CSUN Faces UC Davis and UC Riverside in Big West Contests

FULL PDF RELEASE

En Español

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Men's Basketball (6-10, 1-1 BWC) continues its conference schedule with a pair of matches against Big West competition this week. The Matadors travel up north to face the UC Davis Aggies on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. inside the Pavilion. On Saturday, the Matadors return home to host the UC Riverside Highlanders on the Blacktop @ The Matadome at 7:30 p.m. The contest against UCR is the second half of an In-N-Out Doubleheader at The Matadome as the game will follow CSUN Women's Basketball's conference match versus UC Santa Barbara at 4 p.m. Live stats and live audio will be available for both contests and Saturday's game will be streamed live on the CSUN Sports Network through BigWest.TV.

The Matadors began Big West play last week and split their first two games of the conference season. Last Wednesday, CSUN fell 94-79 to Long Beach State in the teams' conference opener but the Matadors rebounded with a hard-fought 85-75 win at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.

CSUN and Long Beach State played a tight game throughout the first half and on into the early minutes of the second period. The Matadors trailed 42-37 at the break, but rallied to take a 46-44 lead shortly after halftime. However, strong outside shooting turned the tide of the contest, as the 49ers pulled away down the stretch to earn the win. Junior transfer Kendall Smith continued a strong start to his Matador career with a 27-point effort on 10-for-17 shooting in defeat.

Three nights later, the Matadors bounced back with a strong performance against the Titans. After spotting the game's first 10 points to Cal State Fullerton, the Matadors outscored the Titans 31-14 the rest of the half to go into the break ahead by seven points. CSUN continued to apply the pressure with hot shooting from the floor. Smith scored 24 points in the second half and the Matadors shot 57.7 percent from the field. After building a 22-point lead in the half, the Matadors withstood a furious Titan rally in the final minutes to win 85-75. Smith set a career high in the victory with 30 points while shooting 15-for-18 from the free throw line. Making his season debut, Aaron Parks chipped in with 14 points off the bench, and Micheal Warren and Tavrion Dawson each finished with 12 points.

With his 30-point performance, Smith became the first Matador to score 30 or more points in a contest since Josh Greene tallied 37 versus Hawai'i in March 2013. Also, his 15 made free throws are the third-most in a game in CSUN history. Through his first seven games in a CSUN uniform, Smith has scored 20 or more points on five occasions. He is averaging 20.3 points per game on the season.

The Matadors lead UC Davis 19-15 in the all-time series but CSUN has dropped its last four contests. The two teams squared off in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Big West Conference Tournament as the Aggies rallied to defeat the Matadors 71-67 despite a 21-point effort from Parks. In the head-to-head matchup with the Highlanders, CSUN leads 39-34 all-time. Last season, the teams split their two meetings with each team holding serve at home. The Matadors earned an 83-76 win at home last February.

A Closer Look at UC Davis
A season removed from winning the 2014-15 Big West Conference regular season title, the Aggies are 5-10 this season with a 0-2 record in conference play. UC Davis played its first two conference games on the road last week as the Aggies dropped a 76-55 decision at UC Irvine on Thursday and fell, 59-47, to Long Beach State on Saturday.

Senior forward Josh Fox leads the Aggies in scoring averaging 13.0 points on 53.6 percent shooting (67-for-125) while posting 6.8 rebounds. Also averaging double figure points, freshman guard Siler Schneider is scoring 10.5 points. Center Neal Monson is the team leader in rebounding with 8.6 and the junior is scoring 9.1 points.

A Closer Look at UC Riverside
The Highlanders are 9-9 overall and 0-2 in conference play this season. UC Riverside looks to snap a four-game skid after dropping a pair of games last week. In their conference opener at home, the Highlander suffered a 79-73 defeat to Cal State Fullerton last Thursday and an 84-68 setback at UC Irvine on Saturday. UCR will host Hawai'i on Thursday night before traveling to face CSUN.

Guard Jaylen Bland is the team's top scorer, averaging 16.7 points, and the senior leads the team with 26 steals. The top rebounder and shot blocker on the Highlanders, senior forward Taylor Johns, is pulling down 8.0 rebounds and averaging 1.8 blocks to go along with 14.5 points per game.

CSUN Faces UC Davis and UC Riverside in Big West Contests

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith

Micheal Warren