Matadors Host Idaho on Monday Night

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball continues its homestand with a Monday night matchup with Idaho. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio. The game will be the second half of a CSUN Basketball doubleheader, following the Matadors' women's basketball team against Sacramento State at 4 p.m. Fans who purchase a ticket to the women's game will receive free admission to the men's game.

LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors (2-7) dropped another close decision in a 70-63 loss to Northern Colorado at Premier America Credit Union Arena on Dec. 10. CSUN trailed by as many as 13 points in the game before roaring back to take a 50-48 lead with 8:32 left to play. The Bears though responded with a 10-0 run and held on in the final minutes.

Atin Wright led the way for the Matadors with 19 points to go with four rebounds while Dionte Bostick added 18 points. De'Sean Allen-Eikens would chip in with 11 points and eight rebounds. Onyi Eyisi made his return to the court after missing the previous two games with injury and finished with five rebounds and two points in 13 minutes.

The Matadors have lost six games decided by less than 10 points while the team has lost by an average of 7.9 points this season. CSUN has been off since the Dec. 10 contest due to finals week.

MATADOR HEADLINES
The Matadors head into the week first in The Big West in turnovers per game (10.3) while they rank in second place in opponent field goal percentage (38.4) and opponent in 3-point field goal percentage (30.7) and in third place in scoring defense (63.8) and rebounds per game (38.7). Nationally, CSUN is 15th in Division I basketball in turnovers per game and 32nd in opponent field goal percentage.

Dionte Bostick enters Monday's game ninth in The Big West in points per game (13.8) and is followed by Atin Wright in 12th place (13.2) and De'Sean Allen-Eikens in 18th (12.3). Wright also remains in second place in the league in free throw percentage (89.7) while he ranks 29th nationally in the category. Other Big West leaders include Onyi Eyisi who is ranked ninth in rebounds per game (6.9).

Fidelis Okereke is on the doorstep of entering the Matadors' all-time career top-10 block list. Okereke, a third-year Matador, has 47 career blocks, which is two off the pace of 10th place occupied by Frankie Eteuati (2010-12) with 49 blocks. Tavrion Dawson (2015-18) is in ninth place with 50 blocks.

SERIES HISTORY
CSUN lead Idaho 7-5 in the all-time series dating back to 2001. The programs last met on Feb. 18, 2014, with the Vandals picking up a 96-88 win in Moscow, Idaho. The Matadors hosted the Vandals on Dec. 22, 2013, and collected a 79-69 victory behind Stephan Hicks' 20 points. CSUN has won four of six all-time meetings with Idaho in Northridge.

SCOUTING IDAHO
The Vandals completed a four-game homestand with a 125-51 win over Northwest Indian on Friday to improve to 5-6 on the season. The team has won five of the last six games with its only loss coming to UC Riverside by a 76-74 margin on Dec. 11. Idaho has dropped three of four games on the road this season with its lone win coming at Pacific (84-81). After finishing eighth in the Big Sky last season (9-22, 6-14), Idaho was picked to finish ninth this year by members of the media and the conference coaches. Zac Claus is in his fourth season as head coach of the Vandals.

Isaac Jones tops the team with an 18.3 scoring average and a 7.0 rebounding average this season. Divant'e Moffitt has a team-best 5.4 assists per game to go with his 17.0 points per game. As a team, Idaho is eighth in the nation in field goal percentage (50.8), 28th in 3-point percentage (39.5) and 46th in scoring offense (80.5).

#UniteTheValley

Matadors Host Idaho on Monday Night

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Players Mentioned

De'Sean Allen-Eikens

Dionte Bostick

Onyi Eyisi

Fidelis Okereke

Atin Wright