Matadors Close Out Road Trip Against UCLA

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Men's Basketball (2-4) concludes its three-game road trip with a Sunday meeting against the UCLA Bruins at Pauley Pavilion at 4 p.m. The contest will be broadcasted on the Pac-12 Network and a live audio broadcast will be available on the CSUN Sports Network with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.

The Matadors are looking to bounce back after a pair of defeats to start the road trip as CSUN fell to USC, 96-61, on Monday and dropped a tight 82-80 decision in overtime to Loyola Marymount on Wednesday.

CSUN was unable to find its footing against the Trojans in the first half, digging a 20-point hole at the halfway mark of the contest. USC continued to apply the pressure in the second half en route to the 35-point victory. Jason Richardson led the Matadors in scoring in the loss with 18 while Olalekan Ajayi posted his second-straight double-double of the season with a 12 point, 14 rebound effort.

Against LMU, the Matadors fell behind by nine early but clawed back into the game to cut the deficit to 35-34 heading into halftime. The Lions built an eight-point lead in the second half before CSUN roared back to tie the game at 63-63 with five minutes to play. LMU pushed ahead by three in the final minutes and built a three-point advantage with 00:10 to play. With the game hanging in the balance, Landon Drew hit a clutch 3-point shot with two seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

In the extra period, the teams battled back-and-forth with each side holding the lead down the stretch. In the end, the Lions held on to a narrow two-point win, outscoring CSUN, 9-7, in overtime.

Despite the loss, the Matadors shot efficiently at the free throw line with a 25-for-27 effort including making the first 25 consecutively. By shooting 93% from the line as a team, CSUN shot the ninth-best shooting percentage in school history in a game, tying the 25-for-27 mark set against Pepperdine in Nov. 2012. Micheal Warren went 12-for-12 at the line including scoring a career-high 23 points.

Going into its matchup with UCLA, Richardson leads CSUN in scoring by averaging 15.2 points per game. The freshman guard is also leading the team in assists with 31 and steals with 11. Two other Matadors are also averaging double figures in points as Warren is scoring 14.3 a game while Tavrion Dawson is averaging 12.8 ppg. Dawson is the only Matador to score in double figures in each game this season.

CSUN is 1-7 all-time against the Bruins with its lone win coming back in Nov. 2000. UCLA has won the teams' last three meetings. Following Sunday's game at Pauley Pavilion, the Matadors return home on Saturday, Dec. 5 for a contest against Pepperdine inside The Matadome.

A Closer Look at UCLA
Through six games, the Bruins are 3-3 on the season after going 1-2 in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational this week. UCLA defeated UNLV, 77-75, in the opener of the invitational but dropped contests to Kansas, 92-73, and Wake Forest, 80-77. The Bruins advanced to the 2015 NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 before falling to Gonzaga.

Junior guard Bryce Alford leads the team in scoring with 16.5 ppg while averaging 4.8 assists per game. Senior Tony Parker is averaging a double-double on the season as he is scoring 14.2 points and pulling down a team-best 12.3 rebounds a contest. Freshman Aaron Holiday (13.0), sophomore Thomas Welsh (12.7) and junior Isaac Hamilton (11.5) are also averaging double-figure points for the Bruins.

Matadors Close Out Road Trip Against UCLA

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Players Mentioned

Olalekan Ajayi

Tavrion Dawson

Jason Richardson

Micheal Warren

California State University Northridge Athletics