Friday, January 22
Northridge, Calif.
4:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
UC Santa Barbara
Photo by: Braden Villanueva
Matadors Return Home to Host UCSB
1/21/2021 3:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (5-4, 1-1 Big West) will play inside The Matadome for the first in 2021 this week as the Matadors host UC Santa Barbara on Friday and Saturday. Both games will start at 4 p.m. and will stream live on BigWest.TV with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.
The Matadors officially opened up Big West play last week at Cal State Fullerton, splitting the two games at Titan Gym. CSUN took the opener, 86-85, but fell in game two, 85-77. The series came about after the Matadors' originally scheduled series against Long Beach State was called off due to COVID-19 precautions within the Beach's program. Fullerton was scheduled to play at UC Davis that weekend but those games were canceled because of health orders put in place by Yolo County. The Matadors and Titans had not yet played this season as their original series set for Dec. 27-28 was canceled after Fullerton paused its basketball operations.
Junior Darius Brown II and sophomore Brendan Harrick had career games in the Matadors' win over the Titans last Saturday. Brown II recorded his first career double-double and dished out a personal-best 13 assists to go with 25 points. The 13 assists were the most by a Matador since Josh Greene dished out that same total in Jan. 2012 and tied for the sixth-most overall in team history. Making his second start of the season, Harrick would score a career-high 25 points and go 7-of-10 from 3-point range. Harrick's seven 3-pointers were tied for the third-most in a game in Matador history. CSUN would go on a pivotal 16-0 run in the second half and withstood a furious Titan rally in the final minute.
Fullerton evened the season series on Sunday despite a season-high 22 points from freshman Atin Wright. In 24 minutes, Wright made 5-of-9 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Wright's team-high 22 points marked the first time a Matador reserve led the team in scoring in a game since Carl Brown accomplished the feat in Feb. 2018.
Heading into the week, Brown II leads the nation in assists to turnover ratio (8.8) while he is 24th in assists per game at 5.9, which ranks second-best in the Big West. Despite missing the last two games, TJ Starks (18.1 PPG) and Lance Coleman (15.7 PPG) are second and fifth in the Big West in scoring, respectively. Freshman Alex Merkviladze is also fifth in the Big West in rebounds per game at 6.9. As a team, the Matadors are second in the Big West in turnovers per game (12.4) and third in free throw percentage (75.1) and assists per game (14.9).
UCSB leads CSUN in the all-time series 41-21. The Matadors swept the season series from the Gauchos last season including posting a 79-67 victory inside The Matadome. Lamine Diane led the Matadors in scoring in both games, highlighted by a 27-point effort in an 83-75 win at the Thunderdome. Brown II had two impressive games against UCSB as well, averaging 17.5 points and 6.0 assists. Overall, the Gauchos have won five of the last nine meetings while the teams have split the last four contests at The Matadome.
A Closer Look at UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos (8-3, 4-2 Big West) have won the last four games after starting league play with two-straight losses. UCSB handed UC San Diego a two-game sweep last weekend, winning 69-52 and 84-53. The Gauchos also swept Cal State Fullerton two weeks ago. Prior to the season, UCSB was picked to finish second in the Big West Conference. A year ago, UCSB and CSUN both went 10-6 in league play and tied for second place. Head coach Joe Pasternack is in his fourth season at the helm of the Gauchos.
Senior Jaquori McLaughlin paces the Gauchos in scoring at 15.7 points per game to go with a league-leading 6.0 assists per game. McLaughlin is also tops in the Big West in free throws made (60). Sophomore Ajare Sanni is averaging 12.5 points per game while junior Amadou Sow is scoring 10.9 per game. Sow is third in the Big West in rebounds per game at 7.7. As a team, UCSB is fourth in the nation in assists to turnover ratio (1.8) and seventh in assists per game (18.8). The Gauchos lead the Big West in both categories.
#UniteTheValley
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (5-4, 1-1 Big West) will play inside The Matadome for the first in 2021 this week as the Matadors host UC Santa Barbara on Friday and Saturday. Both games will start at 4 p.m. and will stream live on BigWest.TV with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.
The Matadors officially opened up Big West play last week at Cal State Fullerton, splitting the two games at Titan Gym. CSUN took the opener, 86-85, but fell in game two, 85-77. The series came about after the Matadors' originally scheduled series against Long Beach State was called off due to COVID-19 precautions within the Beach's program. Fullerton was scheduled to play at UC Davis that weekend but those games were canceled because of health orders put in place by Yolo County. The Matadors and Titans had not yet played this season as their original series set for Dec. 27-28 was canceled after Fullerton paused its basketball operations.
Junior Darius Brown II and sophomore Brendan Harrick had career games in the Matadors' win over the Titans last Saturday. Brown II recorded his first career double-double and dished out a personal-best 13 assists to go with 25 points. The 13 assists were the most by a Matador since Josh Greene dished out that same total in Jan. 2012 and tied for the sixth-most overall in team history. Making his second start of the season, Harrick would score a career-high 25 points and go 7-of-10 from 3-point range. Harrick's seven 3-pointers were tied for the third-most in a game in Matador history. CSUN would go on a pivotal 16-0 run in the second half and withstood a furious Titan rally in the final minute.
Fullerton evened the season series on Sunday despite a season-high 22 points from freshman Atin Wright. In 24 minutes, Wright made 5-of-9 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Wright's team-high 22 points marked the first time a Matador reserve led the team in scoring in a game since Carl Brown accomplished the feat in Feb. 2018.
Heading into the week, Brown II leads the nation in assists to turnover ratio (8.8) while he is 24th in assists per game at 5.9, which ranks second-best in the Big West. Despite missing the last two games, TJ Starks (18.1 PPG) and Lance Coleman (15.7 PPG) are second and fifth in the Big West in scoring, respectively. Freshman Alex Merkviladze is also fifth in the Big West in rebounds per game at 6.9. As a team, the Matadors are second in the Big West in turnovers per game (12.4) and third in free throw percentage (75.1) and assists per game (14.9).
UCSB leads CSUN in the all-time series 41-21. The Matadors swept the season series from the Gauchos last season including posting a 79-67 victory inside The Matadome. Lamine Diane led the Matadors in scoring in both games, highlighted by a 27-point effort in an 83-75 win at the Thunderdome. Brown II had two impressive games against UCSB as well, averaging 17.5 points and 6.0 assists. Overall, the Gauchos have won five of the last nine meetings while the teams have split the last four contests at The Matadome.
A Closer Look at UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos (8-3, 4-2 Big West) have won the last four games after starting league play with two-straight losses. UCSB handed UC San Diego a two-game sweep last weekend, winning 69-52 and 84-53. The Gauchos also swept Cal State Fullerton two weeks ago. Prior to the season, UCSB was picked to finish second in the Big West Conference. A year ago, UCSB and CSUN both went 10-6 in league play and tied for second place. Head coach Joe Pasternack is in his fourth season at the helm of the Gauchos.
Senior Jaquori McLaughlin paces the Gauchos in scoring at 15.7 points per game to go with a league-leading 6.0 assists per game. McLaughlin is also tops in the Big West in free throws made (60). Sophomore Ajare Sanni is averaging 12.5 points per game while junior Amadou Sow is scoring 10.9 per game. Sow is third in the Big West in rebounds per game at 7.7. As a team, UCSB is fourth in the nation in assists to turnover ratio (1.8) and seventh in assists per game (18.8). The Gauchos lead the Big West in both categories.
#UniteTheValley
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