Big West women’s tournament was held at campus sites with the four highest seeds hosting. In 2013 that format will change as the entire first round will be held on March 12 at the Bren Center on the UC Irvine Campus. The men’s quarterfinals will be held at Honda Center on March 14 and then the final four of both tourneys will be held on March 15-16 at Honda Center.
36 • DARE Summer 2012
The third consecutive Big West Conference men’s basketball championship game between UCSB and Long Beach State was a recordsetter. The game between the Gauchos and 49ers drew 7,564 to Honda Center, the largest crowd to witness a final in Anaheim. The tournament, which has also been held in Inglewood, Long Beach, Las Vegas and Reno, has been staged in Anaheim 18 times (1977-82 and 2001-12). The previous largest crowd of 7,433 was in 1982.