Matadors Lead Wire-to-Wire in 82-61 Victory Over Morgan St.

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Men's Basketball (4-9) snapped its four-game skid with a convincing 82-61 win over Morgan State (3-10) on Thursday evening at The Matadome. Five Matadors scored in double figures as Kendall Smith led the way with 19 points to go along with six rebounds off the bench. Tavrion Dawson had 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting while Aaron Parks finished with 12 points and Rakim Lubin just missed a double-double as he scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 22 minutes. Leading by as many as 23 points in the game, the Matadors led from start-to-finish on Thursday, holding the Bears to 30.1 percent shooting for the game.

"We spent the last four days really working on changing a few things defensively," said head coach Reggie Theus. "We spent the last four days working on ball movement drills. It's never been about our ability to score but we have to get better at moving the basketball. The reason we won is that we played harder, we came out with focus, we stuck to our game plan and we shared the basketball."

Coming off four-straight losses including three defeats by six points or less, the Matadors took control of the game early against Morgan State. Scoring points on their first five possessions, the Matadors took an 8-0 lead following a layup from Dawson at the 17:32 mark of the first half. Another jumper from Dawson pushed the lead to double digits at 17-6 minutes later and the Matadors extended their advantage to 23-8 after consecutive layups from Smith and Reggie Theus Jr.

Morgan State answered the Matadors' flurry with a 12-2 run to cut the CSUN lead to 25-20 but it would be the closest the Bears would get for the remainder of the evening. Strong play on the offensive end, coupled with stingy defense allowed the Matadors to build their lead back to double digits down the stretch of the first half.

An 11-0 run over a 3:16 span extended the lead to 36-20 with 4:23 left to play. Holding the Bears to two field goals over the final 7:39 of the period, the Matadors went into halftime in front 45-25. Parks scored all 12 of his points on the night in the first half while Dawson scored 10 points.

After intermission, CSUN continued to apply the pressure on both sides of the court as the Matadors never led by less than 17 points in the second half. Providing offensive production off the bench, the duo of Smith and Lubin each scored 11 points in the second period.

Following a lay-in from Darin Johnson, the Matadors increased their advantage to their biggest at 71-48 with 5:59 left to play. CSUN would continue to hold the Bears at bay down the stretch to earn the 21-point win.

Limiting the opposition to just over 30 percent shooting for the game, CSUN held Morgan State to only 26.3 shooting in the first half. On the flip side, the Matadors shot 57.4 percent from the floor for the game including 60.9 percent in the second period.

CSUN posted a 60-22 advantage in points in the paint while the Matador bench outscored the Bears' reserves, 38-18. On the glass, the Matadors registered a slight edge of 44-39 and CSUN recorded 21 assists to the Bears' 12.

Scoring 10 points on Thursday, Johnson also set a career high in assists with seven. Freshman center Mahamadou Kaba-Camara made his first career start in the game as he finished with two blocks and a rebound in eight minutes of action.

With his 19 points, Smith has scored in double figures in eight-straight games while Johnson has registered 10 or more points in five-straight contests.

For Morgan State, Phillip Carr recorded a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds while David Syfax and Kyle Thomas each scored 10 points.

CSUN now sets its sights on Big West play beginning next Wednesday. The Matadors will host UC Riverside on Jan. 4 in both teams' conference opener with tip off slated for 7 p.m. inside The Matadome.

Matadors Lead Wire-to-Wire in 82-61 Victory Over Morgan St.

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Team Stats

Kendall Smith

Tavrion Dawson

Rakim Lubin

Aaron Parks

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Darin Johnson

Mahamadou Kaba-Camara

Rakim Lubin

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith

Reggie Theus Jr.