CSUN Drops Hard-Fought Battle to UC Irvine

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IRVINE, CA---

Battling UC Irvine inch for inch throughout 40 minutes of action, CSUN Men's Basketball (11-16, 7-7 BWC) fell to the Anteaters, 83-80, on Saturday evening at the Bren Events Center. Kendall Smith recorded a team-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Darin Johnson posted 19 points in defeat while Aaron Parks scored 13. Trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half, the Matadors rallied and cut the deficit to one point before eventually coming a 3-pointer shy of sending the game to overtime.

Both teams shot identical from the field, hitting 24-of-53 shots (45.3 percent) for the night. After a red hot first half from the field (57.1 percent), UC Irvine was held to just 32.0 percent shooting in the second half. CSUN kept pace nicely in the first half, shooting 48.1 percent before dropping down to 42.3 percent after intermission. The Anteaters went 26-of-32 from the foul line compared to the Matadors' who finished 30-of-39. In the rebounding department, UCI out-rebounded CSUN, 37-27, while the teams both scored 24 points in the paint.

Much like its previous two opponents, CSUN faced another hot shooting team on Thursday. UC Irvine nailed six of its first seven shots to take a 20-13 lead at the 13:18 mark of the first half.

The Anteaters particularly had success from 3-point range in the period, hitting 6-of-8. However, despite the lights out shooting, the Matadors remained within striking distance.

Following jumpers from Smith and Johnson, the Matadors pulled to within 22-20. Later in the half, CSUN trimmed the lead to one (26-25) after Dylan Johns forced a steal and Johnson took the ball the other way for a slam dunk in transition.

CSUN pulled even at 29-29 after Smith went 1-of-2 at the free throw line, but consecutive 3-pointers from Jaron Martin and Luke Nelson pushed the lead back to 35-29. UC Irvine would build its biggest lead of the half at nine after a basket from Ioannis Dimakopoulos. Following a jumper from Parks, Martin hit a layup with four seconds to play to put UCI in front, 45-38, at the break.

After intermission, the Anteaters extended their lead to 60-49 at the 14:32 mark after a 7-2 run. Trailing by double-digits, the Matadors would begin chipping away with strong defensive play.

Along with forcing UCI to commit nine turnovers in the second half, the Matadors did not allow a single field goal to the Anteaters over the final 9:50 of the game.

In a pivotal play, Johns blocked Jonathan Galloway's easy layup, leading to a 3-pointer from Smith on the fast break to bring CSUN to within 66-60. Later in the half, Smith found Reggie Theus Jr. in the lane on a nifty bounce pass that cut the UCI advantage to 74-71 with 5:59 left to play. The Anteaters built their lead back to seven, not before Johnson scored four in a row to again bring the Matadors to within three.

In the final minute, the Matadors trimmed the deficit to 79-78 on two free throws from Johnson. The Anteaters again extended to a three point lead after Dimakopoulos was fouled and hit two free throws.

CSUN regained possession, after two missed free throws by Galloway on the other end, with 16 seconds remaining and down three. Parks was fouled while going to the basket and he knocked down both free throws to cut the lead to 81-80 with four seconds on the clock.

Martin hit two free throws down the other way, giving the Matadors one last chance. Johnson in-bounded the ball to Micheal Warren near mid-court but his last second heave at the basket was off the mark, giving the Anteaters the victory.

In 19 minutes of action, Johns scored six points on 3-of-3 shooting to go along with three rebounds, two steals and a block. Warren chipped in with six points while Theus Jr. had five.

The Matadors return to action next Thursday for their final road game of the season at Cal Poly. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m.

CSUN Drops Hard-Fought Battle to UC Irvine

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Team Stats

Kendall Smith

Darin Johnson

Aaron Parks

Tavrion Dawson

Players Mentioned

Dylan Johns

Darin Johnson

Aaron Parks

Kendall Smith

Reggie Theus Jr.

Micheal Warren