1996 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1996 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 8–March 10 at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.[1]

1996 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1995–96
Teams6
SiteLawlor Events Center
Reno, NV
ChampionsSan José State (2nd title)
Winning coachStan Morrison (1st title)
MVPTariq Abdul-Wahad (San José State)
← 1995
1997 →
1995–96 Big West men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Long Beach State 12 6   .667 17 11   .607
Pacific 11 7   .611 15 12   .556
UC Irvine 11 7   .611 15 12   .556
Utah State 10 8   .556 18 15   .545
Nevada 9 9   .500 16 13   .552
San Jose State 9 9   .500 13 17   .433
New Mexico State 8 10   .444 11 15   .423
UC Santa Barbara 8 10   .444 11 15   .423
UNLV 7 11   .389 10 16   .385
Cal State Fullerton 5 13   .278 6 20   .231
1996 Big West tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

San José State defeated Utah State in the championship game in overtime, 76–75, to obtain the second Big West Conference men's basketball tournament championship in school history.

Thus, the Spartans were invited and participated in the 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, making it the third time SJSU has appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. San José State was the only school in the Big West to appear in the NCAA Tournament.

Format

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For this season, no teams have disbanded nor joined the Big West Conference. However, the conference decided that six teams with the best conference records would play. As a result, Cal State Fullerton, New Mexico State, UC Santa Barbara, and UNLV did not participate.

Since six teams participated, the top two seeds, Long Beach State as No. 1 and UC Irvine as No. 2, were given Quarterfinals byes. The four other teams, Nevada, Pacific, San Jose State, and Utah State, competed in the quarterfinals.

Bracket

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Quarterfinals
Friday, March 8
Semifinals
Saturday, March 9
Championship
Sunday, March 10
         
6 San José State 77
3 Pacific 57
6 San José State 71
2 UC Irvine 67
6 San José State 76
4 Utah State 75
4 Utah State 70
5 Nevada 65
4 Utah State 86
1 Long Beach State 73

References

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  1. ^ "1996 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament". College Basketball Reference. Retrieved April 10, 2018.