CSUN Falls to UC Irvine, 71-54

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball could not overcome a poor shooting night from the field and a minus-19 rebound differential on the glass in a 71-54 defeat to UC Irvine on Saturday evening at The Matadome. Seniors Micheal Warren and Tavrion Dawson led the way with 14 points and five rebounds apiece while Terrell Gomez chipped in with eight points and six assists. CSUN went 15-for-15 from the free throw line on the night, setting a program record for free throw percentage (1.000 percent) in a game.

"I thought we played really well for about 25 minutes but as time goes on in the game, [UC Irvine's} size wears you down," said head coach Reggie Theus. "Almost minus-20 boards tonight, there's really no answer for that unless to keep working."

From the field, the Matadors shot 34.0 percent while the Anteaters hit 48.3 percent of their shots on the night. UCI out-rebounded the Matadors 42-23 and posted a 18-7 edge in second chance points. The Anteaters also registered a 28-16 advantage in points in the paint. CSUN went 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) from the 3-point arc compared to the Anteaters who shot 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) in the contest.

After spotting the Anteaters the first field goal of the game, Warren and Gomez hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give CSUN a 6-4 edge in the early going. The Matadors' lead would be short lived though as Evan Leonard hit the ensuing shot to give UCI the lead right back. Dawson brought the Matadors to within 9-8 with four minutes gone by in the half but the Anteaters went on a 10-3 run to open up a 19-11 lead.

The Matadors scored five-straight points to cut into the lead as Mahamadou Kaba-Camara threw down a dunk and Reggie Theus Jr. converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play. Leonard quickly scored four-straight points for the Anteaters and he later hit a 3-pointer to give his team a 28-18 lead at the 6:12 mark.

UC Irvine led by as many as 14 points (36-22) in the period before the Matadors made a run over the final 2:55. Dawson led an 8-2 run to close the half as he scored all eight points. His late layup off a feed from Gomez brought CSUN to within 38-30 at intermission.

Lyrik Shreiner knocked down two free throws to begin the second half, trimming the deficit to six. However, UCI went on a 7-0 run to quickly push the lead to 13 points. Consecutive jumpers from Dawson and Theus Jr. cut the UCI lead to 45-36 but the Anteaters would later construct another 8-0 run that stretched the lead to 55-38 with 12:17 left to play.

Warren scored nine points in the second half, and his 3-pointer with just over six minutes to play brought CSUN to within 61-48. The Matadors though would not hit another field goal for the remainder of the contest. After scoring 14 points in the first half, Leonard scored six in the second half to finish with a game-high 20 points. Max Hazzard scored eight of his 14 points in the second half.

Setting a new single-game free throw percentage record, the Matadors have missed one shot when taking at least 15 free throws in a game a total of seven times in team history. The previous record was set by the 2013-14 team who shot 31-for-32 (96.9 percent) against Hope International on Nov. 18, 2013. On Saturday, Warren went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe while Theus Jr. hit all three of his attempts and the trio of Dawson, Gomez and Shreiner all hit two.

The Matadors return to the court next Wednesday for a road contest at UC Riverside. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. The game will be aired live on ESPN3 and an audio only broadcast will available on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.

CSUN Falls to UC Irvine, 71-54

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Team Stats

Micheal Warren

Tavrion Dawson

Reggie Theus Jr.

Terrell Gomez

Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Terrell Gomez

Mahamadou Kaba-Camara

Lyrik Shreiner

Reggie Theus Jr.

Micheal Warren