California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
7-22 (2-11)
UC Irvine
16-10 (9-3)
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSUN | 34 | 24 | 58 |
| UC Irvine | 41 | 26 | 67 |
Hicks Reaches Milestone in 67-58 Loss at UC Irvine
2/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
En Español
IRVINE, Calif. -
CSUN outscored UC Irvine by nine points over the final four minutes but could not pull off the upset as the Matadors (7-22, 2-11 Big West) suffered a 67-58 defeat at the hands of the Anteaters (16-10, 9-3 Big West) on Saturday night at Bren Events Center. Stephan Hicks scored in double figures for the 100th time in his career and cracked the Big West Conference's Top 10 Career Scoring List in the loss.
"I thought we played very well in the first half. At halftime we were minus-one in rebounding and were down seven," said CSUN head coach Reggie Theus. "But at the start of the second half, our team had a lack of leadership. [UC Irvine] went to a plus-eight in rebounding, six of which were offensive."
Hicks got off to a fast start for the Matadors in the game, scoring the team's first eight points and helping CSUN to a 10-4 lead at the first media timeout. After Taelin Webb hit a floater in the lane to put the Matadors up 12-6, however, the Anteaters went on a 10-0 run to take a four-point lead.
Aaron Parks then drew a foul and made two free throws to begin what would become a 7-0 run for CSUN and built the momentum the team needed to tie the game at 25-25 with five minutes to play in the half. UC Irvine responded with back-to-back 3-pointers around the three-minute mark and led by eight before Landon Drew's triple brought the game closer going into halftime.
The Anteaters hit 7-of-12 3-pointers in the first half alone while the Matadors went 2-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.
CSUN was unable to cut into the deficit at the start of the second half, which allowed UC Irvine to break the game open. After a missed 3-pointer for the Matadors, the Anteaters went down the floor and were able to secure a pair of offensive rebounds before making a basket.
Another missed shot for CSUN led to a layup the other way, giving the Anteaters an 11-point lead. UC Irvine led by as many as 18 points and held a 63-45 advantage with four minutes to play.
That's when the Matadors went on a run to close out the game, but the rally was not enough to overcome the gap. Aaron Parks made a couple of free throws to get things started for CSUN and the team scored nine points in a span of 52 seconds in the last minute before the final buzzer sounded.
In addition to leading the team with 16 points, Hicks had two rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Parks had 13 points off the bench to go along with four rebounds. Drew went 2-for-3 from long distance and finished with nine points and three assists, while Devonte Elliott had seven points, five rebounds, one block and two steals.
"I've been blessed that I haven't been injured and I'm able to stay on the court. I'm blessed and thankful to play the game and stay healthy," said Hicks.
The Anteaters had 14 offensive rebounds on the night and found nine more second-chance points than the Matadors. Jaron Martin went 7-for-11 in the game and led UC Irvine with 19 points in reserve.
The Matadors return home for two of their final three games in the regular season. First up is a battle with playoff implications against Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., followed by Senior Night on FOX Sports Prime Ticket on Saturday, Feb. 28 against UC Riverside at 7:30 p.m.
