Down at the Honda Center in Anaheim, two teams from Orange County met for a conference championship to see who would get the invite to the dance from the Big West.
When the seedings come out today, it will be interesting to see what kind of respect the Anteaters from Irvine get. UC-Irvine literally dismantled the Titans from Cal State Fullerton showing that they should be a force to deal with when the big dance starts cranking up.
Collin Welp came off the bench and teammate Max Hazzard each scored 23 points as the Anteaters placed four players in double figures and defeated Cal State by 28.
The Anteaters were 10-14 from the three point line while the Titans were a mere 5-21. Max Hazzard led UC-Irvine going 5-6 from the perimeter and 8-11 altogether from the field.
While UC-Irvine may not be one of the most well known or the flashiest teams in the country or from one of the best known conferences in the country, they have some nice connections who know all about winning:
Collin Welp’s father, Christian, was the PAC 10 Player of the Year with the Washington Huskies in 1986.
Max Hazzard’s grandfather, Walt, was the National Player of the Year for the UCLA Bruins and John Wooden in 1964.
JC Butler’s father, Caron, was the Big East Player of the Year for Jim Calhoun and the UConn Huskies in 2002.
Spencer Rivers father, Doc, is well known as well to basketball junkies as a current NBA coach who led the 2008 Boston Celtics to an NBA Championship while also having a great career playing alongside Dominique Wilkins and the Atlanta Hawks.
With that much family friendly winning going on in the Anteater hereditary pool, it would be a good bet to make sure that you do not overlook UC-Irvine if they are able to pull out a win in the first round of the NCAA Tourney.
March Madness at its best!