Matadors Impress in 102-87 Loss to #16 UCLA

Sunday, November 13

Los Angeles, CA

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

1-1

102

#16 UCLA

2-0

CSUN

UCLA

102

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

Matadors Impress in 102-87 Loss to #16 UCLA

11/13/2016 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

En Español

LOS ANGELES, CA---

Despite matching No. 16 UCLA step-for-step for most of the night, CSUN Men's Basketball (1-1) fell to the nationally-ranked Bruins, 102-87, on Sunday at Pauley Pavilion. Junior guard Kendall Smith led the Matadors in scoring with 21 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists while Aaron Parks finished with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Chipping in off the bench, Tavrion Dawson narrowly missed a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds. The Matadors took a lead into halftime against the Bruins but UCLA rode a second-half surge to post the 15-point win.

"I told the guys that if we could play with this kind of energy, we are going to win a lot of basketball games," said head coach Reggie Theus. "In the second half, we missed shots early and foul trouble took us out of our rhythm. I think it was a case of the second half that UCLA was the better basketball team and they did the things we had done to win the game."

The teams battled in a back-and-forth first half with 11 lead changes and eight ties. The Matadors came out strong to begin the game, scoring on five of their first seven possessions as a mid-range jumper from Parks gave CSUN an 11-6 lead.

The Bruins showed poise early on, fighting back quickly with an 8-0 run to take a 14-11 lead of their own. Not rattled by the outburst, the Matadors answered with a 7-0 run, capped off by a slam dunk from Dawson at the 12:14 mark of the half.

Each squad traded baskets before the Matadors again stretched to their biggest lead of five after a three-point play converted by Mahamadou Kaba-Camara. The seesaw contest continued as UCLA took a three-point lead on a layup from Isaac Hamilton with 5:33 left in the first half before CSUN went on a 9-2 run to go back in front at 35-34 following a driving layup by Darin Johnson.

Moments later, a pair of scores from Smith and Johnson gave the team a 40-36 advantage and CSUN went back up by five after Dawson earned his way to the free throw line and converted on both attempts.

Holding the Bruins to no field goals over the last 4:42, CSUN took a 42-40 lead into halftime.

Eight different Matadors scored in the opening stanza with the trio of Smith, Johnson and Dawson scoring nine apiece. As a team, CSUN shot 51.6 percent from the floor (16-for-31) while the Bruins shot 39.4 percent. The Matadors also controlled the paint by outscoring UCLA 20-16 in the opening 20:00.

After intermission, the Bruins would come out strong to seize momentum of the contest. A 3-pointer from Lonzo Ball and a pair of layups on consecutive possessions put the Bruins back on top, 47-42.

As it did in the first half, CSUN answered back quickly as an 11-4 run put the Matadors ahead 53-51. On the run, Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer followed by a Parks steal on an entry pass. The Matador senior punctuated the strong defensive play with a layup to put CSUN up by a pair.

UCLA again responded quickly to go back in front. A 12-2 run, capped off by a 3-pointer from Bryce Alford gave UCLA a 67-57 advantage at the 12:01 mark.

CSUN looked for an answer as a pair of jumpers from Smith kept his team within striking distance. The Bruins though would continue to find success on the offensive end as another 17-7 surge gave UCLA its biggest lead of the night at 90-70.

Trailing by 20 with 5:47 left to play, the Matadors battled until the final buzzer. CSUN cut into the lead with one final run, which trimmed the UCLA advantage to 98-85, however UCLA would hold on down the stretch to pull off the victory.

On the glass, sophomore forward Rakim Lubin finished with a game-high 13 rebounds along with eight points in 20 minutes before fouling out in the second half. Johnson also had a strong game for CSUN, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting along with two assists. As a team, CSUN shot an even 50.0 percent (33-for-66) from the field on the evening.

The Matadors return to the court on Tuesday night for a road contest at Stanford. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.