CSUN Takes on Tennessee State at SoCal Challenge

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (1-2) heads to San Juan Capistrano to compete at the SoCal Challenge beginning on Monday. The Matadors take on Tennessee State in the opener of a four-team tournament with tip-off set for noon. After Monday's game, CSUN will either play in a championship or consolation game on Wednesday against Central Michigan or High Point.

Both SoCal Challenge games will stream on FloHoops while Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in audio broadcasts at GoMatadors.com/Radio. The entire event will be held at the Pavilion at JSerra Catholic High School.

LAST TIME OUT
CSUN opened up play in the SoCal Challenge at California Baptist on Tuesday night. The Matadors would battle the Lancers in a tight game throughout the second half before falling 62-55. CSUN led by 13 points in the first half only to have CBU even the score at 28-28 at halftime. After leading early in the second half, CSUN would fall behind by nine before trimming the deficit to two late in the game. CBU though scored the game's final five points to seal a victory.

Atin Wright had a game-high 16 points to go with two assists and two steals while Dionte Bostick had 13 points, five rebounds and two blocks. Onyi Eyisi led the way on the boards, grabbing nine.

MATADOR HEADLINES
After scoring in double figures in three of 35 games at Murray State, Dionte Bostick has accomplished that feat twice in his first three games as a Matador thus far this season. Bostick has scored 44 points over the last two games as he is averaging a team-high 15.7 points in just 27.1 minutes per game.

Atin Wright is also averaging in double figures in scoring, posting 12.0 points per game to go with 2.3 steals per game. Newcomer De'Sean Allen-Eikens is averaging 9.0 points on 52.4 percent shooting. On the glass, Onyi Eyisi is pulling down 9.3 rebounds per game while Ethan Igbanugo is dishing out a team-best 3.0 assists per game.

As a team, the Matadors are averaging 42.3 rebounds per game, good enough for third-best in The Big West in the early going this season. CSUN also has a +6.3 rebound differential. Last season, the team would average 31.7 rebounds for the year and hold a -5.5 rebound differential in the category.

Despite falling over the last two games, CSUN has held all three of its opponents under 70 points. Last season, the Matadors allowed opponents to average 71.2 points for the year.

SERIES HISTORY
CSUN holds a 1-1 record against Tennessee State in the all-time series. The Matadors hosted the Tigers on Nov. 20, 2018, picking up an 80-77 victory behind Lamine Diane's 29 points. The Tigers would defeat the Matadors by a 75-72 margin in Nov. 2004 in a neutral site game.

The Matadors have dropped two of three meetings to Central Michigan. The teams last played on Nov. 23, 2013, with Central Michigan winning 90-76 in Mount Pleasant, Mich. CSUN has never faced High Point in men's basketball.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE STATE
The Tigers slipped to 3-1 on the season after a 57-44 loss at Southern Illinois on Thursday. Tennessee State has defeated Fisk (NAIA), South Carolina State and Alabama A&M this year. In 2021-22, the Tigers went 14-18 and 8-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference. TSU was picked to finish second in the league under fifth-year head coach Brian "Penny" Collins. Four Tigers were selected to the Preseason All-OVC Team, which included Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. and Dedric Boyd along with newcomers Jr. Clay and Zion Griffin. Three Tigers are scoring in double figures led by Clay at 19.3 points while Christian Brown is scoring 13.5 points and Fitzgerald is scoring 11.8 points.

SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN
The Chippewas fell to 1-2 on the season after falling at Minnesota, 68-60, on Thursday. Central Michigan's win this season was against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 13 (76-60). The team went 7-23 last season and 6-12 in the Mid-American Conference. Prior to the season, the Chippewas were picked to finish 10th in the league this year under second-year head coach Tony Barbee. A Preseason All-MAC selection, Kevin Miller leads the team in scoring at 18.7 points per game while Jesse Zarzuela is averaging 13.7 points.

SCOUTING HIGH POINT
The Panthers dropped their first game of the season on Friday at UNLV 78-68 to fall to 3-1 on the season. High Point defeated Wofford (91-80) earlier this season as well as Division II Less-McRae and Division III Pfeiffer. High Point went 14-18 last season and 7-9 in the Big South. The team was picked to finish fifth in the league this season under head coach G.G. Smith who is in his first full season leading the program. Smith succeeded his father, Tubby Smith, as the coach of the program late last season. Jade House tops the team with a 22.8 scoring average followed by Abdoulaye Thiam at 17.8 points and Zack Austin, last season's Big South Freshman of the Year, at 16.8 points.

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CSUN Takes on Tennessee State at SoCal Challenge

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Players Mentioned

De'Sean Allen-Eikens

Dionte Bostick

Onyi Eyisi

Ethan Igbanugo

Atin Wright