The following is the latest installment of the Nexus Sports athlete blog series, featuring Chrisitan Peterson, a senior forward on the men’s basketball team.

 

So after a great senior night and closing out league at 12-4, we are now headed down to Anaheim for the Big West tourney as the number three seed. Fullerton is the number two seed after their win over Long Beach but second or third seed doesn’t make much difference because we would still play each other before the championship game. Senior night was great. Probably the most fun I’ve had playing in a game my entire career here at UCSB. We had a substantial lead the entire game and that allowed us to play more relaxed and have fun with each other more. This next weekend can either make or break our season. The past two years we have upset Long Beach in the final to get the automatic bid to the NCAA tourney and we will have to do it again if we hope to make it back for a third consecutive year. We are starting to play some of the best basketball we have played all year long and it couldn’t be at a better time. Everything changes around tourney time. Attitudes become more focused, games become more physical and coaches will lose their shit easier. Beach crushed it in conference losing only their last game to Fullerton and they will be heavily favored to win it again. The bus we have for this road trip is epic. SB Airbus is testing out some new buses I guess and the one we’re on has leather seats and tables and is way more comfortable than their other dust-infested buses. Tomorrow we’re playing Pacific, who we played a week ago and beat at home. Although it is hard to beat a team three times, we are focused and ready to go. It’s hard to play three consecutive days in a row but that adds to the excitement of the whole tourney. I mean, it’s better than practicing, that’s for sure. Practice yesterday was good. Short but sweet and all I did was watch mostly after having surgery to reset my nose, which I broke last week in practice. Playing at the Honda Center is pretty fun. It’s a huge arena and you can feel the cool breeze on the court from the ice underneath it for the hockey rink. I’m looking forward to playing in my last Big West tourney and I feel the rest of the team is excited as well. Everyone is healthy and ready to go and bring home a third Big West tourney title in as many years.

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