CSUN Hits the Road to Face USC, Loyola Marymount

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Men's Basketball (2-2) returns to the road beginning Monday to face the USC Trojans at the Galen Center followed by a Wednesday contest against Loyola Marymount inside the Gersten Pavilion. Both contests have a tipoff time slated for 6 p.m. The Matadors and Trojans will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network while CSUN's contest against LMU will be streamed live on the West Coast Conference's network, TheW.tv. Also, both games will feature live stats and audio broadcasts on GoMatadors.com with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.

The Matadors earned their second victory of the season with a 72-52 victory over the Vanguard Lions on Wednesday in their home opener. Senior center Olalekan Ajayi scored 17 points and recorded 10 rebounds, setting a new career high in points along with his first double-double performance. Sophomore guard Micheal Warren also had 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and he recorded a career-high seven rebounds. Jason Richardson also chipped in with 14 points and added four assists.

CSUN led from start-to-finish against the Lions, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game and stretching its lead to as many as 17 in the first half. The Matadors did not allow the lead to shrink to less than 12 points in the second half and eventually led by as many as 25 late in regulation. In the game, the Matadors recorded new team season-highs in shooting percentage (51%), shots made (30), rebounds (42) and assists (21).

CSUN has been led in the early going by a batch of Matadors making an immediate impact in their first career games. Richardson leads the Matadors in scoring with 16.0 points per game while averaging 5.8 assists a contest. Fellow guard Warren is also enjoying a strong start to season, averaging 14.3 ppg and 4.3 rebounds a game. Ajayi has been a force in the middle, averaging 9.0 points and leading the team with 7.3 rpg while shooting an efficient 70% (14-for-20) from the field. Sophomore forward Tavrion Dawson has led the team in minutes played per game (34.3) and he has averaged 13.3 points and 7.0 rebounds.

Against the Trojans, the Matadors have dropped six of seven all-time meetings and the last two contests. USC earned a 95-79 victory in the team's last meeting in Nov. 2013. CSUN has registered wins in three of the last five meetings with Loyola Marymount although the teams have not faced each other since the 2003-04 season. LMU has taken 10 of 17 games from CSUN including posting a 6-1 home record.

A Closer Look at USC
The Trojans are 2-0 thus far this season after a pair of home wins against San Diego, 83-45, and Monmouth, 101-90. USC will face New Mexico on Saturday night before closing up its homestand with CSUN on Monday.

Last March, USC fell in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament and finished last season with a 12-20 record.

Five Trojans are scoring in double figures with guard Jordan McLaughlin leading the way with 21.0 points a game. The sophomore is shooting 56% (15-for-27) from the field, 40% from 3-points range (4-for-10) and is averaging 6.0 rebounds. Sophomore guard Elijah Stewart is scoring 17.0 points this season on 66% (13-for-20) shooting. Junior forward Nikola Jovanovic is posting a double-double through two games, averaging 12.0 points and 10.0 rebounds.

A Closer Look at Loyola Marymount
LMU is 1-2 this season after dropping two-straight games to UC Irvine, 77-53, and Colorado State, 83-75. The Lions will host Antelope Valley on Sunday before facing the Matadors next Wednesday.

In 2014-15, Loyola Marymount finished 8-23 and fell in the opening round of the West Coast Conference Tournament.

Junior guard Brandon Brown leads the team in points per game with 17.3 while compiling 13 assists in three games. Brown is also 5-for-8 from beyond the arc in the early going. Another junior, forward Adom Jacko is also scoring in double figures, averaging 13.7 ppg to go along with a 5.3 rebound average.

CSUN Hits the Road to Face USC, Loyola Marymount

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Players Mentioned

Olalekan Ajayi

Tavrion Dawson

Jason Richardson

Micheal Warren