Matadors Conclude Non-Conference Play with Idaho State, Morgan State

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Men's Basketball (4-8) closes out 2015 with a road game at the Idaho State Bengals on Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. PT in Reed Gym. On Saturday, the Matadors kick off 2016 by hosting the Morgan State Bears on the Blacktop @ The Matadome at 7:30 p.m. The Matadors and Bengals will be streamed live on EverSport.tv and the Bears game will be aired live on CSUN Sports Network via BigWest.TV. Both contests will also have a live audio feed with Alan Zinsmeister on the call.

Saturday night's contest will also be a part of CSUN's In-N-Out Doubleheaders at The Matadome. In the opener, CSUN Women's Basketball will take on Seattle at 4 p.m. followed by the Matadors and Bears in the finale.

In their only game last week, the Matadors dropped an 81-63 decision at San Diego on Wednesday. After CSUN led in the early minutes of the first half, the Toreros ended the period on a 32-19 run to lead 38-26 at intermission. San Diego would go on to build a 58-33 edge before the Matadors trimmed the lead to 58-48 with a 15-0 run. In the end, the Toreros would hold off the Matadors the rest of the way en route to earning the victory.

Micheal Warren led all scorers with 20 points in the contest including shooting 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. In his Matador debut, sophomore guard Jerron Wilbut chipped in with 15 points off the bench. Olalekan Ajayi pulled down a team-high nine rebounds giving him nine-straight games posting eight or more rebounds.

Senior Tre Hale-Edmerson continued to move up the CSUN rebounds list with his six-rebound night against the Toreros. Hale-Edmerson climbed to eighth in the school's Top 10 list and he is 31 rebounds shy of Paul McCracken (1970-72) for seventh place. With 124 career steals, Hale-Edmerson is also four steals away from tying Josh Greene (2010-14) for ninth in CSUN history.

Warren leads CSUN in points, averaging 13.7 points per game. The sophomore guard is seventh in the Big West Conference in points while forward Tavrion Dawson is tenth with 12.5. Ajayi is the conference's top rebounder with 9.3 rebounds per game and Dawson sits in third place as he is pulling down 8.8 rebounds. Hale-Edmerson is tied for second in the Big West in blocks with 1.3 per game.

The Matadors lead the all-time series with both Idaho State and Morgan State. Against the Bengals, the Matadors have taken seven of the last eight meetings but the teams have not squared off since the 2000-01 season. CSUN is 3-0 all-time versus the Bears including defeating Morgan State 78-62 last January inside The Matadome.

A Closer Look at Idaho State
The Bengals are 4-7 this season and hold a 2-1 record at home. Idaho State dropped two of three games in the Global Sports Tournament in Logan, UT, last week including taking the finale, 76-64, against UT Rio Grande Valley. In the earlier games in the tournament, the Bengals fell to North Dakota, 67-62, and to Utah State, 69-58.

Junior Ethan Telfair and sophomore Ali Faruq-Bey are both averaging 14.5 points per game apiece on the season. Telfair is also leading the Bengals with 5.1 assists and 27 steals while shooting 37.4 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Sophomore guard Geno Luzcando is also scoring in double-figures with 12.2 points per game to go along with 3.7 rebounds.

A Closer Look at Morgan State
The Bears are off to a 2-9 start to the season and have lost six-straight games overall. On the road, Morgan State is 1-6 and has fallen in three-straight contests. On Monday, the Bears suffered an 81-72 setback to UC Riverside at Hill Field House.

Senior forward Cedric Blossom leads the Bears in scoring with 14.3 points to go along with 6.2 rebounds while shooting 50.8 percent from the field. Top shot blocker on the team, junior forward Kyle Thomas is averaging 1.0 blocks per game and is scoring 12.0 points. Also scoring in double-figures, guard Andre Horne is posting 11.0 points per contest and the junior is shooting 94.7 percent from the free throw line.

Matadors Conclude Non-Conference Play with Idaho State, Morgan State

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Players Mentioned

Olalekan Ajayi

Tavrion Dawson

Tre Hale-Edmerson

Micheal Warren

Jerron Wilbut