California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
UC Santa Barbara
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSUN | 35 | 39 | 74 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 32 | 31 | 63 |
Matadors Muscle to 74-63 Win at UC Santa Barbara
1/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
En Español
GOLETA, Calif. -
Career nights for Devonte Elliott and Landon Drew sparked CSUN to a vital road victory as the Matadors (5-13, 1-2 Big West) battled past the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (8-8, 1-1 Big West) 74-63 in a Big West Conference game on Thursday night at The Thunderdome. Elliott recorded his first career double-double and Drew collected a career-high 12 assists as CSUN beat UCSB on the road for the fourth time in five seasons.
"It's about ball movement and understanding the game plan and I think our guys did a really nice job of sticking to our game plan," said CSUN head coach Reggie Theus. "I think our bigs just did a great job of guarding Alan Williams and doing their work early to make sure he didn't get any free looks."
The Matadors took control in the contest early and looked like the favored team throughout the first half. CSUN made each of its first four shots in the game and raced out to a nine point lead, 14-5, less than seven minutes into the contest.
The Gauchos rallied to tie the game at 17-17 after a 12-3 run with 9:36 to play in the half, but CSUN responded with an 11-4 run of its own capped by a layup from Stephan Hicks in transition. A pair of three's by UCSB's Gabe Vincent allowed the Gauchos to close within three points at 35-32 going into halftime.
UCSB tied the game with a three to open the second half and the teams traded baskets until the Gauchos took their first lead of the night at 42-41 with 15:33 remaining in regulation. The Matadors never trailed by more than a point, however, and quickly retook the lead.
With 11:30 left to play the Matadors trailed 46-45. A 13-2 run over the next 4:31 allowed CSUN to break open a 58-48 lead, a stretch that included a pair of 3-pointers by Ajon Efferson. A thunderous dunk by Hicks over Alan Williams pushed the lead to 11 points with 4:27 remaining and the Matadors made all six of their free throws the rest of the way to close out the game.
"Devonte was really big tonight. When you look at the fact that we made seven 3-pointers, for us that's phenomenal," added Theus.
Elliott finished the night with 23 points and 12 rebounds and also set a new career best with eight field goals made. Hicks chipped in 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting and went 5-of-6 at the line in the victory.
"The plan was just to do our jobs on defense and cover our areas. On offense, we just ran our plays as we normally do," said Elliott. "At one timeout, coach told me to catch the ball and shoot and he got me into areas where I was successful tonight."
Stephen Maxwell scored 10 points and added six rebounds and Aaron Parks went 6-for-6 at the line down the stretch for CSUN. The reserve duo of Efferson (nine points) and Taelin Webb (three points) combined to shoot 4-for-4 on the night, all from beyond the arc.
As a team, CSUN shot 56 percent (23-for-41) from the floor and nearly 96 percent (21-for-22) at the free-throw line.
The Matadors will return home to The Matadome for their next game, which will be the team's Big West Conference Home Opener on Saturday, Jan. 17, against Cal Poly. Tipoff against the Mustangs is scheduled for 7 p.m.
