Matadors Defeat UCSB 77-55, Complete Season Sweep

En Español

NORTHRIDGE, CA---

CSUN Men's Basketball (11-13, 7-4 BWC) earned a 77-55 victory over UC Santa Barbara (3-20, 1-10 BWC) on Saturday evening at The Matadome. Four Matadors scored in double figures led by Kendall Smith who scored 17 points and dished out six assists. Posting his fifth double-double of the season, Tavrion Dawson registered 15 points and 13 rebounds. Darin Johnson scored 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting while Aaron Parks filled up the stat sheet by tallying 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals. After a tight opening period, the Matadors never trailed in the second half and outscored UCSB, 43-24, to pull away and earn the 22-point win.

The Matadors' victory gives the team their most wins overall and in conference play since 2013-14.

"When [UCSB] plays zone the entire game and you still score 77 points, you've done some good things," said head coach Reggie Theus. "I thought our scoring was really balanced with almost five guys in double figures. In the first half, we got to line just three times, in the second half we got to the line 11. I thought that was important. The other thing is in the second half, we had 22 deflections where in the first half I think we only had five. It really boiled down to our defense getting our offense going."

The Matadors finished shooting 48.3 percent for the night and held UCSB to 35.3 percent shooting from the floor. CSUN tied a season-high with nine made 3-pointers on 18 attempts compared to the Gauchos who went 5-of-14 from downtown. At the free throw line, CSUN converted on 12-of-14 while UCSB shot 14-of-22. Playing without Rakim Lubin and Dylan Johns, the Matadors out-rebounded the Gauchos, 37-32.

Seeking the season sweep, the Matadors battled the Gauchos in a close first half. After CSUN led by two at the first media timeout, UCSB went on a 10-4 run to take a 13-9 lead with 13:05 remaining in the period. The Matadors answered back with an 8-0 run to take a 17-13 advantage and they later extended to an eight point lead (23-15) on a layup from Micheal Warren.

Nearly recording a double-double in the first half, Dawson scored 10 points and pulled down eight boards in the opening stanza. A layup from Dawson at the 3:33 mark of the period gave CSUN its biggest lead of the half at 31-22. The Gauchos, however, would get back in the game with a 10-3 run capped off by five-straight points in the final minute to pull to within 34-31 at halftime.

After intermission, the Matadors turned up their defense to once again build a lead. Six-straight defensive stops led to a 6-0 run giving the Matadors a 42-35 lead at the 14:39 mark. The Gauchos would claw back to within 42-39 but CSUN would not let UCSB get any closer for the remainder of the evening.

The Matadors extended their lead to double digits on a slam dunk from Johnson in transition with 6:32 left to play. Holding UCSB to one field for nearly five minutes, the Matadors went on a 12-4 run to go in front 63-49. Later in the half, after another 12-2 spurt, CSUN took a 22 point lead before eventually leading by as many as 24 points in the final minute.

Three different Matadors scored in double figures in the second half alone as Smith had 12 and both Johnson and Parks scored 10 points apiece. CSUN also went 10-of-11 in half at the free throw line. On the defensive end, CSUN limited the Gauchos to 29.6 percent shooting in the period.

With the victory, the Matadors completed the season sweep of UCSB for the first time since 2010-11. Also with sweeps of UC Riverside and Long Beach State this season, the Matadors have posted three conference season sweeps for the first time in six seasons.

Dawson's double-double is the seventh of his career and his fourth in the last five games. He also has a nine-game streak of scoring in double digits.

Off the bench, Warren scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting to go along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jerron Wilbut and Reggie Theus Jr. both chipped in with three points each.

For the Gauchos, Eric Childress scored 16 points while Max Heidegger finished with 14 points.

CSUN concludes a four-game homestand on Wednesday against Cal Poly. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 at 7 p.m.

Matadors Defeat UCSB 77-55, Complete Season Sweep

Next Event

Team Stats

Kendall Smith

Darin Johnson

Tavrion Dawson

Aaron Parks

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Dylan Johns

Darin Johnson

Rakim Lubin

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith

Reggie Theus Jr.

Micheal Warren

Jerron Wilbut