Follow US: UCR enters Big West tournament as No. 3 seed, first game Thursday The Highlanders look to become the first squad in school history to make the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament Author: Omar Shamout Share This: The UC Riverside men’s basketball team is hoping to cap off the best season in program history with a first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament. But the Highlanders will have to win the Big West Men’s Basketball Championship to do so, which begins this Tuesday at the at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The Highlanders enter the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed, finishing the regular season with a 13-7 overall record, and an 8-4 record in the conference. The team opens play on Thursday night at 8 p.m. in a quarterfinal matchup against No. 6 seed University of Hawai’i. UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine are the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively.