1994 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1994 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 10–13 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada.[1] This was the first Big West/PCAA tournament played outside the state of California.

1994 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1993–94
Teams10
SiteThomas & Mack Center
Paradise, NV
ChampionsNew Mexico State (2nd title)
Winning coachNeil McCarthy (2nd title)
MVPChris Brown & James Dockery (UC Irvine & New Mexico State)
← 1993
1995 →
1993–94 Big West men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
New Mexico State 12 6   .667 23 8   .742
Long Beach State 11 7   .611 17 10   .630
San Jose State 11 7   .611 15 12   .556
Utah State 11 7   .611 14 13   .519
Pacific 10 8   .556 17 14   .548
UNLV 10 8   .556 15 13   .536
UC Santa Barbara 9 9   .500 13 17   .433
Nevada 6 12   .333 11 17   .393
Cal State Fullerton 6 12   .333 8 19   .296
UC Irvine 4 14   .222 10 20   .333
1994 Big West tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Top-seeded New Mexico State defeated UC Irvine (the tournament's lowest-seeded team, with only 4 conference wins) in the final, 70–64, to capture their second PCAA/Big West title.

The Aggies subsequently received an automatic bid to the 1994 NCAA tournament.

Format

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For the second straight year, there were changes to the tournament format.

The Big West returned to a ten-team tournament with all conference members in participation. With all teams seeded and paired based on conference regular-season records, the top six teams were given byes into the quarterfinal round while the four lowest-seeded teams were placed in a preliminary first round.

As a result of the field's expansion, this was the first tournament for second-year Big West member Nevada.

Bracket

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First round
Thursday, March 10
Quarterfinals
Friday, March 11
Semifinals
Saturday, March 12
Championship
Sunday, March 13
            
1 New Mexico State 68
8 Nevada 67
9 Cal State Fullerton 64
8 Nevada 68
1 New Mexico State 82
5 UNLV 64
5 UNLV 80
4 San Jose State 69
1 New Mexico State 70
10 UC Irvine 64
3 Long Beach State 73
6 Pacific 87
6 Pacific 78
10 UC Irvine 82
7 UC Santa Barbara 48
10 UC Irvine 53
10 UC Irvine 78
2 Utah State 68

References

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  1. ^ "1993-94 Big West Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.