CSUN Drops Tough Battle with Stanford, 82-71

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (3-2) played Stanford (3-2) even for most of Tuesday's non-conference game at The Matadome but the Cardinal would pull away down the stretch of the second half to hand the Matadors an 82-71 defeat. The game was tied at 48-48 with a little over 14 minutes remaining in the final stanza before a pivotal 9-0 Stanford run turned the tide of the contest.

Senior Lance Coleman II scored a team-high 20 points and made 6-of-15 from 3-point range while junior TJ Starks added 19 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists. Junior Miles Brookins made his season debut in the contest as he finished with eight points and four rebounds in his first collegiate game since suffering a season-ending injury on Nov. 15, 2019.

CSUN struggled from the field for most of the day, shooting 36.4 percent from the field including 37.5 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (12-for-32). In contrast, Stanford shot the ball well throughout the game, finishing at a 60.0 percent clip while the Cardinal earned their way to the free throw line with regularity, making 24-of-31 (77.4 percent). Stanford won the rebounding battle, 37-29. CSUN led in second-chance points, 26-7.

FIRST HALF
The Matadors got off to a slow start with two turnovers and seven-straight misses. Stanford took advantage with a 7-0 run to kick off the game before Starks put the Matadors on the scoreboard with a jumper at the 15:04 mark. After the sluggish start, the Matador bench gave the team a lift as Brendan Harrick drilled a 3-pointer and Brookins scored inside. Starks would drain a 3-pointer with 11:41 to play to trim the Stanford lead to 14-12.

CSUN remained close until the five-minute mark when the Matadors scored six in a row, after 3-pointers from Coleman II and Alex Merkviladze, to take a 27-23 lead. Stanford though responded with a 9-0 run, capped by a layup from Oscar da Silva. It would be a big night for da Silva who scored 17 of his game-high 32 points in the first half to help keep the Cardinal ahead. Festus Ndumanya would score on a traditional 3-point play and Starks followed with a trey from downtown to help cut the lead to two with a minute to play. Ndumanya had an opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds but a missed jumper and a subsequent foul led to the Cardinal taking a 36-33 advantage into halftime.

SECOND HALF
Ziaire Williams scored four-straight points out of intermission but CSUN scored the next five in a row, capped by a dunk from Ndumanya. The Matadors pulled to within one point on three separate occasions until finally evening the game up at 48-48 after a 3-pointer from Coleman II. However, on the ensuing possession, Stanford took the lead right back on a 3-pointer from Noah Taitz. The long-distance make would be the start of a 9-0 run for Stanford that put the Matadors in a 57-48 hole.

Showing little quit, the Matadors continued to battle as Darius Brown II drained a 3-pointer and later found Amound Anderson for a traditional 3-point play, cutting the deficit to 61-57 with 7:37 on the clock. CSUN though would hit another dry spell, missing five straight shots including two from the free throw line. Stanford capitalized again by going on a 12-2 run with da Silva tallying six of those points. Trailing by as many as 14 (73-59), CSUN clawed back to cut the lead to single digits at eight after a free throw from Starks but could not get any closer. The Cardinal managed the clock and made key free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

GAME NOTES
Starks made 3-of-4 from 3-point range on Tuesday to help improve his season percentage to 48.3 (14-of-29). Ndumanya chipped in with seven points and five rebounds while Brown II had five assists, two steals and four points in the game.

For the Cardinal, da Silva had 32 points on 9-of-11 shooting and 14-of-14 shooting from the free throw line to go with nine rebounds and two blocks. Williams and Taitz had 12 points apiece.

ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED
"It was a good game for us but I thought we could have played better. They did a nice job, you've got to give Stanford a lot of credit. They played without their point guard but the big kid [Oscar de Silva] inside just destroyed us. I also think we didn't play our best game. We had a lot of shots but the shots we did have, we didn't seem to make them. I think we got a little hurried offensively and didn't play our best game. Again you have to give those guys credit, they've been on the road for a while, they came in here and did what they needed to do. We'll learn from it, get better and get ready to play Cal this weekend."

UP NEXT
The Matadors are tentatively scheduled to travel to face California on Saturday, Dec. 19. Stay tuned to GoMatadors.com for updates on the Matadors' non-conference schedule.

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Team Stats

Lance Coleman II

TJ Starks

Miles Brookins

Festus Ndumanya

Players Mentioned

Amound Anderson

Miles Brookins

Darius Brown II

Lance Coleman II

Brendan Harrick

Alex Merkviladze

Festus Ndumanya

TJ Starks