CSUN Returns to the Road to Take on UC Davis

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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball opens up a road-heavy stretch on Thursday evening as the Matadors visit UC Davis at the Pavilion with tip off slated for 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live on Big West.TV and an audio only broadcast will be available on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call. All links to live stats, video and audio can be found on the men's basketball schedule page at GoMatadors.com.

The Matadors will play four of their next six games on the road against teams currently ahead of them in the Big West standings. Currently in seventh place in the conference standings, CSUN will return home to play Long Beach State (tied for second place) on Saturday and take on UC Davis (tied for fourth place) again next Thursday before playing their next three on the road. On the Matadors' upcoming road trip in early February, they will play UC Santa Barbara (tied for fourth place), UC Irvine (sixth place) and Hawai'i (first place).

CSUN picked up its second-straight Big West victory last Saturday to improve to 2-3 in conference play. The Matadors led for nearly the entire game as they defeated Cal Poly 72-54. Tavrion Dawson posted his second-straight double-double and 10th of his career while Lyrik Shreiner completed his first career double-double. Dawson finished with 23 points, his fifth 20-point game of the season, 10 rebounds and two assists. Shreiner poured in 12 points including 10 in the second half along with a career-high 11 rebounds. Terrell Gomez registered 20 points and four assists while Micheal Warren had 10 points and five rebounds.

On Monday, Dawson earned his second Big West Player of the Week award this season and a CSUN-record fourth of his career. For the week, Dawson averaged 20.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game in two Matador victories. In CSUN's victory over UC Riverside, Dawson reached 1,000 career points, becoming the 19th Matador in team history to reach the milestone and the 10th to hit the mark in three years of competition. Dawson is currently in 18th place on the Matador career scoring list and within 18 points of moving into 17th place.

In the Big West, Dawson is seventh in the conference in scoring with 15.9 points per game and tied with Warren for seventh in rebounds per game (6.1). In his first season at the collegiate level, Gomez leads the Big West in minutes per game (33.5) and is second in 3-point percentage (51.3). Also averaging 12.6 points and 2.0 assists per game, Warren is the only player in the Big West Conference to average at least 12.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game this season.

The Matadors and Aggies have squared off 38 times with both teams collecting 19 wins in the series. UC Davis has won the last eight meetings and 11 of the last 12 contests. The Matadors' last win over UC Davis took place on Jan. 2014 as CSUN earned an 89-77 win at The Matadome. Dropping the last eight at UC Davis, the Matadors are looking for their first win on the road in the series since Mar. 2009 (99-72). Last season, Dawson averaged 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds against the Aggies while Reggie Theus Jr. registered 10.5 points per game.

A Closer Look at UC Davis
The Aggies are 12-7 this season with a 3-2 Big West record. In last week's action, UC Davis defeated Long Beach State (84-75) but fell at Hawai'i (77-72). Last season's Big West Tournament champions are 6-0 at the Pavilion this season and won the last 17 in a row at home going back to last season.

Senior Chima Moneke is second in the Big West in points per game (18.7) and rebounds per game (9.9) to go with a 49.8 field goal percentage. Also averaging in double figures, junior Siler Schneider is scoring 13.5 points while junior TJ Shorts II is posting 13.4 points per game. Shorts II is fourth in the conference in assists per game (3.9). As a team, UC Davis is first in the league in steals per game (7.8) and points allowed (67.2) and second in field goal percentage (46.7).

CSUN Returns to the Road to Take on UC Davis

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Players Mentioned

Tavrion Dawson

Terrell Gomez

Lyrik Shreiner

Reggie Theus Jr.

Micheal Warren