Wednesday, November 23
San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
12:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
1-4,0-0Big West
66
vs
82
Central Michigan
2-3,0-0MAC
1
2
F
CSUN
23
43
66
Central Mich.
31
51
82
Photo by: Connor Clark
CSUN Falls to Central Michigan to Close SoCal Challenge
11/23/2022 2:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (1-4) fell to Central Michigan 82-66 in the finale of the SoCal Challenge on Wednesday at JSerra Pavilion. Atin Wright scored a season-high 21 points while De'Sean Allen-Eikens had 13 points and four assists. The Matadors shot below 40 percent for the game while the Chippewas shot over 60 percent in the second half to keep CSUN at bay.
Central Michigan would score the first four points to start out the afternoon before Wright put CSUN on the scoreboard with a corner three. CSUN would claim its first lead during a 7-0 run that was sparked by Dionte Bostick who scored five of the points and picked up a steal. Johnnie Walter's put-back layup at the 11:59 mark gave CSUN its biggest lead at 14-10.
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CSUN though was plagued by a tough shooting first half (35.0). With the score tied at 19-19, the Matadors missed six consecutive shots until Wright broke the tie with a jumper. The Matadors held a one-point lead until the four-minute mark of the first period, but the Chippewas closed with an 8-0 run. Carrington McCaskill wrapped up the half with a layup at the buzzer to give Central Michigan a 31-23 lead.
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CSUN would make its first four shots to start the second half, eventually pulling to within 34-31 but Central Michigan did not allow the Matadors to get closer. A 7-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from Jesse Zarzuela made it a 44-36 game.
The Matadors had a key five-minute stretch in the second half without a field goal while the Chippewas would extend their lead to double digits on a Kevin Miller 3-pointer (51-41) with 10:04 remaining.
Both teams combined to shoot 38 free throws in the second half as CSUN went 17-of-19 and Central Michigan made 16-of-19. CSUN would cut the deficit to eight with 4:04 to play, but Central Michigan countered with a 6-0 run and never led by less than 11 the rest of the way.
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GAME NOTES
After poor shooting first half, CSUN shot 48.0 percent in the second half to finish at 35.0 percent for the game. On the flip side, Central Michigan shot 54.7 percent on the afternoon. The Chippewas went 6-of-14 from 3-point range (42.9 percent) compared to the Matadors who finished 4-of-20 (20.0 percent). CMU had a slight 33-32 edge in the rebounding department.
Wright went 9-of-10 at the free throw line and 5-of-12 from the field. Dionte Bostick posted seven points, eight rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes. Freshman Johnnie Walter made his first career start and finished with four points and two rebounds.Â
For Central Michigan, Jesse Zarzuela had a team-high 21 points.
ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"They were better. It was the first time all year that we got beat. We couldn't stop them. Everything they did, they exploited us. It's a good basketball team.
It was disappointing. I didn't like our body language when we got behind in the second half. We got frustrated. We had a lot of open shots early and often versus the zone. You can say they got us out of rhythm but you've got to make shots and we didn't make shots. Like I told the guys, this could be contagious if you let it, which is losing but the bottom line is you've got to be thankful. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We all have a lot to be thankful for.
The most important thing is you've got to put this behind you and come back out on the 25th. We've got practice at 2 o'clock. We've got to get ready to play a very good Boise State team, which will probably be the best team we'll play all year."
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UP NEXT
CSUN visits Boise State on Tuesday, Nov. 29 with tip off set for 6 p.m. PT. The game will stream on Mountain West Network while Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
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#UniteTheValley
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Central Michigan would score the first four points to start out the afternoon before Wright put CSUN on the scoreboard with a corner three. CSUN would claim its first lead during a 7-0 run that was sparked by Dionte Bostick who scored five of the points and picked up a steal. Johnnie Walter's put-back layup at the 11:59 mark gave CSUN its biggest lead at 14-10.
Â
CSUN though was plagued by a tough shooting first half (35.0). With the score tied at 19-19, the Matadors missed six consecutive shots until Wright broke the tie with a jumper. The Matadors held a one-point lead until the four-minute mark of the first period, but the Chippewas closed with an 8-0 run. Carrington McCaskill wrapped up the half with a layup at the buzzer to give Central Michigan a 31-23 lead.
Â
CSUN would make its first four shots to start the second half, eventually pulling to within 34-31 but Central Michigan did not allow the Matadors to get closer. A 7-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from Jesse Zarzuela made it a 44-36 game.
The Matadors had a key five-minute stretch in the second half without a field goal while the Chippewas would extend their lead to double digits on a Kevin Miller 3-pointer (51-41) with 10:04 remaining.
Both teams combined to shoot 38 free throws in the second half as CSUN went 17-of-19 and Central Michigan made 16-of-19. CSUN would cut the deficit to eight with 4:04 to play, but Central Michigan countered with a 6-0 run and never led by less than 11 the rest of the way.
Â
GAME NOTES
After poor shooting first half, CSUN shot 48.0 percent in the second half to finish at 35.0 percent for the game. On the flip side, Central Michigan shot 54.7 percent on the afternoon. The Chippewas went 6-of-14 from 3-point range (42.9 percent) compared to the Matadors who finished 4-of-20 (20.0 percent). CMU had a slight 33-32 edge in the rebounding department.
Wright went 9-of-10 at the free throw line and 5-of-12 from the field. Dionte Bostick posted seven points, eight rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes. Freshman Johnnie Walter made his first career start and finished with four points and two rebounds.Â
For Central Michigan, Jesse Zarzuela had a team-high 21 points.
ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"They were better. It was the first time all year that we got beat. We couldn't stop them. Everything they did, they exploited us. It's a good basketball team.
It was disappointing. I didn't like our body language when we got behind in the second half. We got frustrated. We had a lot of open shots early and often versus the zone. You can say they got us out of rhythm but you've got to make shots and we didn't make shots. Like I told the guys, this could be contagious if you let it, which is losing but the bottom line is you've got to be thankful. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We all have a lot to be thankful for.
The most important thing is you've got to put this behind you and come back out on the 25th. We've got practice at 2 o'clock. We've got to get ready to play a very good Boise State team, which will probably be the best team we'll play all year."
Â
UP NEXT
CSUN visits Boise State on Tuesday, Nov. 29 with tip off set for 6 p.m. PT. The game will stream on Mountain West Network while Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
Â
#UniteTheValley
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Team Stats
CSUN
CMU
FG%
.350
.547
3FG%
.200
.429
FT%
.909
.857
RB
32
33
TO
11
12
STL
4
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
9
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
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