Matadors Host Hawai'i on Senior Night

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball will close the regular season on Thursday when the Matadors host Hawai'i on Senior Night. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio at 6:50 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The Matadors wrapped up last week at Long Beach State, falling 71-64 on Saturday. CSUN played without leading scorer Atin Wright, who missed the game with an injury, but rallied from an 11-point deficit to tie the game twice with under five minutes to play. The Beach though closed the game on a 10-3 run to sweep the season series. De'Sean Allen-Eikens scored a team-high 21 points while Ethan Igbanugo chipped in with 19 points and five made 3-pointers.

Last Thursday, the Matadors knocked off CSU Bakersfield 75-68 at Premier America Credit Union Arena. In 40 minutes of action, Wright scored a game-high 28 points to go with 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. CSUN outscored CSUB 16-9 over the final five-plus minutes with Allen-Eikens scoring eight of those points. Allen-Eikens finished with 16 points in the game.

CSUN HEADS TO HENDERSON NEXT WEEK
After Thursday's game, CSUN will set its sights on the 2023 Big West Championships at the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev. The tournament begins on Tuesday, March 7 with first round action. The Matadors' seeding and opponent have already been determined as ninth-seeded CSUN squares off with eighth-seeded CSU Bakersfield in the opener. It will be a rematch of last year's first-round contest between the two teams where the Roadrunners prevailed 58-45.

SENIORS TO PLAY IN FINAL HOME GAME
Center Onyi Eyisi closes his five-year collegiate career this Thursday on Senior Night. After spending three seasons at Fordham, Eyisi joined the Matadors last season and earned the starting center position. The 6-9 center has played in 116 carer games including 49 in a Matador uniform where he averaged 6.8 points and 4.1 rebounds at CSUN. He has recorded 632 points, 476 rebounds and 76 blocks in his collegiate career.

Guard Ethan Igbanugo joined CSUN this season after graduating from the University of North Dakota. Igbanugo has played in all 30 games this season, making 12 starts while averaging 6.0 points. He has dished out a career-high 53 assists and made 39 threes with the Matadors as well. In 120 career games played, Igbanugo has amassed 711 points and made 136 three-point shots.

Guard Arman Pezeshkian is in his second season at CSUN after joining the team as a walk-on. After playing in six games last season, Pezeshkian graduated last spring at CSUN but returned to the team as a graduate student in 2022-23. He has earned more playing time this season, averaging 2.4 points while shooting 89 percent at the free throw line over 14 games.

MATADOR HEADLINES
Atin Wright became the 23rd Matador in team history to crack 1,000 career points in the win over CSU Bakersfield last Thursday. Wright scored his 1,000th and 1,001st points at the free throw line, giving CSUN the lead for good with his free throws. It has been an historic season for Wright who earlier set a new school Division I record for points in a game with 42 at UC Davis on Feb. 15. His 42 points are the second-most overall scored in a game at CSUN with Ollie Carter's 47 scored in 1966 during the team's Division II era still the top mark.

Since Dionte Bostick has been out with an injury, De'Sean Allen-Eikens has averaged the second-most points on the team at 12.3 since late January. He has especially been impressive offensively over the last four games, averaging 16.3 points. On the season, Allen-Eikens is averaging a team-high 5.2 rebounds to go with his 11.2 points per game.

As a team, the Matadors are third in The Big West in free throw percentage (74.3) and fourth in offensive rebounds per game (10.0). Individually, Wright is fourth in The Big West in points per game (16.7) while he is second in free throw percentage (87.0), fifth in 3-point field goals made per game (2.0) and eighth in steals per game (1.3). Allen-Eikens is ranked 17th in the league in rebounds per game followed by Fidelis Okereke in 18th place at 5.0 per game. Bostick also remains 10th in the conference in assists per game (2.7) and 17th in points per game (12.4).

SERIES HISTORY
Hawai'i leads CSUN 21-8 in the all-time series after the Bows prevailed 58-51 in Honolulu on Jan. 16. CSUN has dropped the last three games in the series with its last win coming on Feb. 20, 2021, 88-80 in overtime.

SCOUTING HAWAI'I
The Rainbow Warriors improved to 12-6 in Big West play and 21-9 overall with a 72-67 win over UC Irvine last Saturday. Hawai'i enters the final week of the season one game back of first place in the conference standings. The team has won eight of 12 games away from home this season. Head coach Eran Ganot is in his eighth season leading the program.

Four players are averaging in double figures this season led by Noel Coleman at 12.2 points per game. Kamaka Hepa is averaging 11.6 points per game while JoVon McClanahan and Samuta Avea are scoring at 11.1 and 10.0 points, respectively. Bernardo da Silva ranks fourth in The Big West in rebounds per game (6.8) followed by Hepa in sixth place (6.4). As a team, Hawai'i leads the conference in scoring defense (61.4) and comes in second in free throw percentage (74.5).

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Matadors Host Hawai'i on Senior Night

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Players Mentioned

De'Sean Allen-Eikens

Dionte Bostick

Onyi Eyisi

Ethan Igbanugo

Fidelis Okereke

Arman Pezeshkian

Atin Wright