CSUN Continues Big West Play with Hawai'i, UC Irvine

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NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Men's Basketball (7-10, 3-1 BWC) faces a pair of tough tests this week beginning Wednesday evening with a road game at Hawai'i at 9 p.m. (PT). The Matadors return home to take on UC Irvine to close out the week on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. on The Blacktop @ The Matadome. Wednesday's game will be streamed live courtesy of OCSports.TV and an audio only broadcast on the CSUN Sports Network will be available with Ghizal Hasan calling all the action. CSUN Sports Network via Big West.TV will stream Saturday's matchup with the Anteaters with Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.

The Matadors have posted their best start to conference play since the 2008-09 season, going 3-1 through four conference games. Last week, CSUN split its two games by earning a win at Long Beach State, 89-82, and falling 71-68 to UC Davis at home.

Last Wednesday, the Matadors registered an impressive victory against the 49ers. CSUN picked up its first win at the Pyramid in nine seasons and snapped LBSU's 11-game home winning streak. Kendall Smith scored a season-high 26 points in the win including 20 in the second half while Darin Johnson finished with 20 points and Tavrion Dawson chipped in 18 points and seven rebounds. As a team, the Matadors shot an exceptional 69.0 percent from the field in the second half.

Looking for a 4-0 start, the Matadors dropped a back-and-forth contest to UC Davis. The Matadors held an 11-point first half lead but the Aggies fought back with a strong second half. The Matadors trailed by six with less than a minute to go but rallied to cut the deficit to one with 28 seconds remaining. In the end, the Aggies held on for a 3-point win despite a last second 3-point attempt from Smith. For CSUN, Smith posted a game-high 21 points and Aaron Parks tallied 14.

Tops in the Big West Conference in assists per game and second in scoring, Smith is averaging 4.6 assists and 16.5 points per game this season. Smith also ranks seventh in 3-point percentage (38.3) and free throw percentage (82.0) on the season. A prominent scorer, Smith also heads into this week's competition, with a streak of 12-straight games scoring in double figures.

Continuing to climb the CSUN all-time ranks, Parks now sits in a fifth-place tie with Ian Boylan (2001-05) with 376 career free throws made. Parks can move into fourth place with 20 more made free throws this season. On the all-time attempted free throws list, Parks possesses fourth place with 504 career attempts. Also, after scoring 24 points last week, Parks is 45 points away from reaching 1,000 points in his CSUN career.

Leading the conference in free throws attempted and made, the Matadors are in the top 25 in the nation in both categories. CSUN ranks 17th in attempted free throws and 21st in made free throws this season.

Hawai'i holds a 12-4 edge over CSUN in the all-time series including an 8-1 mark at home. The Rainbow Warriors have won the last four meetings overall and the last six at Stan Sheriff Center. The Matadors lone win in Hawai'i came in December 1998. Last season, Hawai'i swept the Matadors including posting an 89-78 win at home. Parks led the Matadors in scoring in the two games last season, averaging 15.0 points.

The Anteaters are 32-24 all-time against CSUN and have won each of the last four meetings. The Matadors are 14-12 against UCI at home but have dropped the last two games. Sweeping the Matadors last season, UCI earned a 93-83 victory inside The Matadome last January. Parks and Smith led the way for the Matadors in the two games, averaging 15.5 points and 15.0 points per game respectively.

A Closer Look at Hawai'i
The Rainbow Warriors own a 7-9 record and a 1-2 mark in Big West play. In its only game last week, Hawai'i earned his first conference win with an 114-107 decision over Long Beach State in overtime last Saturday. Posting a 17-3 record at home last season, the Rainbow Warriors have gone 7-5 at Stan Sheriff Center this season. The reigning Big West Conference champions last season, Hawai'i earned 28 victories in 2015-16 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

UCLA transfer and senior Noah Allen leads Hawai'i with 11.3 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game this season. Finishing with 25 points, Allen hit a tying layup last Saturday as time expired against LBSU to send the game into overtime in an eventual Hawai'i win. Sophomore Jack Purchase is scoring 10.9 points per game and shooting 38.5 percent from 3-point land while junior Gibson Johnson is averaging 10.4 points along with 4.7 rebounds.

A Closer Look at UC Irvine
The Anteaters (11-9) lead the Big West Conference with a perfect 4-0 record after registering wins last week over UC Santa Barbara (66-62) and Cal State Fullerton (87-67). Winners of six-straight games overall, the Anteaters have also posted wins over Long Beach State and Hawai'i in the early going of the Big West season. A year ago, UCI finished with a 28-10 record and possession of second place in the conference standings. Before facing CSUN, UCI travels to Cal Poly on Wednesday.

Limited to five games this season due to an injury, senior Luke Nelson is scoring 15.0 points per game and shooting 40.0 percent from 3-point land. Also averaging in double figures, seniors Jaron Martin and Ioannis Dimakopoulos are posting 13.7 points and 11.2 points per game respectively. Martin is hitting 38.4 percent of his shots from downtown while Dimakopoulos is grabbing 4.2 rebounds and shooting 53.8 percent from the field including 44.7 percent from behind the 3-point arc.

CSUN Continues Big West Play with Hawai'i, UC Irvine

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Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Darin Johnson

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith