Matadors Open With UCSB at Big West Tournament

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball kicks off Big West Tournament action this Thursday as the seventh-seeded Matadors take on No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara at noon. The game will stream on ESPN3 while an audio broadcast is available on the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call at 11:50 a.m.

First-year head coach Mark Gottfried guided the Matadors (13-19, 7-9 BWC) to a sixth-place tie in the Big West Conference this season. After winning six games last season and missing out on the conference tourney, CSUN doubled its win total this season and posted its most overall and conference wins since the 2013-14 campaign. The Matadors are competing in their third conference tournament in the last five years and look to snap a three-game skid in the tournament. CSUN's last win at the event took place in 2013-14 when the Matadors advanced to the championship game. The team's last championship win came in 2008-09.

The awards have poured in for freshman Lamine Diane this week, which have included Big West Player of the Year and all-district accolades. Diane is the first Big West player to ever win Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year all in the same season. He also received All-District IX honors from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association this week, marking the first time since 2000-01 a Matador has received all-district accolades. Diane led the nation in field goals made (321) and finished the regular season seventh in points per game (24.8) and rebounds per game (11.1).

In addition, the Matadors' young duo of Diane and sophomore Terrell Gomez earned All-Big West First Team recognition. The tandem combined to score 44.0 points per game this season as Diane led the Big West in scoring followed by Gomez (19.2) in second place. Diane also led the conference in rebounds per game and blocks per game (2.1), becoming the second player in conference history to be ranked first in points, rebounds and blocks. Gomez finished first in the Big West in minutes per game (37.8) for the second-straight season while he was first in 3-point field goals made (111) and third in free throw percentage (87.5).

It was a record-breaking year for Diane and Gomez as a number of Matador single-season records fell. Diane broke the school's single-season points (769), rebounds (344), field goals made (321), blocks (66) and double-double (19) records. Gomez would break the Matadors' 3-point field goals made record with his 111 treys.

While Diane dominated most of the freshmen talk during the year, the Matadors' other top freshman Darius Brown II had a breakout season as well. Brown finished tops in the league in assists to turnover (3.0) while he ranked second in assists per game (5.3) and third in steals per game (1.5). Brown also finished third among freshmen in scoring at 8.4 points per game.

UCSB leads the all-time series with CSUN 40-19 and has won the past four meetings. The Gauchos swept the Matadors in the season series but the two games were decided by a combined eight points. CSUN dropped a 70-64 decision in Santa Barbara and fell in heartbreaking fashion to UCSB 76-74 at The Matadome on a last-second 3-pointer from Max Heidegger. Diane averaged 31.0 points and 9.0 rebounds against the Gauchos this season. CSUN is 2-1 all-time against UCSB at the Big West Tournament.

A Closer Look at UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos went 21-9 this season and 10-6 in league play. UCSB won four of its last five games to vault into second place in the Big West. Last week, UCSB beat CSUN in a thriller before ending the regular season with a 92-82 win at Cal Poly. The Gauchos finished first in the Big West in offensive rebounds per game (12.1), turnovers per game (11.2) and opponent 3-point percentage (30.6).

An All-Big West Honorable Mention, graduate Ar'mond Davis led the team in scoring at 13.1 points to go with 5.9 rebounds. Four other Gauchos scored in double figures including junior Max Heidegger (12.1), freshman Amadou Sow (12.0), sophomore Devearl Ramsey (10.7) and sophomore JaQuori McLaughlin (10.2). Sow was named All-Big West Second Team as he led the team in rebounds per game (6.5). Jarriesse Blackmon earned Co-Hustle Player of the Year after averaging 4.7 points and 4.0 rebounds.

Matadors Open With UCSB at Big West Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Darius Brown II

Lamine Diane

Terrell Gomez