Tuesday, March 1
Santa Barbara, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
at
UC Santa Barbara
Photo by: Will Navarro
CSUN Opens Final Week of Regular Season at UCSB
2/28/2022 3:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball
FULL GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (7-20, 3-11 Big West) opens the final week of regular season play on the road against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ while Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
After Thursday's game, the Matadors will host Hawai'i on Senior Night this Saturday at The Matadome before heading to Henderson, Nev. to compete at the 2022 Big West Men's Basketball Championships next week. The Matadors hold the eighth seed currently and are locked into a first-round match-up on Tuesday, March 8. CSUN cannot finish any higher than eighth or lower than ninth in the Big West standings.
The Matadors are looking to even the season series with UC Santa Barbara after the Gauchos took the first meeting on Jan. 25 by a 72-45 margin at The Matadome. CSUN only trailed 34-32 at halftime in the first meeting but the Gauchos pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Matadors 38-13. Officially, CSUN has won four of the last seven meetings at The Thunderdome in the series including the last match-up on Jan. 22, 2020 (83-75). In the all-time series, UCSB holds a 44-21 edge.
CSUN dropped the first two games of its three-game road trip last week as the Matadors suffered setbacks to UC Riverside (79-57) and UC Davis (68-49). Last Thursday, the Highlanders took advantage of a slow CSUN start to jump out ahead 17-2. UCR would lead from start-to-finish and by double digits throughout the second half. CSUN looked to bounce back on Saturday against UC Davis but could not keep pace with a hot-shooting Aggies team in the first half. The Matadors also struggled from the floor, shooting under 30 percent in the second half and would not be able to cut into the lead.
Atin Wright paced the Matadors last week with 14 points against UC Riverside and 10 points versus UC Davis. Onyi Eyisi added 14 points of his own against UCR while Christian Gray poured in 10 points and six rebounds on Saturday against the Aggies.
On the Big West leaderboards, Wright is eighth in the league in scoring average (14.4) while he ranks third in minutes per game (33.6), fourth in free throw percentage (82.5) and 14th in steals per game (1.0). Hardy is still second in the Big West in steals per game (1.6), and checks in at 11th in assists per game and 14th in points per game (12.0). Fidelis Okereke is third in the league in blocks per game (1.0) and 19th in rebounds per game (5.2). As a team, the Matadors are still first in the league in steals per game (7.5).
A Closer Look at UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos (14-10, 6-5 Big West) have won six of the last seven games including three-straight games. Last week, UCSB went on the road and posted wins over UC Davis (76-69) and UC Riverside (97-90 in double overtime). The Gauchos are 9-3 at the Thunderdome this season. Currently seventh in the Big West standings, the Gauchos are looking to avoid playing in the first round of the tournament and can still move as high as third place in the conference.
Amadou Sow is ranked fifth in the Big West in points per game while he is first in rebounds per game (8.3) and third in field goal percentage (54.5). Other double digit scorers include Ajay Mitchell (11.7 PPG) and Miles Norris (10.5 PPG). Mitchell is also first in the Big West in assists-to-turnover ratio (2.3) and second in field goal percentage (55.1) and assists per game (4.0). Josh Pierre-Louis is fifth in the Big West in assists per game (3.3) while Robinson Idehen is third in blocks per game (1.0). As a team, UCSB tops the league in assists per game (15.8) and field goal percentage (49.2).
#UniteTheValley
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (7-20, 3-11 Big West) opens the final week of regular season play on the road against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ while Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
After Thursday's game, the Matadors will host Hawai'i on Senior Night this Saturday at The Matadome before heading to Henderson, Nev. to compete at the 2022 Big West Men's Basketball Championships next week. The Matadors hold the eighth seed currently and are locked into a first-round match-up on Tuesday, March 8. CSUN cannot finish any higher than eighth or lower than ninth in the Big West standings.
The Matadors are looking to even the season series with UC Santa Barbara after the Gauchos took the first meeting on Jan. 25 by a 72-45 margin at The Matadome. CSUN only trailed 34-32 at halftime in the first meeting but the Gauchos pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Matadors 38-13. Officially, CSUN has won four of the last seven meetings at The Thunderdome in the series including the last match-up on Jan. 22, 2020 (83-75). In the all-time series, UCSB holds a 44-21 edge.
CSUN dropped the first two games of its three-game road trip last week as the Matadors suffered setbacks to UC Riverside (79-57) and UC Davis (68-49). Last Thursday, the Highlanders took advantage of a slow CSUN start to jump out ahead 17-2. UCR would lead from start-to-finish and by double digits throughout the second half. CSUN looked to bounce back on Saturday against UC Davis but could not keep pace with a hot-shooting Aggies team in the first half. The Matadors also struggled from the floor, shooting under 30 percent in the second half and would not be able to cut into the lead.
Atin Wright paced the Matadors last week with 14 points against UC Riverside and 10 points versus UC Davis. Onyi Eyisi added 14 points of his own against UCR while Christian Gray poured in 10 points and six rebounds on Saturday against the Aggies.
On the Big West leaderboards, Wright is eighth in the league in scoring average (14.4) while he ranks third in minutes per game (33.6), fourth in free throw percentage (82.5) and 14th in steals per game (1.0). Hardy is still second in the Big West in steals per game (1.6), and checks in at 11th in assists per game and 14th in points per game (12.0). Fidelis Okereke is third in the league in blocks per game (1.0) and 19th in rebounds per game (5.2). As a team, the Matadors are still first in the league in steals per game (7.5).
A Closer Look at UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos (14-10, 6-5 Big West) have won six of the last seven games including three-straight games. Last week, UCSB went on the road and posted wins over UC Davis (76-69) and UC Riverside (97-90 in double overtime). The Gauchos are 9-3 at the Thunderdome this season. Currently seventh in the Big West standings, the Gauchos are looking to avoid playing in the first round of the tournament and can still move as high as third place in the conference.
Amadou Sow is ranked fifth in the Big West in points per game while he is first in rebounds per game (8.3) and third in field goal percentage (54.5). Other double digit scorers include Ajay Mitchell (11.7 PPG) and Miles Norris (10.5 PPG). Mitchell is also first in the Big West in assists-to-turnover ratio (2.3) and second in field goal percentage (55.1) and assists per game (4.0). Josh Pierre-Louis is fifth in the Big West in assists per game (3.3) while Robinson Idehen is third in blocks per game (1.0). As a team, UCSB tops the league in assists per game (15.8) and field goal percentage (49.2).
#UniteTheValley
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Players Mentioned
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