Thursday, February 24
Riverside, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
at
UC Riverside
Photo by: Marvin Jimenez
Matadors Visit UC Riverside and UC Davis This Week
2/23/2022 9:28:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (7-18, 3-9 Big West) opens its final road stretch of the regular season this week. The Matadors visit UC Riverside on Thursday at 7 p.m. before heading to UC Davis for a Saturday match-up at 5 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to free audio broadcasts at GoMatadors.com/Radio with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.
The Matadors dropped their first meeting with UC Riverside at The Matadome on Jan. 22 by a 77-67 score. The Highlanders led by as many as 20 points in the game but the Matadors chipped away at the lead in the second half, outscoring UCR 37-29, before falling by 10 points. The Matadors have dropped three-straight games in the series, all of which taking place at The Matadome. CSUN though has enjoyed recent success at the SRC Arena, winning the last five meetings in Riverside. The Matadors lead the all-time series with the Highlanders, 46-39.
CSUN suffered a 64-47 defeat to UC Davis in the teams' first meeting on Jan. 20 at The Matadome. After an even first half, the Aggies would outscore the Matadors 35-18 in the second half of the game. The Aggies have won four of the last six in the series and the last 11 meetings in Davis. CSUN's last win at UC Davis came on March 5, 2009. The Aggies lead the all-time series 26-21.
In last week's action, the Matadors fell to the top-two teams in the Big West at The Matadome. CSUN fell to first-place Long Beach State 72-59 last Thursday before dropping an 81-73 decision to second-place Cal State Fullerton last Saturday. The Matadors played the Beach even for most of the first half but Long Beach State rode a 10-0 run to end the first half and later a 23-9 run in the second half to pull away. CSUN again kept pace with Cal State Fullerton until near the midway mark of the second period before a 10-0 Titan run. The Matadors would not pull any closer than seven the rest of the way with the Titans.
Fidelis Okereke led the way against Long Beach State, registering his first career double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds. After earning Big West Player of the Week honors on Feb. 14, Atin Wright tied a career-high in points with 28 against Cal State Fullerton.
Following this week, the Matadors will visit UC Santa Barbara next Tuesday to close out their road schedule. CSUN will return to The Matadome for the final time this season for a match-up with Hawai'i on Saturday, March 5. After closing up the regular season, the Matadors will head to Henderson, Nev. to compete at Hercules Tires Big West Men's Basketball Championship presented by the Hawaiian Islands at the Dollar Loan Center set for March 8-12.
On the Big West leaderboards, Wright is eighth in the conference in points per game (14.6) while he ranks third in minutes per game (33.4) and fifth in free throw percentage (82.7). Elijah Hardy is second in the league in steals per game (1.7), 11th in assists per game (2.8) and 14th in points per game (12.2), Okereke is also fifth in blocks per game (1.0) and 19th in rebounds per game (5.2).
A Closer Look at UC Riverside
The Highlanders (14-9, 7-4 Big West) are tied with Hawai'i for fourth place in the Big West standings after defeating CSU Bakersfield (79-69) and Cal Poly (78-58) last week. UCR has won nine of 12 games at the SRC Arena this season including four of the last five games. The Highlanders are 2.5 games out of first place in the Big West and will play the top two teams in the conference next week.
Four Highlanders are scoring in double figures this season with Zyon Pullin leading the way at 13.4 points per game. Pullin is first in the Big West in minutes per game (34.0) and third in assists per game (3.9). Dominick Pickett is the team's second-leading scorer at 11.7 points per game as he also ranks third in the Big West in steals per game (1.6) and fourth in assists-to-turnover ratio (1.9). Other double-figure scorers include Flynn Cameron and Callum McRae who both average 10.0 points. McRae is the reigning Big West Player of the Week. The Highlanders are second in the Big West in scoring defense (61.6).
A Closer Look at UC Davis
The Aggies (11-7, 4-3 Big West) won their third-straight game on Saturday against CSU Bakersfield (81-79). UC Davis previously had missed its last three games due to COVID-19 protocols. In all, UC Davis has had seven conference games canceled because of COVID-19. The Aggies have gone 6-4 at the University Credit Union Center this season. Before facing CSUN, the Aggies host UC Santa Barbara on Thursday.
Ezra Manjon is second in the Big West in points per game (15.8) and seventh in assists per game (3.2). Behind Manjon, Elijah Pepper is third in the Big West in scoring at 15.7 points per game while he is fifth in 3-point percentage (41.3) and steals per game (1.6). Two other Aggies are scoring in double figures as Caleb Fuller is averaging 11.7 points and Christian Anigwe is posting 10.3 points per game. Anigwe also tops the Big West in field goal percentage (60.5). As a team, the Aggies are second in the league in field goal percentage (45.2).
