CSUN Tries to Keep Postseason Hopes Alive on Senior Night

FULL PDF RELEASE

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---With a final spot for the Big West Conference Tournament still up for grabs, CSUN Men's Basketball (6-23, 3-11 BWC) wraps up its regular season schedule Wednesday by hosting Cal State Fullerton on Senior Night on The Blacktop @ The Matadome. The game will be aired live on ESPN3 at 7 p.m. while 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. Fans are encouraged to stay after the game as the Matadors will honor seniors Tavrion Dawson, Micheal Warren and Reggie Theus Jr. in a special ceremony.

The Matadors' postseason hopes have come down to the final week of the season. CSUN is currently on the outside looking in for the Big West Tournament but could still secure the eighth and final spot. UC Riverside sits in eighth place with a 3-10 Big West record, and is a half-game ahead of the Matadors. The Highlanders host Cal Poly Thursday and visit Long Beach State Saturday night. CSUN needs a victory over Cal State Fullerton and would need UC Riverside to lose their final two games to clinch the eighth spot outright.

However, the Matadors still remain alive for the tournament with a victory over the Titans along with a UC Riverside win over Cal Poly but the Highlanders would need to lose at Long Beach State. If the teams finish tied with 4-12 records, and the Highlanders lose at the 49ers, then a coin toss would take place to determine the final tournament spot. A loss against the Titans eliminates CSUN from making the postseason.

Last Saturday, the Matadors dropped a hard-fought decision to UC Santa Barbara at The Matadome. CSUN trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half before roaring back to trim the lead to 63-58 with 6:50 left to play. In the end, the Gauchos held off the Matadors behind 25 points from Leland King II. Dawson led the Matadors in scoring with 22 points to go with nine rebounds and six assists. Playing the full 40 minutes, Terrell Gomez added 18 points and six assists while Lyrik Shreiner chipped in 10 points and six rebounds. For the second-straight game, Blair Orr gave CSUN a boost as he recorded a career-high six points and three rebounds in 10 minutes of action.

Heading into his final home game, Dawson could enter the school's all-time Top 10 scoring list with eight more points. Currently at 1,213 points, Dawson has the ninth-most points in the Matadors' Division I era. Dawson is also eighth in school history with 50 career blocks and 10th in field goal attempts with 956. On the field goals made list, he has 453 over his career, which are two short of 10th place. This season, Dawson is averaging career highs in points per game (17.0), minutes per game (33.3), assists per game (2.1) and field goals made (192) to go with six double-doubles.

After suffering a concussion, Warren has missed the last two games. Prior to his injury, Warren had averaged 12.1 points and a career-high 6.1 rebounds per game. He also shot a career-best 84.7 percent from the free throw line while also posting a 38.2 3-point shooting percentage. His career free throw percentage (80.2) is tied for eighth in CSUN history with Curtis Slaughter (2001-03). Currently at 921 career points, Warren is the 26th Matador in team history to surpass 900 career points.

The Matadors' team captain, Theus Jr. was put into the starting lineup early in the year and placed at the center position. He started the first 19 games of his collegiate career this season as he has posted a career-high 6.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in 23.0 minutes per game. After playing two seasons at the University of South Carolina, Theus Jr. recorded seven double figure scoring games in his CSUN career, with six coming this season.

The Titans hold a 43-34 all-time series edge over the Matadors and have won three-straight games. Before the Matadors' current losing streak to Cal State Fullerton, the Matadors had won four in a row as well as six of eight meetings. On Feb. 17, Fullerton defeated CSUN 88-70 at Titan gym as Khalil Ahmad scored a game-high 29 points. Carl Brown came off the bench and scored a season-high 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting in defeat.

A Closer Look at Cal State Fullerton
The Titans are 16-10 this season and 9-5 in Big West play. Currently fourth in the Big West standings, the Titans could finish anywhere from first to fifth in the conference. Cal State Fullerton returns home Saturday for a meeting with Hawai'i to wrap up its regular season schedule.

Junior Kyle Allman is second in the Big West with 19.3 points per game on 49.4 percent shooting. Allman has also made the second-most free throws in the conference at 146 while shooting 75.3 percent from the line. Also averaging in double figures, junior Khalil Ahmad is scoring 15.8 points and sophomore Jackson Rowe is posting 12.1 points per game. Rowe is also the team's top rebounder at 6.8 per game. As a team, Fullerton is first in the conference in free throws made per game (17.3) and free throw attempts per game (23.8).

CSUN Tries to Keep Postseason Hopes Alive on Senior Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Carl Brown

Tavrion Dawson

Terrell Gomez

Blair Orr

Lyrik Shreiner

Reggie Theus Jr.

Micheal Warren