CSUN Suffers 105-89 Loss to New Mexico

Friday, November 25

Fullerton, CA

12:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

2-4

105

New Mexico

4-1

CSUN

New Mexico

105

Photo by: Paul Trafecanty

CSUN Suffers 105-89 Loss to New Mexico

11/25/2016 3:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

FULLERTON, CA---

CSUN Men's Basketball (2-4) fell to New Mexico 105-89 on day two of the Wooden Legacy on Friday afternoon at Titan Gym. Junior Darin Johnson finished with a game-high 22 points to go along with six rebounds. Aaron Parks poured in 20 points, six rebounds and five assists and Rakim Lubin nearly recorded a double double as he had 16 points and nine rebounds.

A day after the Matadors shot a season low 37.5 percent from the field against Texas A&M, CSUN rebounded with a strong shooting afternoon. Hitting 51.8 percent of their shots in the contest, the Matadors battled the Lobos in a close battle for most of the game. However, New Mexico would pull away in the final minutes on the back of 64.9 percent shooting from the floor and strong play down the stretch.

"I thought our effort today was 100 percent better in terms of focus and energy," said head coach Reggie Theus. "Our bigs did not get in foul trouble early on, which has been one of our biggest problems. It's one of those games, we had a stretch in the second half where we turned it over three to four times in a row and we just could not get past that point. For us, these games are about battling and giving you a chance. Today we gave ourselves a chance in the game for most of the game."

At the outset, the Matadors faced hot shooting from the Lobos. After a missed shot to open the game, New Mexico converted on eight-straight field goals before a missed jumper at the 13:15 mark of the half. Despite the Lobos' lights out shooting, the Matadors remained close.

Four-straight 3-pointers, three of which from Johnson, cut a 20-10 deficit to 24-22. After back-to-back layups from Kendall Smith and Tavrion Dawson the Matadors took their first lead at 26-24.

The Lobos answered the Matadors 14-6 run with an 8-0 spurt capped off by a layup from Damien Jefferson that gave New Mexico a six-point edge. New Mexico continued its run with four-straight made shots, which pushed its lead to the biggest of the half at 44-32.

CSUN would respond with a late run to end the half. Shooting 53.3 percent in the opening stanza, the Matadors found the bottom of the net with regularity, outscoring the Lobos 11-6 over the final 3:10 to trim the deficit to 54-45. In a key stretch, Dawson hit a jumper with 00:22 left on the clock then Parks intercepted a long pass up the floor. The senior guard passed the ball to Johnson for a fast break 3-point play the other way.

The two teams continued to exchange runs as the both sides maintained their strong offensive play. After CSUN trimmed the deficit to seven on a pair of Smith free throws, the Lobos stetched the lead back to 12 following a pair of Matador empty possessions.

Trailing 71-61 with 12:41 left to play, CSUN constructed a 10-2 run to pull to within two. Jumpers from Reggie Theus Jr. and Micheal Warren along with a driving lay-in from Parks made it 73-71 at the 9:00 mark. Following a Lobos score on the other end, Lubin scored on a post-up move to the basket, again trimming the deficit to a pair.

New Mexico countered the Matadors' flurry with yet another run to push the lead to double digits. Scoring on five of six possessions, a made free throw from Obij Aget gave the Lobos an 85-75 edge.

With time running out, CSUN put forth one last surge to attempt to snatch the game away late. Down 88-77, Parks knocked down a 3-pointer and Dawson scored four-straight points to bring CSUN to within 88-82 with 4:16 left to go.

Unfortunately for CSUN, the Lobos once again answered with the game's final run in the late stages of the contest. A 9-1 run capped off a slam dunk from Elijah Brown extended the lead to 14 and the Lobos would hold on for the 105-89 win. For the Lobos, Brown and Tim Williams led the team with 21 points apiece.

Johnson's 22 points are a career high, which eclipse the 20 points he scored on opening night against Pomona-Pitzer (Nov. 11). Also scoring in double figures for the Matadors, Dawson scored 13 off the bench while Smith chipped in with 12 along with eight assists.

As a team, the Matadors are shooting 47.1 percent from the field this season. Parks, who went 7-for-11 from the field on Friday, is shooting 56.1 percent for CSUN.

The Matadors will play their final game in the Wooden Legacy on Sunday night against Portland. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. from the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.