Matadors Defeated at UC Davis

DAVIS, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (10-15, 4-5 BWC) dropped an 76-59 decision at UC Davis on Wednesday evening at the Pavilion. The top two scorers in the Big West Conference led the Matadors offensively as sophomore Terrell Gomez had a team-high 24 points including finishing with six 3-pointers while freshman Lamine Diane added 20 points and nine rebounds. Graduate Cameron Gottfried chipped in with seven points and six rebounds.

The Matadors struggled from the field, shooting 39.6 percent compared to the Aggies who shot 48.2 percent for the night. From downtown, CSUN knocked down 7-of-18 (39 percent) while UC Davis went 12-of-25 (48.0 percent). The Aggies also controlled the glass, winning the rebound battle 36-29.

ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED
"We struggled tonight. It seemed it was a struggle to do much of anything. You have to give them a lot of credit. They defended probably as well as anybody has against us all year. They took some things away but I think we got impatient. When you play against a good defensive team, you have to learn the same shot you get some nights against a poor defensive team, you're not going to get [against a good defensive team]. Now you have to then execute a little bit better, set better screens, [and have better] timing with all the things offensively we talk about. We got impatient and then we took some bad shots. A veteran team playing against a non-veteran team, and they looked like it and we looked like it."

FIRST HALF
CSUN came out quickly in the opening minutes of the half, leading 7-2 just 2:07 into the game. Diane and Gomez scored CSUN's first 18 points as momentum would be on the side of the Matadors for the first six minutes of the period. However, the tables turned after a UC Davis 10-0 run that gave the home team a 20-13 lead.

Stefan Gonzalaz and Joe Mooney hit a combined seven 3-pointers in the first half, scoring 25 of their team's 35 points. Meanwhile, Diane and Gomez scored 11 points apiece but the Matadors played uphill most of the half. CSUN would trail 27-18 with 6:40 on the clock before scoring the next six to pull within 27-24. Gottfried capped off the run with a 3-pointer off a pass from Diane. The Aggies though never relinquished the lead as an 8-3 spurt made it a 35-27 game at the break.

SECOND HALF
Darius Brown II knocked down a short jumper to start the half, cutting the lead down to six points but the Matadors were unable to stop the Aggies on the next three possessions. UC Davis hit three consecutive 3-pointers with Mooney hitting two treys to quickly push the lead to 44-29. Diane would pour in 13 points in the second half including six in a row at one point to help trim the deficit from 18 to 11 points near the 12:26 mark.

However, the Matadors were unable to cut the UC Davis lead any closer than 11 points down the stretch. A 14-6 run stretched UC Davis' advantage to 66-47 with just over five minutes to play. Gomez nailed 3-of-4 from long range in the half including a late trey that pulled CSUN within 70-57. The Aggies would lead by double digits the rest of the way as Jonah Underwood capped off the victory with a late hoop to secure a 76-59 win.

GAME NOTES
With his six 3-pointers in the game, Gomez pushed his season total to 88, which are the second-most ever made in a single season in CSUN history. Kyle Kerlegan holds the Matador record with 98 3-pointers set back in the 1990-91 season.

For UC Davis, Mooney scored a team-high 21 points. After an 0-3 start to Big West play, UC Davis has won five of its last six games to improve to 5-4. The Aggies have also won 11-straight games over CSUN.

UP NEXT
The Matadors return home on Saturday night to take on Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. The game will air live on CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmiester on the call.

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Team Stats

Terrell Gomez

Lamine Diane

Cameron Gottfried

Michael Ou

Players Mentioned

Darius Brown II

Lamine Diane

Terrell Gomez

Cameron Gottfried