1978 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament


The 1978 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament (now known as the Big West Conference men's basketball tournament) was held March 2–4 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.[2]

1978 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1977–78
Teams7
SiteAnaheim Convention Center
Anaheim, CA
ChampionsCal State Fullerton (1st title)
Winning coachBobby Dye (1st title)
MVPGreg Bunch (Cal State Fullerton)
Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournaments
← 1977
1979 →
1977–78 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Fresno State 11 3   .786 21 6   .778
San Diego State 11 3   .786 19 9   .679
Cal State Fullerton 9 5   .643 23 9   .719
Pacific 9 5   .643 17 10   .630
Long Beach State 7 7   .500 16 13   .552
San Jose State 4 10   .286 8 19   .296
UC Santa Barbara 3 11   .214 8 19   .296
UC Irvine 2 12   .143 8 17   .320
1978 PCAA tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Cal State Fullerton topped defending champions Long Beach State in the championship game, 64–53, to win its first PCAA/Big West men's basketball tournament.

The Titans, in turn, received a bid to the 1978 NCAA tournament, where they advanced to the Elite Eight. It was CSUF's first Division I tournament appearance.

Format

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The tournament field expanded again, this time increasing from six to seven teams (Fresno State participated in its first PCAA tournament).

Seven of the eight total PCAA members (newcomer UC Irvine was not invited) qualified for the event and were seeded based on regular season conference records. The top team earned a bye into the semifinal round while the remaining six teams entered into the preliminary first round.

Bracket

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First round
Thursday, March 2
Semifinals
Friday, March 3
Championship
Saturday, March 4
         
1 Fresno State 62
5 Long Beach State 68*
5 Long Beach State 84
4 Pacific 82
5 Long Beach State 53
3 Cal State Fullerton 64
3 Cal State Fullerton 88
6 San Jose State 78
3 Cal State Fullerton 64
2 San Diego State 50
7 UC Santa Barbara 70
2 San Diego State 96

References

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  1. ^ "1978-78 Pacific Coast Athletic Association Season Summary". Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  2. ^ "1977-78 Pacific Coast Athletic Association Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016.