Saturday, December 4
Fresno, Calif.
4:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
at
Fresno State
Photo by: Will Navarro
CSUN Continues Road Swing at Fresno State on Saturday
12/2/2021 12:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (3-3) takes a three-game winning streak to Fresno State on Saturday for another non-conference test. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. on the Mountain West Digital Network. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister are also on the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
CSUN and Fresno State will meet for the 35th time in men's basketball after their scheduled game last season was canceled due to COVID-19 precautions. In a series that dates back to 1960, the Bulldogs lead the series 28-6 but the teams have only met nine times in CSUN's Division I era. CSUN is 2-7 as a D-1 member against Fresno State as the Matadors snapped a four-game skid in the series in Nov. 2019 with a 73-72 win at The Matadome behind Terrell Gomez's 31 points. CSUN has won three games ever at Fresno State with two of those wins coming as a Division II member. The Matadors' only road win in their Division I era came on Nov. 30, 1999 (69-66) at the Selland Arena over a Jerry Tarkanian-led Bulldog team.
The Matadors won their third-straight game last Sunday at San Diego, 56-52. CSUN led from start-to-finish in the game and would build a 15-point lead in the second half. The Matadors led by 12 points with under five minutes to play before USD roared back with a 10-0 run. The Toreros had three opportunities to either tie or take the lead but CSUN's defense withstood each attempt while Brendan Harrick picked up two key blocks to help ensure a victory. The win marked the fourth-straight season that the Matadors have earned a win over a West Coast Conference team.
Atin Wright led the Matadors with 16 points against San Diego and made two free throws with less than two seconds remaining to push the lead to four. Darius Brown II scored a season-high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting while he added two steals and two assists. In the middle, Onyi Eyisi collected eight points and eight rebounds while Harrick and Elijah Hardy chipped in with six points apiece. The Matadors went 0-of-9 from 3-point range but made all eight of their free throws in the game. CSUN also held USD to 33.3 percent shooting for the game.
The Matadors have won three-straight non-conference games in a single season for the first time since the 2018-19 season. CSUN's three-game winning streak is also the team's longest since winning their last four games to close the 2019-20 campaign.
Wright tops the Matadors in scoring average heading into the weekend at 10.2 points. Hardy is averaging 9.0 points and 4.8 rebounds while he ranks eighth in the Big West in assists per game (2.7) and ninth in steals per game (1.3). Gray, who leads the team in rebounding average (6.0), is second in the Big West in offensive rebounds per game (3.2).
Brown is expected to move up several top-10 lists in the Matadors' record book this week. The 6-2 guard has started 92 games with the Matadors and can move into a ninth-place tie with Jeff Parris (1997-01) on the games started list with another start. Brown, who has 134 career steals, will also surpass Brooklyn McLinn (1989-94) and secure sole possession of ninth place on the steal list with one more steal while he can catch Tre Hale-Edmerson (2012-16) at eighth place with three more steals. On the minutes played list, Brown has 3,027 career minutes and can enter the all-time top-10 list with 10 more minutes, which would surpass Jonathan Heard (2004-08).
A Closer Look at Fresno State
The Bulldogs (6-1) got back into the win column with a win over San Diego (63-43) on Wednesday. Fresno State began the season with a 5-0 record before falling at California (65-57) on Nov. 28. A season ago, Fresno State went 12-12 and 9-11 in the Mountain West Conference. The Bulldogs were picked to finish sixth in the league before the season. Head coach Justin Hutson is in his fourth season leading the Bulldogs.
A Preseason All-Mountain West selection, Orlando Robinson is averaging 19.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game on the season. Robinson also leads the team in assists per game (3.3). Jordan Campbell is second on the team in scoring at 10.1 points to go with 4.3 rebounds per game while Isaiah Hill is averaging 9.9 points. As a team, the Bulldogs are limiting the opposition to 57.0 points per game.
#UniteTheValley
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (3-3) takes a three-game winning streak to Fresno State on Saturday for another non-conference test. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. on the Mountain West Digital Network. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister are also on the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
CSUN and Fresno State will meet for the 35th time in men's basketball after their scheduled game last season was canceled due to COVID-19 precautions. In a series that dates back to 1960, the Bulldogs lead the series 28-6 but the teams have only met nine times in CSUN's Division I era. CSUN is 2-7 as a D-1 member against Fresno State as the Matadors snapped a four-game skid in the series in Nov. 2019 with a 73-72 win at The Matadome behind Terrell Gomez's 31 points. CSUN has won three games ever at Fresno State with two of those wins coming as a Division II member. The Matadors' only road win in their Division I era came on Nov. 30, 1999 (69-66) at the Selland Arena over a Jerry Tarkanian-led Bulldog team.
The Matadors won their third-straight game last Sunday at San Diego, 56-52. CSUN led from start-to-finish in the game and would build a 15-point lead in the second half. The Matadors led by 12 points with under five minutes to play before USD roared back with a 10-0 run. The Toreros had three opportunities to either tie or take the lead but CSUN's defense withstood each attempt while Brendan Harrick picked up two key blocks to help ensure a victory. The win marked the fourth-straight season that the Matadors have earned a win over a West Coast Conference team.
Atin Wright led the Matadors with 16 points against San Diego and made two free throws with less than two seconds remaining to push the lead to four. Darius Brown II scored a season-high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting while he added two steals and two assists. In the middle, Onyi Eyisi collected eight points and eight rebounds while Harrick and Elijah Hardy chipped in with six points apiece. The Matadors went 0-of-9 from 3-point range but made all eight of their free throws in the game. CSUN also held USD to 33.3 percent shooting for the game.
The Matadors have won three-straight non-conference games in a single season for the first time since the 2018-19 season. CSUN's three-game winning streak is also the team's longest since winning their last four games to close the 2019-20 campaign.
Wright tops the Matadors in scoring average heading into the weekend at 10.2 points. Hardy is averaging 9.0 points and 4.8 rebounds while he ranks eighth in the Big West in assists per game (2.7) and ninth in steals per game (1.3). Gray, who leads the team in rebounding average (6.0), is second in the Big West in offensive rebounds per game (3.2).
Brown is expected to move up several top-10 lists in the Matadors' record book this week. The 6-2 guard has started 92 games with the Matadors and can move into a ninth-place tie with Jeff Parris (1997-01) on the games started list with another start. Brown, who has 134 career steals, will also surpass Brooklyn McLinn (1989-94) and secure sole possession of ninth place on the steal list with one more steal while he can catch Tre Hale-Edmerson (2012-16) at eighth place with three more steals. On the minutes played list, Brown has 3,027 career minutes and can enter the all-time top-10 list with 10 more minutes, which would surpass Jonathan Heard (2004-08).
A Closer Look at Fresno State
The Bulldogs (6-1) got back into the win column with a win over San Diego (63-43) on Wednesday. Fresno State began the season with a 5-0 record before falling at California (65-57) on Nov. 28. A season ago, Fresno State went 12-12 and 9-11 in the Mountain West Conference. The Bulldogs were picked to finish sixth in the league before the season. Head coach Justin Hutson is in his fourth season leading the Bulldogs.
A Preseason All-Mountain West selection, Orlando Robinson is averaging 19.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game on the season. Robinson also leads the team in assists per game (3.3). Jordan Campbell is second on the team in scoring at 10.1 points to go with 4.3 rebounds per game while Isaiah Hill is averaging 9.9 points. As a team, the Bulldogs are limiting the opposition to 57.0 points per game.
#UniteTheValley
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