Friday, February 19
Northridge, Calif.
4:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
7-9, 3-6BWC
74
vs
75
Hawai'i
8-7, 6-7BWC
1
2
F
Hawaii
36
39
75
CSUN
34
40
74
Team Stats
Hawaii
CSUN
FG%
.431
.371
3FG%
.333
.435
FT%
.833
.800
RB
39
43
TO
8
7
STL
5
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Heidi Eligio
CSUN Falls to Hawai'i on Late Basket
2/19/2021 6:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (7-9, 3-6 Big West) rallied from 12 points down with four minutes to play to take a late lead but Hawai'i (8-7, 6-7 Big West) edged the Matadors 75-74 after a 3-point bank shot in the final seconds. TJ Starks scored a career-high 31 points including 22 points in the second half while Darius Brown II added 14 points, six assists, six rebounds and three steals. Brendan Harrick chipped in with 11 points. CSUN outscored Hawai'i 17-6 to end the game but the Rainbow Warriors pulled out the victory in game one of back-to-back games this weekend.
CSUN shot 37.1 percent for the game but made 10-of-23 from 3-point range (43.5 percent) and 12-of-15 from the free throw line (80.0 percent). The Rainbow Warriors finished with a 43.1 field goal percentage while they converted on 9-of-27 shots from beyond the 3-point arc (33.3 percent) and made 10-of-12 attempts from the free throw line (83.3 percent). The Matadors won the rebounding battle, 43-39, and outscored the Rainbow Warriors 20-5 in second-chance points.
FIRST HALF
After scoring on their first possession, the Matadors missed their next six shots as the Rainbow Warriors jumped out to a 12-3 lead. Coming off the bench, Starks knocked down one of his five 3-pointers at the 12:44 mark to bring CSUN to within 14-8. The lead stretched back to double digits after baskets from Junior Madut and Justin Hemsley. Festus Ndumanya would throw down a dunk to make it a 22-12 game but Hawai'i scored four-straight points to build its biggest lead of the game at 14 points (26-12).
The Matadors would turn things around over the last seven minutes of the half. A Starks jumper followed by a 3-pointer from Harrick quickly trimmed the deficit to single digits. Starks would convert on back-to-back baskets before another 3-pointer, this time by Alex Merkviladze, brought CSUN closer at 31-26. After a 3-point play from Amound Anderson, the Hawai'i lead shrunk to 33-32. Casdon Jardine would nail a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left before Brown II responded with a jumper to pull CSUN to within 36-34 at the half.
SECOND HALF
The Rainbow Warriors began the half with a 10-2 run as Madut scored eight of those points. The lead extended to 11 points with 14:30 to play on a layup from Biwali Bayles. Trailing by double digits for most of the half, the Matadors began to battle back after five-straight points from Brown II near the eight-minute mark. Hawai'i continued to keep the Matadors at bay behind seven second-half 3-pointers. Madut and Noel Coleman would drain back-to-back 3-pointers to put CSUN in a 69-57 hole with 4:33 left to play.
Starks would lead the comeback charge in the final minutes, scoring 15 of the Matadors' final 21 points. After Starks scored eight-straight points, Bayles sank a 3-pointer to put Hawai'i ahead 72-65. Merkviladze answered on the other end with a 3-pointer of his own on the ensuing possession. Brown II would pick up a steal with two minutes to play before finding Harrick on another 3-pointer to suddenly cut the deficit to one. Starks collected a steal of his own with a minute to go, giving CSUN a chance to reclaim the lead. On the possession, Starks gave the Matadors their first lead since the opening possession on his fifth 3-pointer of the game with 46 seconds to play.
Needing one defensive stop, CSUN forced Hawai'i to dribble the ball near the end of the shot clock before Bayles made a long-distance 3-pointer that banked off the window. CSUN would get one last look to pull out the win but Starks and Brown II missed late shots, giving Hawai'i the one-point win.
GAME NOTES
Merkviladze pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds in the game to go with nine points. Starks went 5-of-8 from 3-point range, posting a new season-high for 3-point makes, while he had four rebounds and two assists. Off the bench, Anderson tallied five rebounds, three points and two assists.
