UC Irvine Edges CSUN, 75-70

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball battled UC Irvine for 40 minutes but came up just short in a 75-70 defeat on Saturday at The Matadome. Four Matadors scored in double figures with Elijah Hardy leading the way with 17 points to go with four steals and three assists. Atin Wright had 14 points while Onyi Eyisi added 13 points and Brendan Harrick chipped in with 10 points.

The Matadors (5-16, 1-7 Big West) shot 47.4 percent for the game and made 4-of-13 from 3-point range (30.8 percent) while the Anteaters (10-7, 5-3 Big West) finished with a 51.0 shooting percentage to go with 4-of-11 makes (36.4 percent) from downtown. UCI though went to the free throw line with regularity, making 21-of-24 (87.5 percent) compared to the Matadors who went 12-of-19 (63.2 percent). The Anteaters led in the rebounding department, 35-27, while the Matadors had a 16-8 advantage in points off turnovers.

GAME BREAKDOWN
The Matadors fell behind 6-0 to start the game after going 1-of-9 from the field. However, the Matadors would get on track offensively, making four of their next five attempts to keep pace with the Anteaters. After CSUN tied the game at 12-12, UCI would go on a 6-0 run only to have CSUN respond with five-straight points of its own. The Matador run was highlighted by a steal from Hardy and dunk by Eyisi in transition.

CSUN continued to stay within striking distance with UCI, pulling to within one point on four different occasions in the final six minutes of the half. Harrick made a strong move to the hoop at the 2:04 mark with a layup to bring CSUN to within 24-23. On the ensuing possession, Collin Welp pushed the lead to three on a jumper before Dawson Baker scored five-straight points to quickly stretch the lead to eight. Eyisi made a late free throw for CSUN to trim the UCI advantage to 31-24 at intermission.

UCI began the second half in similar fashion to the first half, scoring on its first two possessions to extend the lead to 35-24. Minutes later, the lead swelled to 12 points on a Baker triple. The Matadors would dig a 14-point deficit near the 12-minute mark before beginning to chip away at the lead. After Hardy scored on a three-point play, Harrick drilled a 3-pointer to make it an eight-point game.

CSUN pulled to within five points at the nine-minute mark before a Harrick steal led to a Fidelis Okereke basket on the other end. With their lead trimmed to three, the Anteaters picked up back-to-back 3-pointers from DJ Davis and Baker to quickly go in front 58-49. The Matadors would make one final push in the remaining minutes of the game, starting with an 8-2 run that was capped by a Wright layup. The UCI lead stood at 66-63 following a 3-pointer from Harrick but Baker scored on the next time down the floor.

The Matadors trailed 68-64 with 1:31 remaining but committed a costly turnover, giving the Anteaters the ball back. CSUN would force a steal and have another chance to cut the lead to two, however, Hardy came up short on a jumper. The Anteaters received another timely basket from Baker with 28 seconds remaining before connecting on five late free throws to hold off the Matadors.

GAME NOTES
Eyisi finished 5-of-9 from the field to go with six rebounds. Wright, who was limited to five minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, scored all 14 of his points in the second half. Off the bench, Okereke had six points and six rebounds.

For UCI, Baker had a game-high 24 points while Welp had 10 points and nine rebounds.

ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"We played extremely hard. When you play against good teams and experienced teams, every possession matters. So if you have a breakdown offensively or defensively, you get exploited. Right before the half, with two minutes to go, we had two breakdowns defensively and had guys wide open. Two threes go down and that's six points. As opposed to having a possession where you can go up one or two, we're down seven. And then, I think we were down two here, Onyi got the ball at the high post and he forced the pass. It's just things like that, there's an experience factor with how many games we've played. We just have to learn to do what you're told to do at key points of the game."

UP NEXT
The Matadors hit the road next week for two games away from The Matadome. CSUN visits Cal Poly on Thursday at 7 p.m. before taking on CSU Bakersfield on Saturday at 7 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ while Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call on GoMatadors.com/Radio.

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Team Stats

Elijah Hardy

Atin Wright

Onyi Eyisi

Brendan Harrick

Players Mentioned

Onyi Eyisi

Elijah Hardy

Brendan Harrick

Fidelis Okereke

Atin Wright