California State University Northridge Athletics
Saturday, November 19
Northridge, CA
8:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
Northern Illinois
Photo by: Paul Trafecanty
Matadors Face NIU in Non-Conference Action
11/18/2016 11:40:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FULL PDF RELEASE
NORTHRIDGE, CA---
CSUN Men's Basketball returns home for a Saturday night contest against Northern Illinois on The Blacktop @ The Matadome at 8 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the CSUN Sports Network via Big West.TV with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister calling all the action. Live stats will also be provided for the non-conference contest.Â
The Matadors look to get back on the winning track after dropping a pair of games to Pac-12 opponents. Falling to UCLA, 102-87, last Sunday, CSUNÂ suffered a 96-69 setback at Stanford on Tuesday evening.Â
After taking a 5-0 lead against the Cardinal in the opening moments of the game, the Matadors were unable to overcome hot Stanford shooting throughout the night. CSUN also struggled from the field as it finished with a 39.0 percent shooting effort after shooting 50.0 percent at UCLA. Junior Kendall Smith led the Matadors in scoring with 17 points to go along with six rebounds while Jerron Wilbut chipped in with 10 points off the bench.Â
Picking up where he left off last season, Smith continues to be the team's leading scorer in the early part of the season for CSUN. Finishing two of three games as the team's top scorer, Smith is averaging 18.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals. He is also shooting the ball at an efficient 48.6 percent clip. Off the bench, junior forward Tavrion Dawson is posting 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in three games. Also averaging in double figures for the Matadors, junior Darin Johnson is scoring 13.7 points per game and senior Aaron Parks is averaging 12.7 points. On the boards, sophomore Rakim Lubin is averaging a team-best 7.7 rebounds to go along with 5.7 points.Â
In the early stages of the season, the Matadors are second in the Big West in points (84.0), field goal percentage (47.6) and steals (8.3), and third in rebounds (39.7).Â
Parks can enter the Matadors' all-time Top 10 free throws made list with four more converted at the charity stripe. With 324 made free throws in 427 attempts, Parks can also crack the school's all-time free throws attempted list with 35 more this season.Â
Following Saturday's matchup with the Huskies, the Matadors will participate in the Wooden Legacy beginning on Thanksgiving Day next Thursday. CSUN will take on Texas A&M in the opening round of the tournament at 11 a.m. From there, the Matadors will either take on New Mexico or Virginia Tech on Friday. On Sunday, the Matadors will play once more against one of four teams consisting of Dayton, Nebraska, UCLA and Portland.Â
CSUN is 0-2 all-time against Northern Illinois. After the teams met for the first time back during the 1983-84 season, the Matadors and Huskies competed in last season's opener. NIU defeated CSUN, 83-71, at home as then freshman Marshawn Wilson led the team with 16 points. Making their Matador debuts, Dawson had a game-high 18 points while Jason Richardson scored 16. Saturday's meeting is the first trip for NIU to CSUN.Â
A Closer Look at Northern Illinois
The Huskies are a perfect 3-0 on the season after wins this week over Roosevelt, 99-55, and Idaho, 63-49. NIU is traveling on the road for the first time this season but the team will return home to host the NIU Thanksgiving Classic next weekend in DeKalb, IL. Last season, the Huskies went 21-13 and 9-9 in the Mid-American Conference for a third-place finish in the West Division. Also in 2015-16, NIU competed in the Vegas 16 Tournament after the regular season but fell to UC Santa Barbara in the quarterfinals.Â
Senior center Marin Maric leads the team in scoring with 15.3 points on 76.9 percent shooting (20-for-26) to go along with 4.0 rebounds. The Huskies top rebounder, sophomore forward Jaylen Key is averaging 7.3 boards while also scoring 12.0 points per game. From beyond on the arc, sophomore guard Laytwan Porter has knocked 7-of-12 shots from 3-point range and he is averaging 10.3 points along with 3.3 rebounds.Â
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NORTHRIDGE, CA---
CSUN Men's Basketball returns home for a Saturday night contest against Northern Illinois on The Blacktop @ The Matadome at 8 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the CSUN Sports Network via Big West.TV with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister calling all the action. Live stats will also be provided for the non-conference contest.Â
The Matadors look to get back on the winning track after dropping a pair of games to Pac-12 opponents. Falling to UCLA, 102-87, last Sunday, CSUNÂ suffered a 96-69 setback at Stanford on Tuesday evening.Â
After taking a 5-0 lead against the Cardinal in the opening moments of the game, the Matadors were unable to overcome hot Stanford shooting throughout the night. CSUN also struggled from the field as it finished with a 39.0 percent shooting effort after shooting 50.0 percent at UCLA. Junior Kendall Smith led the Matadors in scoring with 17 points to go along with six rebounds while Jerron Wilbut chipped in with 10 points off the bench.Â
Picking up where he left off last season, Smith continues to be the team's leading scorer in the early part of the season for CSUN. Finishing two of three games as the team's top scorer, Smith is averaging 18.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.3 steals. He is also shooting the ball at an efficient 48.6 percent clip. Off the bench, junior forward Tavrion Dawson is posting 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in three games. Also averaging in double figures for the Matadors, junior Darin Johnson is scoring 13.7 points per game and senior Aaron Parks is averaging 12.7 points. On the boards, sophomore Rakim Lubin is averaging a team-best 7.7 rebounds to go along with 5.7 points.Â
In the early stages of the season, the Matadors are second in the Big West in points (84.0), field goal percentage (47.6) and steals (8.3), and third in rebounds (39.7).Â
Parks can enter the Matadors' all-time Top 10 free throws made list with four more converted at the charity stripe. With 324 made free throws in 427 attempts, Parks can also crack the school's all-time free throws attempted list with 35 more this season.Â
Following Saturday's matchup with the Huskies, the Matadors will participate in the Wooden Legacy beginning on Thanksgiving Day next Thursday. CSUN will take on Texas A&M in the opening round of the tournament at 11 a.m. From there, the Matadors will either take on New Mexico or Virginia Tech on Friday. On Sunday, the Matadors will play once more against one of four teams consisting of Dayton, Nebraska, UCLA and Portland.Â
CSUN is 0-2 all-time against Northern Illinois. After the teams met for the first time back during the 1983-84 season, the Matadors and Huskies competed in last season's opener. NIU defeated CSUN, 83-71, at home as then freshman Marshawn Wilson led the team with 16 points. Making their Matador debuts, Dawson had a game-high 18 points while Jason Richardson scored 16. Saturday's meeting is the first trip for NIU to CSUN.Â
A Closer Look at Northern Illinois
The Huskies are a perfect 3-0 on the season after wins this week over Roosevelt, 99-55, and Idaho, 63-49. NIU is traveling on the road for the first time this season but the team will return home to host the NIU Thanksgiving Classic next weekend in DeKalb, IL. Last season, the Huskies went 21-13 and 9-9 in the Mid-American Conference for a third-place finish in the West Division. Also in 2015-16, NIU competed in the Vegas 16 Tournament after the regular season but fell to UC Santa Barbara in the quarterfinals.Â
Senior center Marin Maric leads the team in scoring with 15.3 points on 76.9 percent shooting (20-for-26) to go along with 4.0 rebounds. The Huskies top rebounder, sophomore forward Jaylen Key is averaging 7.3 boards while also scoring 12.0 points per game. From beyond on the arc, sophomore guard Laytwan Porter has knocked 7-of-12 shots from 3-point range and he is averaging 10.3 points along with 3.3 rebounds.Â
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