Matadors Fall to Boise State

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (3-5) suffered a 74-48 loss to Boise State on Tuesday at The Matadome. Three Matadors scored in double figures with Onyi Eyisi leading the way with 12 points and six rebounds. Elijah Hardy and Darius Beane tallied 11 points apiece. The Broncos surged past the Matadors behind 11-0 and 16-0 runs in the game and led from start-to-finish.

The Broncos shot 53.6 percent for the game as well as 42.9 percent from 3-point range (9-of-21) while CSUN finished with a 34.0 field goal percentage and went 1-of-10 from the 3-point arc (10.0 percent). At the free throw line, the Matadors earned 16 trips, making 13 attempts (81.3 percent) compared to the Broncos who made 5-of-10 for the game. Boise State controlled the glass, outrebounding CSUN 41-20 and had a 36-24 advantage in points in the paint.

GAME BREAKDOWN
The Broncos came out quickly, scoring the game's first 11 points as CSUN went scoreless for nearly the first four minutes. The Matadors earned their first field goal of the game at the 15:53 mark before Kailen Rains drilled a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to eight. CSUN though would be unable to slow down a hot shooting Boise State team that shot 57 percent in the opening stanza. The Broncos also made 6-of-13 3-point shots with the combination of Tyson Degenhart and Marcus Shaver Jr. making a combined four of those treys.

The Matadors closed the gap to 30-15 but the Broncos answered with an 8-2 run to take their biggest lead of the half at 21 points (38-17). Beane and Fidelis Okereke made late field goals for CSUN as the Matadors went into intermission trailing 38-21.

Despite the score, the Matadors fought back into the game in the early minutes of the second half. Beane scored four points in a CSUN 6-0 spurt that trimmed the Broncos' lead to 11 with three minutes gone by in the period. The 6-3 guard also came away with a three-point play in the lane that brought CSUN closer at 43-33.

The Matadors would get a pair of looks at the hoop to cut the deficit to single digits but each shot went off the mark. After trimming the deficit to 10, CSUN went on a pivotal six-minute scoring drought as the Broncos seized momentum of the game during the crucial stretch. Degenhart helped spearhead a 16-0 Boise State run that stretched the lead to 59-33 with 9:01 left to play. Hardy stopped the run with a jumper but the Broncos scored the next six points as they never looked back the rest of the way. Boise State would lead by as many as 30 points in the closing minutes.

GAME NOTES
Beane's 11 points are a season-high while he added three assists and two steals. Hardy finished 5-of-9 from the floor with two assists.

Darius Brown II missed his first game as a Matador on Tuesday. The 6-2 senior had played in 95 consecutive games and made 93-straight starts.

For Boise State, Degenhart had a game-high 21 points while Naje Smith added 17.

ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"Boise State is a good basketball team but what went down tonight had nothing to do with them as opposed to what we weren't trying to do and what we weren't being competitive to do, meaning going to the basket, meaning blocking out. Those are effort based and toughness-based things."

UP NEXT
The Matadors hit the road for a Friday night game against North Dakota State at 5 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ while Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister are on the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

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Team Stats

Onyi Eyisi

Darius Beane

Elijah Hardy

Atin Wright

Players Mentioned

Darius Beane

Darius Brown II

Onyi Eyisi

Elijah Hardy

Fidelis Okereke

Kailen Rains