Matadors Host Portland State on Saturday Night

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (3-6) returns to The Matadome on Saturday night to take on Portland State at 7 p.m. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister are on the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.

The Matadors lead Portland State in the all-time series 10-6 and will host the Vikings for the first time since 2014. The last two games of the series have taken place at Portland State as the Vikings prevailed in the last meeting on Dec. 6, 2019, by a 73-67 score. Terrell Gomez's 21 points led the way for the Matadors in the last outing against Portland State while Brendan Harrick added 18. A former Big Sky Conference rival, the Matadors played the Vikings 10 times while in the conference from 1996-01 with the Matadors winning seven times.

CSUN dropped games last week to Boise State (74-48) on Dec. 7 and at North Dakota State (68-54) on Dec. 10. Three Matadors scored in double figures against Boise State led by Onyi Eyisi with 12 points but the Broncos capitalized on a 16-0 run in the second half to pull away down the stretch. CSUN would make its first-ever trip to Fargo, N.D. last Friday where the Matadors rallied from a 13-point deficit, cutting the Bison's lead to five but a critical five-minute scoring drought was too much to overcome. Eyisi again had a team-high in scoring with a career-best mark of 19 points versus the Bison and Atin Wright added 17 points in a losing effort.

Wright leads the Matadors in scoring through nine games this season with a 10.5 point average while Eyisi is a close second at 10.4 points per game. Elijah Hardy, who is third on the team in scoring at 9.0 points per game, is eighth in the Big West in assists per game (2.7) and 11th in steals per game (1.2). On the glass, Christian Gray is 11th in the Big West in rebounds per game (6.0) to go with his 5.3 points per game. Harrick enters the week sixth in the Big West in blocks per game (0.9).

Saturday will prove to be a reunion for Hardy and Portland State as the Matadors' 6-2 guard played the 2020-21 season with the Vikings. In 20 games, Hardy averaged 7.1 points and 2.9 rebounds for Portland State in his only year with the program.

Following Saturday's game with the Vikings, the Matadors wrap up non-conference play on Wednesday, Dec. 22 against Bethesda. CSUN opens up the league season at UC Irvine on Dec. 30 to close up the 2021 calendar year.

A Closer Look at Portland State
Portland State owns a 3-5 overall record and 1-1 mark in the Big Sky Conference. The Vikings come in with a two-game losing streak after falling to Cal Poly (61-58) last week at home. Portland State has lost three of four games away from home this season with its only win coming at Idaho State (63-55) on Dec. 2. Head coach Jase Coburn is in his first season leading the program and ninth overall. Before the season, the Vikings were picked to finish seven in the Big Sky by the conference coaches.

James Jean-Marie tops the Vikings in scoring (13.4) and rebounding (10.8) while he shoots 49.4 percent from the field. Marlon Ruffin is also scoring in doubles figures at 11.5 points per game. As a team, Portland State ranks 20th in the nation in rebounds per game (42.1) and 26th in steals per game (9.8). The Vikings have three players that played for Big West Conference teams last season in Jean-Marie (Hawai'i), Damion Squire (UC Davis) and Michael Carter III (Long Beach State).

#UniteTheValley

Matadors Host Portland State on Saturday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Onyi Eyisi

Christian Gray

Elijah Hardy

Brendan Harrick

Atin Wright