Matadors Host Hawai'i This Week at The Matadome

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (7-8, 3-5 Big West) returns to the court for the first time in 13 days on Friday when it opens a two-game series with Hawai'i at The Matadome at 4 p.m. The opener will stream on BigWest.TV with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call. Saturday's series finale will tip at 4 p.m. on ESPN3 with Matt Brown and Richie Schueler set to call the action. Audio only broadcasts of both games will air beginning at 3:50 p.m. on GoMatadors.com/Radio.

For each series opener for the remainder of the season, Matador fans can tune in to watch a virtual pre-game event starting 30 minutes for the game. Fans have the opportunity to get a live look at warm-ups, a performance from the CSUN Dance Team, hear from a member of the CSUN coaching staff and catch up with a men's basketball alum. Fans can watch the vitrual pre-game event at GoMatadors.com/MBBPreGame.

CSUN is coming off a series split with UC Davis that took place on Feb. 5-6 at The Matadome. The Matadors took game one, 80-77, behind a season-high shooting percentage of 51.0 but the Aggies claimed game two, holding off CSUN for a 75-63 decision.

In the opener, CSUN and UC Davis battled in a back-and-forth first half that saw 14 lead changes before the Matadors opened up a 16-3 run early in the second half. CSUN led by as many as 14 points before the Aggies cut the deficit to two in the final seconds. TJ Starks made a late free throw and CSUN prevented UC Davis from taking a last chance shot as the buzzer sounded. Four Matadors scored in double figures with Starks leading the way with 18 points. Darius Brown II added 15 points and six assists while Vante Hendrix scored 14 and Festus Ndumanya tallied 11 points.

CSUN got off to a rough start in game two, digging a 16-1 hole before trailing by as many as 21 points in the first half. The Aggies led 47-27 early in the second half before a furious Matador rally cut the lead to 59-55 with 5:46 on the clock. UC Davis would respond with a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to put the game out of reach. Starks again topped all CSUN scorers with 18 points while Alex Merkviladze registered 16 points and seven rebounds.

Brown II continues to move closer to overtaking third place on CSUN's all-time career assist list. Currently 16 assists away from surpassing Landon Drew (2012-16), Brown II stands at 378 career assists entering Friday's game. Brown II had recorded an assist in all 81 games over his career including two or more assists in 77 of those games. Markus Carr (1998-02) has the most assists in team history with 767 followed by Andre Chevalier (1990-94) in second place with 481.

Heading into the week, Starks remains the Big West leader in points per game (19.7) and free throws made (60) while he is third in field goals made (86) and steals per game (1.8) and ninth in 3-point field goals made (24). Brown II is second in the Big West in assists per game (5.0) and assists to turnover ratio (4.7) and fourth in steals per game (1.8). In the rebounding department, Merkviladze is sixth in rebounds per game (5.8) and defensive rebounds per game (4.7).

Hawai'i leads CSUN in the all-time series 17-7 but CSUN has won three of the last five meetings. The Rainbow Warriors defeated the Matadors 80-75 in Hawai'i last season before CSUN returned the favor with an 86-82 victory at The Matadome, which snapped a home five-game losing streak in the series. Lamine Diane led the Matadors in scoring in both games last season, highlighted by a 34-point, 15-rebound performance in CSUN's win. Brown II averaged 6.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists against Hawai'i in 2019-20.

A Closer Look at Hawai'i
The Rainbow Warriors are 7-7 this season and 5-7 in Big West play. Last week, Hawai'i dropped two games to UC Santa Barbara in Honolulu, 59-50 and 81-74 in overtime. In four road games this season, Hawai'i has gone 2-2 with series splits against UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton. As a team, the Rainbow Warriors have held opponents to a league-best 29.5 3-point percentage. Head coach Eran Ganot is in his sixth season with Hawai'i.

Justin Webster is 10th in the Big West in scoring at 12.9 points per game followed by James Jean-Marie who is averaging 12.6 points. Two other Hawai'i players are scoring in double figures, which include Casdon Jardine (11.7 points) and Junior Madut (10.6 points). Mate Colina is seventh in the conference in rebounds per game (5.8) while Jardine is 10th in rebounding (5.6). Jardine is also the Big West leader in 3-point percentage (48.9).

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Matadors Host Hawai'i This Week at The Matadome

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Players Mentioned

Darius Brown II

Lamine Diane

Vante Hendrix

Alex Merkviladze

Festus Ndumanya

TJ Starks