MBB: CSUN Falls to USC, Heads to Local Opponents LMU and UCLA Next

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Northridge, CA – The CSUN Matadors (2-3) fell to the USC Trojans (4-0) on Monday in the Galen Center, 96-61. Freshman Jason Richardson led the Matadors in scoring with 18 points, adding three steals and four rebounds, and senior Olalekan Ajayi added a CSUN career-high 14 rebounds and 12 points.

The Matadors and Trojans got off to an even start, with CSUN pulling ahead 5-4 with four of those points from Richardson. However, the Trojans would change up the pace shortly thereafter, converting 51.5% of their field goals in the first half to 35.3% for the Matadors. The Matadors were beat on second chance points, but scored 24 in the paint to the Trojans' 20. At halftime, the Matadors were down 46-26.

Sophomore Tavrion Dawson had a highlight rebound and dunk, followed by another layup, to give him eight points in the first half to go along with five rebounds. Richardson had 10 with two steals and Ajayi and sophomore Micheal Warren contributed three points apiece.

The Matadors came out motivated in the second half, and an alley-oop from Dawson to senior Tre Hale-Edmerson led to the first points of the half. The Trojans stayed aggressive, however, and widened their lead to as many as 35 with three quarters of the game gone, despite Dawson hitting the Matadors' first 3-pointer of the game. The Trojans slowly pulled away for the rest of the half, capitalizing where the Matadors didn't.

"Hopefully they learned a little bit today, that's really what this is about," said CSUN Head Coach Reggie Theus. "The guys are working hard." He continued, "I'm not disappointed in the effort areas, I'm not disappointed in the areas of execution."

Dawson totaled 11 points and seven rebounds, Hale-Edmerson scored eight with two blocks, Warren added six points and sophomore Zacarry Douglas scored five. Freshman Kelton Conway scored his first collegiate point on a free throw.

The Matadors ended the game with 42 points in the paint shooting 34%.

Guard Jordan McLaughlin scored 20 points for the Trojans to lead the team for the night and Katin Reinhardt added 17. Julian Jacobs helped his teammates with 10 assists and 11 rebounds, both team highs.

The Matadors' next game is on Wednesday, November 25 at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) at 6 p.m. The game will feature a live audio broadcast on the CSUN Sports Network. The Matadors stay local after that, with a visit to UCLA followed by a home game against Pepperdine.

(11/24/2015) CSUN MBB vs. USC 112315

MBB: CSUN Falls to USC, Heads to Local Opponents LMU and UCLA Next

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Team Stats

Jason Richardson

Olalekan Ajayi

Tavrion Dawson

Tre Hale-Edmerson

Players Mentioned

Olalekan Ajayi

Kelton Conway

Tavrion Dawson

Zacarry Douglas

Tre Hale-Edmerson

Jason Richardson

Micheal Warren