Matadors Suffer 79-62 Defeat to Boise State

BOISE, ID--

CSUN Men's Basketball (3-9) fell to Boise State, 79-62, on Wednesday evening at Taco Bell Arena. Darin Johnson led all scorers with 21 points off the bench to go along with five rebounds while Kendall Smith finished with 14 points and five rebounds of his own. Struggling from the field in the first half, the Matadors were unable to overcome a poor start to the game and foul trouble in their loss to the Broncos.

"I thought our guys played hard," said head coach Reggie Theus. "You really can't do anything about the foul situations. A minute and a half into the game, we were in foul trouble and that really dictated the game."

Despite the double-digit defeat, CSUN outshot Boise State, 39.2 percent compared to just 36.4 percent shooting for the home team. The Matadors also held a 36-24 edge in points in the paint and their bench outscored the Boise State reserves, 27-26. However, Boise State would earn several trips to the free throw line throughout the night as the team converted on 33-of-43 attempts. On the flip side, CSUN shot 20-for-35 from the charity stripe in the game.

The Matadors took a 2-0 lead on the opening possession of the game after a layup by Rakim Lubin but things would take a drastic turn over a 34 second span. Two consecutive Lubin fouls and six-straight points gave Boise State a 6-2 advantage 2:05 into the game. After Smith hit 1-of-2 free throws to trim the lead to three, CSUN would go on a dry spell that lasted 3:50, giving Boise State an opportunity to take advantage and build a comfortable lead.

The Broncos knocked down six of eight shots during the 3:50 span including connecting on 3-pointers from James Reid and Nick Duncan. A 15-0 Boise State run made it 21-3 with just over 13:00 left to play before halftime.

CSUN struggled from the field throughout the first half, shooting 26.9 percent from the floor. Coupled with the Matadors' offensive woes, Boise State made 21 trips to the free throw line in the period as they converted on 18 attempts.

Smith did his best to keep the Matadors afloat, scoring 10 points in the first half but Boise State would go into intermission ahead 47-21.

Following a poor offensive half, CSUN rebounded with better execution in the second half. The Matadors constructed a 11-3 run to start the period as Johnson scored five points during the stretch. A lay-in from Lubin brought CSUN to within 50-32 at the 14:42 mark.

CSUN though had a tough time staying out of foul trouble. Limited to two minutes in the first half after committing two early fouls, Lubin fouled out in the second half after finishing with just five minutes of playing time. Micheal Warren and Mahamadou Kaba-Camara also fouled out on the night, playing 22 and 18 minutes respectively.

The Matadors trimmed the Boise State advantage to 20 points on four occasions in the second half but the Broncos maintained their lead down the stretch. The tandem of Chandler Hutchison and Paris Austin led Boise State with 20 points apiece.

Despite the big deficit, the Matadors continued to fight hard in the final minutes. Shooting 52.0 percent in the period, CSUN held Boise State to a 32.0 percent shooting clip. The Matadors also outscored the Broncos, 41-32, in the second half after back-to-back layups from Johnson in the final seconds.

Scoring five points on Wednesday, senior guard Aaron Parks cracked the 900 point mark for his career. He now sits at 901 points and needs just 99 more this season to become the 19th Matador in team history to score 1,000 points. Also with six free throw attempts against Boise State, Parks is now in sole possession of eighth place in CSUN's all-time Top 10 attempted free throws list.

Smith's 14 points give him seven-straight double-digit scoring performances this season as he has scored 10 or more points in 11 of the team's 12 games.

Playing a career-best 18 minutes, Kaba-Camara also set a career-high with two blocks to go along with four rebounds and two points.

CSUN concludes non-conference play on Thursday, December 29 against Morgan State at The Matadome. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

Matadors Suffer 79-62 Defeat to Boise State

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Team Stats

Darin Johnson

Kendall Smith

Micheal Warren

Rakim Lubin

Players Mentioned

Darin Johnson

Mahamadou Kaba-Camara

Rakim Lubin

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith

Micheal Warren