Monday, November 25
Missoula, Mont.
1:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
5-1,0-0Big West
89
vs
60
Denver
3-4,0-0Summit League
1
2
F
Denver
33
27
60
CSUN
48
41
89
CSUN Improves to 5-1 with 89-60 Win Over Denver
11/25/2024 3:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MISSOULA, Mont.---CSUN Men's Basketball led from nearly start to finish in an 89-60 victory over Denver at the Stew Morrill Classic at Dahlberg Arena on Monday afternoon. Marcus Adams Jr. posted his first career double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Keonte Jones added 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks. PJ Fuller II chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Two early threes from the Pioneers gave Denver a 6-4 lead two minutes into the contest, but CSUN answered with five in a row as Judson Martindale nailed a three for a 9-6 lead. Denver took a 12-11 lead at the 15:05 mark of the first half before the Matadors scored the six points. Jones later drove it to hoop for a layup as CSUN took a 21-15 advantage. After Josh Pickett hit a three at the midway mark of the first half, CSUN turned a three-point lead into a 17-point advantage with a tide-turning 14-0 run. Jones capped the run with a alleyoop dunk off a feed from Jordan Brinson for a CSUN 35-18 lead with 6:23 to go. Denver ended the run with a basket from Sebastian Akins, but the Matadors responded with five-straight to stretch to their biggest lead of the half at 40-20.
Brinson, who had a pair of assists in the first half, drove to the hoop for another layup for a 42-23 advantage before Denver went on a 7-2 spurt to close to within 14 points. CSUN extended to an 18-point lead on four-straight Jones points until Pedro Lopez Sanvicente closed the half with a late three to cut the lead to 48-33 at the break.
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The Pioneers hit a three out of intermission to pull to within 12, but they would not get any closer for the remainder of the afternoon. Scotty Washington and Grady Lewis followed with baskets before Adams threw down a massive dunk to push the lead to 56-40 with 15:38 on the clock.
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After a Brinson layup, Jones drained a three and Washington followed with a traditional three-point play on a drive. Fuller capped a 12-0 run with a field goal of his own to extend CSUN's lead to 66-40 with 13:11 left to play. Tyler Beard got into the scoring act with a jumper at the eight-minute mark while Adams put down another dunk off an offensive board moments later. CSUN, which made 33 free throws on the day, pushed its lead past 30 points on two Sabien Cain free throws with 3:18 left to play. The Matadors punctuated the double-digit win with a Jalen Barbee dunk in the closing minutes off an assist from Beard. CSUN led by as many as 31 points in the win.
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NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH SCOTT CUTLEY
"I think our talk was really good. That was a key emphasis in our pregame strategizing -- we've got to get our talk down and we've got to bring energy. I think our guys did a great job of that today. It starts with our leadership from Keonte and guys like PJ who really set the tone in the beginning. I really set a challenge to them for us to start out with a fast start and we have to do it on the defensive end. They really stepped up to the challenge."
UP NEXT
CSUN completes the Stew Morrill Classic by taking on host Montana on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan will call the action in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Two early threes from the Pioneers gave Denver a 6-4 lead two minutes into the contest, but CSUN answered with five in a row as Judson Martindale nailed a three for a 9-6 lead. Denver took a 12-11 lead at the 15:05 mark of the first half before the Matadors scored the six points. Jones later drove it to hoop for a layup as CSUN took a 21-15 advantage. After Josh Pickett hit a three at the midway mark of the first half, CSUN turned a three-point lead into a 17-point advantage with a tide-turning 14-0 run. Jones capped the run with a alleyoop dunk off a feed from Jordan Brinson for a CSUN 35-18 lead with 6:23 to go. Denver ended the run with a basket from Sebastian Akins, but the Matadors responded with five-straight to stretch to their biggest lead of the half at 40-20.
Brinson, who had a pair of assists in the first half, drove to the hoop for another layup for a 42-23 advantage before Denver went on a 7-2 spurt to close to within 14 points. CSUN extended to an 18-point lead on four-straight Jones points until Pedro Lopez Sanvicente closed the half with a late three to cut the lead to 48-33 at the break.
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Jordan Brinson has joined the scoring party with this nice drive to the cup.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/r30OORhGHM
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 25, 2024
The Pioneers hit a three out of intermission to pull to within 12, but they would not get any closer for the remainder of the afternoon. Scotty Washington and Grady Lewis followed with baskets before Adams threw down a massive dunk to push the lead to 56-40 with 15:38 on the clock.
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Marcus Adams throws down the hammer ??#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/gi7NSELnqQ
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 25, 2024
After a Brinson layup, Jones drained a three and Washington followed with a traditional three-point play on a drive. Fuller capped a 12-0 run with a field goal of his own to extend CSUN's lead to 66-40 with 13:11 left to play. Tyler Beard got into the scoring act with a jumper at the eight-minute mark while Adams put down another dunk off an offensive board moments later. CSUN, which made 33 free throws on the day, pushed its lead past 30 points on two Sabien Cain free throws with 3:18 left to play. The Matadors punctuated the double-digit win with a Jalen Barbee dunk in the closing minutes off an assist from Beard. CSUN led by as many as 31 points in the win.
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Jalen Barbee putting the exclamation point on this one with this thunderous dunk!#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/v3MU5V0BbX
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) November 25, 2024
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 5-1 on the season while Denver drops to 3-4.
- The Matadors shot 51.9 percent overall while making 33-of-38 from the free throw line (86.8 percent) and 2-of-14 from the free throw line (14.3 percent). On the flip side, Denver was held to 33.9 percent shooting while hitting 10-of-30 from three (33.3 percent) and 12-of-18 from the free throw line (66.7 percent).
- CSUN out-rebounded Denver 43-24 while the Matadors dominated in points in the paint, 50-8.
- The Matadors also led 23-2 in points off turnovers.
- Brinson and Washington scored nine points each while Lewis and Martindale added six points each.
ACCORDING TO COACH SCOTT CUTLEY
"I think our talk was really good. That was a key emphasis in our pregame strategizing -- we've got to get our talk down and we've got to bring energy. I think our guys did a great job of that today. It starts with our leadership from Keonte and guys like PJ who really set the tone in the beginning. I really set a challenge to them for us to start out with a fast start and we have to do it on the defensive end. They really stepped up to the challenge."
UP NEXT
CSUN completes the Stew Morrill Classic by taking on host Montana on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan will call the action in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
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Team Stats
Denver
CSUN
FG%
.339
.519
3FG%
.333
.143
FT%
.667
.868
RB
24
43
TO
14
10
STL
4
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
17
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
8
Pts
10
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG/F
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