Big West Basketball Tournament: UC Irvine the heavy favorite in 2019
By Connor Hope
Key Players
Lamine Diane – CSUN
If you haven’t heard watched Lamine Diane yet, you should probably check him out now. He may be on the sixth place team in a single-bid conference, but the freshman is putting up numbers that are reminiscent of DeAndre Ayton last season. CSUN may not be the best team in the conference, but Diane should be enough to make their game a battle. If he and teammate Terrell Gomez are both playing to their potential, the Matadors will be dangerous.
Deishuan Booker – Long Beach State
Averaging 23.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in conference play, senior guard Deishuan Booker has the 49ers moving in the right direction heading into the Big West Tournament. He is the deadly combination of aggressive at the rim, solid from three and nearly automatic from the stripe. Booker is also a solid defender, and the leader of a Long Beach State team that shouldn’t be overlooked. If he can get his turnover issues under control, Booker will be dangerous against a struggling Hawaii team.
Kyle Allman – CSU Fullerton
The star of last season’s Big West Tournament, Kyle Allman has the talent to repeat his MVP performance and once again take the Titans to the Big Dance. Khalil Ahmad may have been the top option in conference play this season, but that only makes Allman more dangerous. Teams will need to lock in at all times defensively, or he will put up unreasonably big numbers. Look for his experience to show early and often in this conference tournament.
Ar’Mond Davis – UC Santa Barbara
It was tough choose just one player on this Gauchos squad, but Ar’Mond Davis has the ability to be the most potent scorer, while adding rebounds to the mix. The team’s first scoring option, Davis made a strong case for Newcomer of the Year, and would have won it any other year but this one. He is just one piece in a strong Santa Barbara rotation, but his ability to score at all levels makes him the most exciting.
Jonathan Galloway – UC Irvine
If UC Santa Barbara’s top player to watch was difficult to pick, UC Irvine’s key player was nearly impossible to pinpoint. Each player stands out for his own reason, but Jonathan Galloway’s skillset is so unique that he would be difficult to replace if lost due to injury or foul trouble. As the Anteaters’ only true big man, the senior leads the team in field goal percentage, rebounds and blocks, and is the only 32 game starter. His presence in the middle is a key to Irvine’s success, and should not go unnoticed in the Big West Tournament.