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Battle for Big West NCAA Tournament Bid Remains Tight

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  By Nick Bartlett, SuperWest Sports


MARCH%2BMADNESS%2BLOGO.pngThe Big West should receive just one NCAA Tournament bid, but three teams are currently within a game of each other atop the standings.

UC Irvine holds the top spot at 11-4 after defeating Long Beach State yesterday.

Hawaii and Cal State Northridge both have 10-5 conference records after losses on Thursday to Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara, respectively.

The Anteaters and Rainbow Warriors have the better overall records with meaningful games still on their slates, so we take a look at those two teams here.

The players at both Hawai’i and UC Irvine have easy access to the beach, but they find themselves in different basketball situations.

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Hawaii Rainbow Warriors logo

Hawai’i (10-5, 18-7)

The Rainbows rely on a no-switching man-to-man defense when necessary, but in a limited way.

A lot of teams switch everything in this era, and it’s probably smart in power conferences, but UH is holding it down to a minimum.

Here’s a nerdy breakdown of why it works.

Hawai’i’s big men play a drop action in the pick-and-roll. This means the big man doesn’t defend the guard, but provides just enough of a presence to be annoying.

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If the ball handler gets hot from 15 feet, a post player pops for some threes, or if there’s a vertical threat, it can be beaten.

Since the Big West lacks elite athleticism, this defense is effective.

Dre Bullock
Dre Bullock vs Cal State Bakersfield | Brian McInnis/Spectrum News

The other guiding principle, and the main one, is no-help defense. This forces the opponent to win one-on-one matchups, which is difficult for most college players.

The justification for this defense is that it helps stymie ball movement.

The Bows rank first in the nation, only allowing 9.0 assists per game this year. UH also ranked in the Top 25 in this same category a season ago.

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Hawai’i is also sixth in the country in defensive rating and 35th in points allowed per game.

Offensively, the Rainbow Warriors are decent, ranking 104th in points scored per contest.

They have four different players who average 10 points or more per game, led by center Isaac Johnson, who averages 13.4.

Head Coach Eran Ganot is on pace to lead Hawaii to its third 20-win season in the last four years, and has recorded just one losing season in his 11-year tenure as the coach at UH.

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espn%2Buc-irvine.png

UC Irvine (11-4, 18-9)

UC Irvine is like that reliable worker who always gets overlooked. Last year, if not for a missed point-blank layup, they would have won the NIT.

Scarcely any mid-major program will make the Big Dance each season like Gonzaga, but the Anteaters are back at the top of the Big West standings again in 2026.

Offensively, the ‘Eaters are led by Jurian Dixon, who averages 15.5 points per game.

Dixon has proven a bit inconsistent at times, but can also take over a game, as was the case with his 26-point explosion against CSU Bakersfield.

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The Big West Freshman of the Year in 2024-25 decided to stay after a tough end to his freshman season, aided by a bunch of players transferring out, meaning he would get more shots.

Irvine has two other players who average more than 10 points per game, and Kyle Evans is one of those guys.

Jurian Dixon
Jurian Dixon vs Long Beach St | UC Irvine Athletics

But Evans isn’t known for his offense; he’s a defensive menace, leading the NCAA in blocked shots, averaging 3.35 blocks per contest.

He has 87 total denials on the year, 15 more than the second-place shot-blocker.

Evans’ defensive presence helps anchor a team that ranks seventh in defensive rating and 43rd in points allowed per game. He also averages 8.5 rebounds per contest.

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The third player averaging more than ten points per game is Derin Saran, who also averages 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals per contest.

Russell Turner has done a marvelous job at UC Irvine. Most of his players impact the game in multiple facets, a staple of a winning program.

Not surprisingly, he is the winningest coach in ‘Eaters history.

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Chinese GP qualifying: Antonelli takes pole after Russell issues

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Antonelli’s new record – he is 19 years and 212 days old – beat the previous held by Sebastian Vettel, who was 21 years and 72 days old when he took pole at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.

Antonelli said he was “very happy” but accepted that he might well not have taken pole had Russell had a problem-free qualifying.

He said: “George had an issue, so probably could have been a different story but happy to be on pole for the first time.”

Russell described his second place as “damage limitation” after a litany of problems through qualifying.

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The championship leader said: “It was a crazy session. Front wing broke at the end of Q2. The team weren’t sure it had broken but I was sure it had. Then got stranded on track and just made it back out in time. It was more a case of just getting a lap done.

