Team Stats
UCSD
CSUN
FG%
.421
.449
3FG%
.480
.348
FT%
.885
.500
RB
37
41
TO
13
13
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned

Photo by: Will Navarro
Matadors Fall Short to UC San Diego, 83-77
2/3/2022 9:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---Three Matadors scored in double figures but it was not enough on Thursday as CSUN fell to UC San Diego 83-77 at The Matadome. Elijah Hardy recorded his second double-double of the season with 26 points and 10 rebounds while Atin Wright had 16 points and Brendan Harrick chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds. The Matadors rallied from 13 down to pull to within one but the Tritons held on down the stretch to pick up with win.
CSUN (5-15) shot 44.9 percent from the field for the game while the Tritons had a 42.1 shooting percentage. UCSD (10-11) though feasted from the 3-point arc and free throw line, finishing 12-of-25 (48.0 percent) and 23-of-26 (88.5 percent), respectively. CSUN would go 8-of-23 from 3-point range (34.8 percent) and 7-of-14 at the free throw line. The Matadors led in the rebounding department 41-37 and finished with a 34-24 edge in points in the paint.
GAME BREAKDOWN
The Matadors went 1-of-11 to start the game from the floor while UCSD put together a 7-0 run to race out to a 10-2 lead. The Matadors though shook off the slow start to make three of their next four attempts before Jake Kosakowski drained a 3-pointer to push the lead to 15-8 at the 12:42 mark. Hardy helped keep the Matadors within striking distance with 13 first-half points, but UCSD continued to find success from 3-point range to maintain its lead. Making seven from long range in the first half, the Tritons extended to a 27-16 advantage following treys from Jake Killingsworth and Bryce Pope.
Hardy's 3-pointer at the 6:15 mark of the first half started a CSUN 9-2 run that trimmed the UCSD lead to 29-25. However, the final 2:33 of the period belonged to the Tritons. After Pope made two free throws, Matt Gray scored his team's final six points to send the Tritons into halftime ahead 37-27.
The Tritons continued to have success from 3-point range to begin the second half with Kosakowski making three more from downtown in the opening five-plus minutes. Kosakowski would draw a foul on a 3-point shot and make yet another long-range jumper at the 12:22 mark before Jace Roquemore made a 3-point shot of his own a minute later. On the flip side, Harrick also found his shot from 3-point range, making three before Wright scored on a driving layup to trim the lead to single digits.
The Matadors made a charge near the six-minute mark of the second half as an Onyi Eyisi basket and four consecutive points from Hardy cut the deficit to three (63-60). After Gray scored for the Tritons, Hardy would respond with a jumper then Darius Beane made two free throws to pull CSUN to within one at 65-64 with 3:10 to play. However, the Matadors went scoreless over three-straight possessions while the Tritons scored the next eight points to quickly push their lead to nine. Over the final 1:19, the Matadors scored 10 points, but the Tritons would be perfect at the free throw line over that stretch, going 10-of-10 to seal the win.
GAME NOTES
Hardy made 11-of-23 from the field in the game to go with four assists and two steals. Harrick would make four-of-five attempts from 3-point range in the second half. Christian Gray registered eight points and six rebounds. Eyisi had eight points in his return to the lineup after missing the last two games.
For UCSD, Pope and Kosakowski scored 24 points apiece. Toni Rocak had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"I was shocked. With the effort we put on the road versus Hawai'i, I really expected us to come out here and really compete at a high level. It reared its ugly head again, you miss a couple free throws, you don't go back and guard, you lose attention to detail defensively. My quick assessment, it was really disappointing defensively."
UP NEXT
CSUN stays at home for a Saturday contest against UC Irvine at 7 p.m. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#UniteTheValley
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CSUN (5-15) shot 44.9 percent from the field for the game while the Tritons had a 42.1 shooting percentage. UCSD (10-11) though feasted from the 3-point arc and free throw line, finishing 12-of-25 (48.0 percent) and 23-of-26 (88.5 percent), respectively. CSUN would go 8-of-23 from 3-point range (34.8 percent) and 7-of-14 at the free throw line. The Matadors led in the rebounding department 41-37 and finished with a 34-24 edge in points in the paint.
GAME BREAKDOWN
The Matadors went 1-of-11 to start the game from the floor while UCSD put together a 7-0 run to race out to a 10-2 lead. The Matadors though shook off the slow start to make three of their next four attempts before Jake Kosakowski drained a 3-pointer to push the lead to 15-8 at the 12:42 mark. Hardy helped keep the Matadors within striking distance with 13 first-half points, but UCSD continued to find success from 3-point range to maintain its lead. Making seven from long range in the first half, the Tritons extended to a 27-16 advantage following treys from Jake Killingsworth and Bryce Pope.
Hardy's 3-pointer at the 6:15 mark of the first half started a CSUN 9-2 run that trimmed the UCSD lead to 29-25. However, the final 2:33 of the period belonged to the Tritons. After Pope made two free throws, Matt Gray scored his team's final six points to send the Tritons into halftime ahead 37-27.
The Tritons continued to have success from 3-point range to begin the second half with Kosakowski making three more from downtown in the opening five-plus minutes. Kosakowski would draw a foul on a 3-point shot and make yet another long-range jumper at the 12:22 mark before Jace Roquemore made a 3-point shot of his own a minute later. On the flip side, Harrick also found his shot from 3-point range, making three before Wright scored on a driving layup to trim the lead to single digits.
The Matadors made a charge near the six-minute mark of the second half as an Onyi Eyisi basket and four consecutive points from Hardy cut the deficit to three (63-60). After Gray scored for the Tritons, Hardy would respond with a jumper then Darius Beane made two free throws to pull CSUN to within one at 65-64 with 3:10 to play. However, the Matadors went scoreless over three-straight possessions while the Tritons scored the next eight points to quickly push their lead to nine. Over the final 1:19, the Matadors scored 10 points, but the Tritons would be perfect at the free throw line over that stretch, going 10-of-10 to seal the win.
GAME NOTES
Hardy made 11-of-23 from the field in the game to go with four assists and two steals. Harrick would make four-of-five attempts from 3-point range in the second half. Christian Gray registered eight points and six rebounds. Eyisi had eight points in his return to the lineup after missing the last two games.
For UCSD, Pope and Kosakowski scored 24 points apiece. Toni Rocak had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"I was shocked. With the effort we put on the road versus Hawai'i, I really expected us to come out here and really compete at a high level. It reared its ugly head again, you miss a couple free throws, you don't go back and guard, you lose attention to detail defensively. My quick assessment, it was really disappointing defensively."
UP NEXT
CSUN stays at home for a Saturday contest against UC Irvine at 7 p.m. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call on ESPN+ and GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#UniteTheValley
Â
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