For Hawai'i, Madut scored a team-high 23 points while Bayles had 12 points.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED
"That's a tough way to lose [on Bayles' 3-point bank shot]. He missed it so bad, he made it. I tell you what, I'm proud of our players. We had a slow start, we went inside a bunch early and couldn't get the ball in the basket. We've got to get some low-post scoring but our kids played hard. They did a nice job, we battled, our press helped us a bit. We stepped up and made big shots. We took the lead and he ends up banking one in. Tip your hat to them. We've got to get ourselves rested, mentally ready, and come back here tomorrow and play really hard."
UP NEXT
The Matadors look for the series split on Saturday when they face Hawai'i again. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. on ESPN3.
#UniteTheValley
Â
CSUN shot 37.1 percent for the game but made 10-of-23 from 3-point range (43.5 percent) and 12-of-15 from the free throw line (80.0 percent). The Rainbow Warriors finished with a 43.1 field goal percentage while they converted on 9-of-27 shots from beyond the 3-point arc (33.3 percent) and made 10-of-12 attempts from the free throw line (83.3 percent). The Matadors won the rebounding battle, 43-39, and outscored the Rainbow Warriors 20-5 in second-chance points.
FIRST HALF
After scoring on their first possession, the Matadors missed their next six shots as the Rainbow Warriors jumped out to a 12-3 lead. Coming off the bench, Starks knocked down one of his five 3-pointers at the 12:44 mark to bring CSUN to within 14-8. The lead stretched back to double digits after baskets from Junior Madut and Justin Hemsley. Festus Ndumanya would throw down a dunk to make it a 22-12 game but Hawai'i scored four-straight points to build its biggest lead of the game at 14 points (26-12).
The Matadors would turn things around over the last seven minutes of the half. A Starks jumper followed by a 3-pointer from Harrick quickly trimmed the deficit to single digits. Starks would convert on back-to-back baskets before another 3-pointer, this time by Alex Merkviladze, brought CSUN closer at 31-26. After a 3-point play from Amound Anderson, the Hawai'i lead shrunk to 33-32. Casdon Jardine would nail a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left before Brown II responded with a jumper to pull CSUN to within 36-34 at the half.
SECOND HALF
The Rainbow Warriors began the half with a 10-2 run as Madut scored eight of those points. The lead extended to 11 points with 14:30 to play on a layup from Biwali Bayles. Trailing by double digits for most of the half, the Matadors began to battle back after five-straight points from Brown II near the eight-minute mark. Hawai'i continued to keep the Matadors at bay behind seven second-half 3-pointers. Madut and Noel Coleman would drain back-to-back 3-pointers to put CSUN in a 69-57 hole with 4:33 left to play.
Starks would lead the comeback charge in the final minutes, scoring 15 of the Matadors' final 21 points. After Starks scored eight-straight points, Bayles sank a 3-pointer to put Hawai'i ahead 72-65. Merkviladze answered on the other end with a 3-pointer of his own on the ensuing possession. Brown II would pick up a steal with two minutes to play before finding Harrick on another 3-pointer to suddenly cut the deficit to one. Starks collected a steal of his own with a minute to go, giving CSUN a chance to reclaim the lead. On the possession, Starks gave the Matadors their first lead since the opening possession on his fifth 3-pointer of the game with 46 seconds to play.
Needing one defensive stop, CSUN forced Hawai'i to dribble the ball near the end of the shot clock before Bayles made a long-distance 3-pointer that banked off the window. CSUN would get one last look to pull out the win but Starks and Brown II missed late shots, giving Hawai'i the one-point win.
GAME NOTES
Merkviladze pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds in the game to go with nine points. Starks went 5-of-8 from 3-point range, posting a new season-high for 3-point makes, while he had four rebounds and two assists. Off the bench, Anderson tallied five rebounds, three points and two assists.
For Hawai'i, Madut scored a team-high 23 points while Bayles had 12 points.
ACCORDING TO HEAD COACH MARK GOTTFRIED
"That's a tough way to lose [on Bayles' 3-point bank shot]. He missed it so bad, he made it. I tell you what, I'm proud of our players. We had a slow start, we went inside a bunch early and couldn't get the ball in the basket. We've got to get some low-post scoring but our kids played hard. They did a nice job, we battled, our press helped us a bit. We stepped up and made big shots. We took the lead and he ends up banking one in. Tip your hat to them. We've got to get ourselves rested, mentally ready, and come back here tomorrow and play really hard."
UP NEXT
The Matadors look for the series split on Saturday when they face Hawai'i again. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. on ESPN3.
#UniteTheValley
Â
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