“P2 is better than I was expecting when I started the lap with no battery and tyre temperature. Really happy to be here because I could have been down in 10th.”

In the first session, Leclerc became the first driver to beat Russell in a competitive session this year with a time just under 0.1secs quicker than the Briton.

Then in the second session, Russell ended up third fastest behind Antonelli and Leclerc after he suffered a broken front wing flap.

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Heading out for the final session with a new wing, Russell’s car stopped on track on his out lap as the gearbox refused to change gear.

Antonelli drove past his team-mate as he set the fastest time on his first flying lap, 0.3secs quicker than Leclerc.

After frantic work in the garage, Mercedes managed to fix Russell’s car by applying a series of default procedures such as switching the car off and on again and swapping out the steering wheel.

He got just out in time to set a lap but his rushed preparation meant the car was not in its optimum condition as he went for a time.

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However, Antonelli had his own problems on his final run – he suffered the same front wing problem has Russell had done in Q2.

Hamilton, who tussled with Russell for the lead in the opening laps of the sprint race earlier on Saturday, was 0.351secs off pole and said he had hopes of challenging the Mercedes again in the grand prix.

“It was a really tough qualifying,” Hamilton said. “A bit harder with the wind. It is so gusty today. So challenging.

“Really happy and grateful to be up here with these guys. Engineers did some great work over the break and managed to get a little closer to these guys.

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“It’s still going to be a challenge but I am sure we’re going to have some fun. Learned a lot in the sprint race and our goal is to break the gap to these guys somehow.”

The McLarens were just over 0.1secs behind the Ferraris and Norris said: “We’re happy we’re close to them, gives us a good shot at tomorrow.”

But Verstappen was downcast to be nearly a second off the pace in the Red Bull.

“We change a lot on the car, and it makes zero difference,” the four-time world champion said.

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“The whole weekend we’ve been off. The car is completely undriveable. I cannot even put a bit of a reference in. Every lap is like survival.”

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Barcelona miss out on 16-year-old prodigy as Real Madrid win race

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Barcelona have lost to Real Madrid in the race to sign one of Spain’s most promising young talents.

The player in question is teenage defender Victory Okorie, who has been attracting strong interest from across Europe.

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According to journalist Matteo Moretto in MARCA, the young player has decided to join Real Madrid despite interest from Barcelona and several other European sides.

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Okorie currently plays in the youth system of Deportivo Alaves, where he has built a strong reputation as one of the most exciting young defenders in the academy.

His performances at the youth level have drawn attention from clubs such as Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Atletico Madrid, all of whom were monitoring his progress closely.

However, Real Madrid moved to secure the player’s future.

Who is Victory Okorie?

The 16-year-old left-back has signed with the Spanish giants and will officially join the club’s academy, La Fabrica, at the end of the current season.

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AEW changes Andrade’s name ahead of Revolution 2026

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Andrade is set to compete in a major match at AEW Revolution. However, the Jacksonville-based promotion has changed his name just a few days before the show. He is now back to using his old name that he had before he went back to WWE in 2024.

The Former United States Champion used to be have “Cien Almas” in his name during his first run in WWE. However, when he went to All Elite Wrestling he dropped it and started using “El Idolo” with his name instead. Ever since he returned to AEW back in January, he had only been using his first name.

However, AEW recently posted a graphic for Andrade’s upcoming match with Mascara Dorada on this week’s Collision. In the graphic, the promotion brought back the El Idolo name for the Mexican superstar.

“The night before facing @BandidoWrestler at #AEWRevolution, the Idol will clash with one of the most spectacular wrestlers from @CMLL OFICIAL, Golden Mask! Andrade vs Dorada TOMORROW!”

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It will be interesting to see if this is a one time thing or the company will keep using this name for the former NXT Champion.

Andrade will face Bandido at AEW Revolution

After Brody King challenged Swerve Strickland to a match at Revolution, his tag team partner Bandido was also looking for a fight. The Most Wanted star’s challenge was accepted by none other than Don Callis Family’s newest member and the former NXT Champion.

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In a backstage segment on Dynamite few weeks ago, the two stars had a backstage interaction. Bandido told his opponent about how he grew up watching him. The former NXT Champion belittled his opponent by calling him a fan and tried to assert his dominance.

It will be exciting to see who will leave Los Angeles with the victory. El Idolo has been booked very strongly ever since his AEW return and fans are wondering if his dominance will continue at the event.