#UniteTheValley
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (7-18, 3-9 Big West) opens its final road stretch of the regular season this week. The Matadors visit UC Riverside on Thursday at 7 p.m. before heading to UC Davis for a Saturday match-up at 5 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to free audio broadcasts at GoMatadors.com/Radio with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.
The Matadors dropped their first meeting with UC Riverside at The Matadome on Jan. 22 by a 77-67 score. The Highlanders led by as many as 20 points in the game but the Matadors chipped away at the lead in the second half, outscoring UCR 37-29, before falling by 10 points. The Matadors have dropped three-straight games in the series, all of which taking place at The Matadome. CSUN though has enjoyed recent success at the SRC Arena, winning the last five meetings in Riverside. The Matadors lead the all-time series with the Highlanders, 46-39.
CSUN suffered a 64-47 defeat to UC Davis in the teams' first meeting on Jan. 20 at The Matadome. After an even first half, the Aggies would outscore the Matadors 35-18 in the second half of the game. The Aggies have won four of the last six in the series and the last 11 meetings in Davis. CSUN's last win at UC Davis came on March 5, 2009. The Aggies lead the all-time series 26-21.
In last week's action, the Matadors fell to the top-two teams in the Big West at The Matadome. CSUN fell to first-place Long Beach State 72-59 last Thursday before dropping an 81-73 decision to second-place Cal State Fullerton last Saturday. The Matadors played the Beach even for most of the first half but Long Beach State rode a 10-0 run to end the first half and later a 23-9 run in the second half to pull away. CSUN again kept pace with Cal State Fullerton until near the midway mark of the second period before a 10-0 Titan run. The Matadors would not pull any closer than seven the rest of the way with the Titans.
Fidelis Okereke led the way against Long Beach State, registering his first career double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds. After earning Big West Player of the Week honors on Feb. 14, Atin Wright tied a career-high in points with 28 against Cal State Fullerton.
Following this week, the Matadors will visit UC Santa Barbara next Tuesday to close out their road schedule. CSUN will return to The Matadome for the final time this season for a match-up with Hawai'i on Saturday, March 5. After closing up the regular season, the Matadors will head to Henderson, Nev. to compete at Hercules Tires Big West Men's Basketball Championship presented by the Hawaiian Islands at the Dollar Loan Center set for March 8-12.
On the Big West leaderboards, Wright is eighth in the conference in points per game (14.6) while he ranks third in minutes per game (33.4) and fifth in free throw percentage (82.7). Elijah Hardy is second in the league in steals per game (1.7), 11th in assists per game (2.8) and 14th in points per game (12.2), Okereke is also fifth in blocks per game (1.0) and 19th in rebounds per game (5.2).
A Closer Look at UC Riverside
The Highlanders (14-9, 7-4 Big West) are tied with Hawai'i for fourth place in the Big West standings after defeating CSU Bakersfield (79-69) and Cal Poly (78-58) last week. UCR has won nine of 12 games at the SRC Arena this season including four of the last five games. The Highlanders are 2.5 games out of first place in the Big West and will play the top two teams in the conference next week.
Four Highlanders are scoring in double figures this season with Zyon Pullin leading the way at 13.4 points per game. Pullin is first in the Big West in minutes per game (34.0) and third in assists per game (3.9). Dominick Pickett is the team's second-leading scorer at 11.7 points per game as he also ranks third in the Big West in steals per game (1.6) and fourth in assists-to-turnover ratio (1.9). Other double-figure scorers include Flynn Cameron and Callum McRae who both average 10.0 points. McRae is the reigning Big West Player of the Week. The Highlanders are second in the Big West in scoring defense (61.6).
A Closer Look at UC Davis
The Aggies (11-7, 4-3 Big West) won their third-straight game on Saturday against CSU Bakersfield (81-79). UC Davis previously had missed its last three games due to COVID-19 protocols. In all, UC Davis has had seven conference games canceled because of COVID-19. The Aggies have gone 6-4 at the University Credit Union Center this season. Before facing CSUN, the Aggies host UC Santa Barbara on Thursday.
Ezra Manjon is second in the Big West in points per game (15.8) and seventh in assists per game (3.2). Behind Manjon, Elijah Pepper is third in the Big West in scoring at 15.7 points per game while he is fifth in 3-point percentage (41.3) and steals per game (1.6). Two other Aggies are scoring in double figures as Caleb Fuller is averaging 11.7 points and Christian Anigwe is posting 10.3 points per game. Anigwe also tops the Big West in field goal percentage (60.5). As a team, the Aggies are second in the league in field goal percentage (45.2).
#UniteTheValley
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