Matadors Travel to CSUB Before Hosting Cal Poly This Week

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (5-18, 2-10 Big West) returns to action on Thursday night when the Matadors visit CSU Bakersfield at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The week wraps up at Premier America Credit Union Arena where the Matadors will host Cal Poly on Saturday at 1 p.m. on Spectrum SportsNet. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call for both games at GoMatadors.com.Radio.

LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors earned perhaps their most impressive win of the season last Saturday as CSUN knocked off first-place UC Santa Barbara (18-4, 9-2 Big West) 72-67 inside Premier America Credit Union Arena. CSUN battled back from an eight-point deficit in the second half and ended the game on an 8-0 run to take the contest. The win snapped the Gauchos' five-game winning streak while the Matadors' 72 points were the most scored against UCSB in Big West play this season.

Ethan Igbanugo hit what would be the game-winning shot, a mid-range jumper with 34 seconds remaining, that broke a 67-67 tie. Atin Wright also came up big down the stretch, making a game-tying 3-pointer as well as going 11-of-11 at the free throw line for the game.

Wright scored a game-high 22 points to go with four assists while Igbanugo had 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting. Marcel Stevens tied a career high with 12 points and made 4-of-8 shots from 3-point range. Off the bench, Lamine Niang grabbed seven rebounds and posted four points.

MATADOR HEADLINES
The Matadors' victory over the UC Santa Barbara on Saturday snapped a five-game skid against the Gauchos. It was also CSUN's first win over a Big West first-place team since downing UC Irvine on March 4, 2020.

Over the past five games, Atin Wright has scored 18 or more points in all five games, averaging 19.2 points per game. During his hot stretch, Wright has improved his scoring average from 13.7 to 14.9. His offensive display has given him an opportunity to possibly reach 1,000 career points this season. With eight regular season games to play, Wright stands at 861 career points.

Heading into the week, Wright is ninth in The Big West in scoring average (14.9) while he is first in free throw percentage (88.9), sixth in 3-point field goals made per game (2.0), eighth in steals per game (1.3) and ninth in minutes per game (32.6). Dionte Bostick, who has missed the last two games with injury, is 11th in the league in assists per game (2.7), 12th in steals per game (1.2) and 15th in points per game (12.4). De'Sean Allen-Eikens checks in 15th in The Big West in rebounds per game (5.4) to go with his 10.1 points per game.

SERIES HISTORY
CSU Bakersfield leads CSUN 25-24 in the all-time series. The teams have split the last four meetings since the Roadrunners joined The Big West. CSUN squared off with Bakersfield last season in the opening round of the Big West Championship with CSUB coming out on top 58-45. The Matadors though have won two in a row at the Icardo Center including a 71-65 decision last season with Atin Wright scoring a team-high 22 points.

Cal Poly improved to 57-53 against CSUN in the all-time series after an early season 67-57 victory at Mott Athletics Center on Dec. 29. Wright was the lone Matador in double figures with 21 points against the Mustangs in the loss. CSUN has won four consecutive games at home in the series including a 68-55 win in 2021-22.

SCOUTING CSU BAKERSFIELD
CSUB (8-15, 4-8 Big West) is coming off a perfect 2-0 week after defeating both UC Riverside (82-76) and UC San Diego (75-69) in overtime. The Roadrunners have split their 10 games at the Icardo Center this season including going 3-3 mark in league play. Currently in eighth place in the conference standings, CSUB was picked to finish eighth prior to the season by The Big West's head coaches. Rod Barnes is in his 12th season as head coach of the Roadrunners.

Antavion Collum, the reigning Big West Player of the Week, is averaging 11.8 points to go with 4.7 rebounds. The team has played without Kaleb Higgins for most of Big West play as Higgins averaged a team-high 13.1 points in 13 contests. On the glass, Modestas Kancleris tops the team with his 5.8 rebounds per game to go with averaging 5.8 points. Marvin McGhee III has made a team-high 37 threes while shooting 40.2 percent from long range. As a team, CSUB tops The Big West in free throw percentage (75.2) while it ranks third in scoring defense (64.3).

SCOUTING CAL POLY
The Mustangs (7-17, 1-11 Big West) suffered a pair of losses last week to UC Santa Barbara (68-62) and Hawai'i (69-56). Cal Poly has dropped the last 11 games and has not won since defeating CSUN on Dec. 29. On the road, Cal Poly has fallen in 10 of 11 games on the year. The Mustangs are currently one game back of the Matadors for ninth place in the league standings. Head coach John Smith is in his fourth season with the Mustangs.

Alimamy Koroma tops the team in scoring at 10.6 points per game to go with averaging 4.6 rebounds. Trevon Taylor is averaging a team-high 5.2 rebounds to go with his 9.5 points per game. Other top scorers include Brantly Stevenson (9.0 points) and Chance Hunter (8.3 points). The Mustangs are second in The Big West in free throw percentage (75.1) and fifth in scoring defense (65.8).

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Matadors Travel to CSUB Before Hosting Cal Poly This Week

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Players Mentioned

De'Sean Allen-Eikens

Dionte Bostick

Ethan Igbanugo

Lamine Niang

Marcel Stevens

Atin Wright