Matadors Fall on the Road at UCSB

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball gave UC Santa Barbara a battle for most of Thursday's contest but the Gauchos pulled away down the stretch for a 72-52 victory at the Thunderdome. Atin Wright topped the Matadors with 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

De'Sean Allen-Eikens would begin the game with a traditional 3-point play but the Gauchos took advantage of four early CSUN turnovers to go on a 10-0 run. Cole Anderson capitalized on another CSUN turnover to convert on a layup for a 14-6 UCSB lead at the 13:01 mark of the first half. The Matadors though would not go away in the first half as Wright scored five unanswered points then Dearon Tucker converted on a layup for a 7-0 run.

CSUN pulled to within one point on four different occasions in the half, however, UCSB maintained its lead thanks to 58.3 percent shooting in the opening stanza. Ajay Mitchell capped an 8-0 UCSB run at the four-minute mark that extended the lead to 28-19. CSUN would chip away at the lead in the closing minutes, eventually pulling to within four. Dionte Bostick wrapped up the half with a putback layup to beat the halftime buzzer, trimming the Gauchos' lead to 34-29.

The Matadors came out of halftime with the first four points to again make it a one-point game (34-33). CSUN later took its first lead since the opening moments of the game when Bostick picked up a steal followed by a Wright 3-pointer for a 38-36 advantage.

UCSB though quickly responded on the next possession on a Calvin Wishart three. CSUN went nearly five minutes without a field goal during a pivotal stretch while the Gauchos knocked down two more 3-pointers in a 13-0 run. De'Sean Allen-Eikens finally ended the dry spell with a three of his own but Miles Norris answered with five-straight points.

After digging an 18-point hole, the Matadors went on a 6-0 run to make it a 60-48 game with 4:43 left to play. However, CSUN could not pull closer down the stretch as the Gauchos closed the game on a 12-4 run.

GAME NOTES
CSUN (3-16, 0-8 Big West) finished shooting 33.3 percent for the game while making 4-of-13 from 3-point range (30.8 percent) and 12-of-15 from the free throw line (80.0 percent). UCSB (15-3, 6-1 Big West) shot 55.1 percent on the night to go with a 38.1 percent average from three (8-of-21). The Gauchos made all 10 of their free throws. UCSB out-rebounded CSUN 33-26.

Dearon Tucker scored in double figures for the third-straight game, finishing with 10 points to go with five rebounds. Dionte Bostick added nine points and four steals while De'Sean Allen-Eikens chipped in with eight points.

For UCSB, Ajay Mitchell had a team-high 18 points to go with six assists.

ACCORDING TO COACH TRENT JOHNSON
"Santa Barbara is really talented. Obviously, they wore us down. They're deep and talented – long and athletic. Going into the game, it was nothing I didn't know. That's a high-caliber, really talented team. I thought at the 10-minute mark, they had some run-outs on us and we missed some early shots.

"Defensively, they were getting shots they wanted. I thought what we were doing we were executing on our offensive end, and we were exchanging baskets with a very good team that's eventually going to wear you down."

UP NEXT
The Matadors return home on Saturday night to take on Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call. Audio coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on GoMatadors.com/Radio.

#UniteTheValley

Matadors Fall on the Road at UCSB

Players Mentioned

De'Sean Allen-Eikens

Dionte Bostick

Dearon Tucker

Atin Wright

Players Mentioned

De'Sean Allen-Eikens

Dionte Bostick

Dearon Tucker

Atin Wright