CSUN Hosts CSU Bakersfield Before Heading to Long Beach State

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---In what could be a preview of the first round of the Big West Championship, CSUN Men's Basketball hosts CSU Bakersfield on Thursday at 7 p.m. The week will wrap up on Saturday with a road test at Long Beach State on Saturday at 4 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister are on the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors opened up a three-game week on Monday with a 96-76 loss to UC Riverside at Premier America Credit Union Arena. The Matadors scored their most points and shot their highest percentage (50.9) in league action this season but could not stop a red-hot shooting UCR team that made 12 field goals from 3-point range.

CSUN trailed by a just a 38-32 margin with less than three minutes in the first half before the Highlanders closed the period with an 11-2 run. UCR would not lead by less than 16 points for the rest of the way. Atin Wright finished with a game-high 24 points while De'Sean Allen-Eikens posted 14 points and six rebounds.

MATADOR HEADLINES
Atin Wright is nearing hitting the 1,000 point milestone in his Matador career. A third-year guard, Wright has scored 973 career points in 78 games played. With 27 points, Wright would become the 23rd player in school history to reach 1,000 points at CSUN. Wright, who broke the school D1 single-game scoring record with 42 points on Feb. 15, recently moved into 10th place on the school's all-time 3-point field goals made list with 126.

With Dionte Bostick out of the lineup since Jan. 26, De'Sean Allen-Eikens has assumed the second-leading scorer position on the team. The 6-6 forward has scored 14 points in four of the last five games while he leads the team in rebounds per game (5.4) on the season. Allen-Eikens, a transfer from the University of New Orleans, is averaging 10.6 points on the year.

Wright is fifth in The Big West in points per game (16.3) while Bostick is 16th in the league at 12.4 points per game. Wright is also third in the league in free throw percentage (85.9), sixth in 3-point field goals made per game (2.0) and seventh in steals per game (1.3). Allen-Eikens is 17th in the conference in rebounds per game followed by Fidelis Okereke in 19th place (5.1). Allen-Eikens and Okereke are also tied for 13th place in The Big West in blocks per game (0.7).

If the regular season ended today, CSUN would be the No. 9 seed at the Big West Championship, which begins on March 7 in Henderson, Nev. Should the standings stay as is, CSUN would take on eighth-seeded CSU Bakersfield in the first round of the event for a second-straight season. The Roadrunners beat the Matadors in a first-round matchup last season, 58-45.

SERIES HISTORY
CSU Bakersfield leads CSUN in the all-time series 26-24 after picking up a 73-58 win on Feb. 9. The 'Runners have won the last two meetings in the series. Bakersfield is making its first trip to CSUN since Nov. 30, 2011, and the first since joining The Big West. The teams' scheduled game in Northridge last season was canceled due to COVID-19 precautions.

The Matadors trail Long Beach State 46-27 in the all-time series. The Beach have won the last four meetings including an 84-74 decision on Jan. 5 at Premier America Credit Union Arena. CSUN's last win over the Beach and at Walter Pyramid took place on Feb. 26, 2020, when Lamine Diane scored 28 points in a 73-64 victory.

SCOUTING CSU BAKERSFIELD
The Roadrunners fell to to 10-17 overall and 6-10 in league action with a 61-50 loss to Hawai'i on Monday. CSUB though has won four of its last six games with a pair of wins away from the Icardo Center over that span. Overall, Bakersfield is 4-10 on the road this year. Head coach Rod Barnes is in his 12th season leading the program.

With Kaleb Higgings (13.1 PPG) injured and out of action, Antavion Collum tops the team in scoring at 12.7 points per game to go with averaging 5.0 rebounds. Marvin McGhee III is averaging 9.0 points while shooting 41.2 percent from 3-point range. As a team, CSUB leads The Big West in free throw percentage (76.1) while it ranks third in scoring defense (64.4).

SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE
The Beach (15-13, 9-7 Big West) have dropped three of four after winning six in a row. Last week, LBSU fell to UC Riverside (88-76) and Hawai'i (70-67). The Beach have gone 7-5 at Walter Pyramid this season. Long Beach State is currently seventh in the league standings. Head coach Dan Monson is in his 16th season with the program.

Marcus Tsohonis tops the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game with Joel Murray out of the lineup with an injury (15.7 PPG). Lassina Traore is also averaging in double figures at 12.0 points. Traore is the Big West leader in rebounds per game (10.4) while his teammate Aboubacar Traore is second at 8.6 rebounds per game. LBSU is the conference leader in scoring (76.5) and rebounding (41.3).

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CSUN Hosts CSU Bakersfield Before Heading to Long Beach State

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Players Mentioned

De'Sean Allen-Eikens

Dionte Bostick

Fidelis Okereke

Atin Wright