Matadors Fall at California

En Español

BERKELEY, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball was unable to overcome a slow start in its 83-63 loss to California on Tuesday evening at Haas Pavilion. Terrell Gomez led all Matador scorers with 20 points to go with five assists and four rebounds while Tavrion Dawson had 17 points and six boards.

"I thought that a couple of the guys didn't come out with a sense urgency at the beginning of the game and that's why I made early substitutions," said head coach Reggie Theus. "When it's all said and done, if you only get to the free throw line 11 times and you only make five out of 17 3-pointers, it's hard to win anything if you give the other team 11 blocks.

"I told the guys that they have to take it personal," continued Theus. "You can't allow losing to seep into your character, and that's the fight. We have to find that mechanism on the inside that makes you take it personal."

The Matadors were cold from the field on the night, shooting 37.3 percent and 29.4 percent from beyond the 3-point arc while California shot an even 50.0 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from downtown. The Golden Bears out-rebounded the Matadors 40-33 and enjoyed a 42-32 advantage in points in the paint.

CSUN got off to a rough start, hitting one of their first five shots to fall into a 10-2 hole. Gomez kept the Matadors in the game early on as he hit his first four shots to score nine early points. His 3-pointer at the 14:48 mark brought CSUN within 15-11.

However, the Matadors would be hampered with poor shooting throughout the first half. A dry spell that lasted over four minutes gave the Bears a chance to go on a 13-0 run, pushing the lead to 28-11.

Darius McNeill scored 19 points in the first period to lead Cal to a double-digit lead. In the half, McNeill nailed all five of his 3-point attempts and hit 7-of-9 shots overall. His 3-pointer at the 4:55 mark extended the Bear lead to their biggest at 41-21.

CSUN would show little quit though down the stretch of the half. Mahamadou Kaba-Camara started a 9-2 run with a block and a driving layup on the other end. Dawson scored five points in the spurt and Micheal Warren scored down low to cut the deficit to 43-30.

After Warren missed a free throw, the Bears steadied the ship nicely to end the half with five-straight points to take an 18-point advantage into intermission.

Trailing by as many as 28 points (67-39) in the second half, the Matadors continued to battle despite what was shown on the scoreboard. Gomez cut into the lead with a jumper and he later forced a Bear turnover leading to a layup down the other end to make it a 69-48 game.

Forcing two more Cal turnovers, the Matadors received 3-pointers from Carl Brown and Gomez to trim the deficit to 69-54 at the 7:02 mark. Over a 3:55 span, the Matadors outscored the Bears 12-0.

The Matadors, however, were unable to creep any closer in the final minutes as Cal held on for the 20-point victory.

Gomez finished 9-of-14 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the 3-point arc. In the middle, Zeno Lake went 4-of-8 for the night and posted nine points. Off the bench, Kaba-Camara played 17 minutes and picked up four rebounds with two points. For the Bears, McNeill finished with 22 points.

CSUN continues its road trip on Sunday evening at Montana. Tip off is slated for 6 p.m. (PT).

Matadors Fall at California

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Team Stats

Terrell Gomez

Tavrion Dawson

Zeno Lake

Reggie Theus Jr.

Players Mentioned

Carl Brown

Tavrion Dawson

Terrell Gomez

Mahamadou Kaba-Camara

Zeno Lake

Micheal Warren