Saturday, December 21
Northridge, Calif.
11:00 a.m.
California State University at Northridge
8-4,1-1Big West
81
vs
57
Chicago State
0-14,0-0NEC
1
2
F
Chicago St.
25
32
57
CSUN
22
59
81
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Defeats Chicago State Behind Second Half Surge
12/21/2024 1:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball outscored Chicago State by 27 points in the second half en route to an 81-57 victory on Saturday at Premier America Credit Union Arena. Four Matadors scored in double figures led by Scotty Washington with 19 points while Mahmoud Fofana added 17 points and six rebounds. After trailing by three at halftime, the Matadors surged ahead in the second half and never looked back behind 55 percent shooting in the period.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Each side struggled offensively in a closely contested first period. The Matadors shot 30.3 percent in the half while the Cougars made 28.0 percent of their shots as neither side led by more than four points. Chicago State took a 10-6 lead after a 6-2 spurt before CSUN made some noise with a dunk from Marcus Adams Jr. off a feed from Jordan Brinson.
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The dunk opened an 8-0 run with Festus Ndumanya scoring down low for a 14-10 lead with 9:41 on the clock. The lead would be short-lived though as Chicago State went on an 8-0 run of its own, eventually building a 20-16 lead at the five-minute mark. The Matadors scored the next four points to square the game up at 20-20, but the Cougars went into halftime with a slim 25-22 lead on a late three from Tory McKoy Jr.
Out of intermission, the Cougars stretched their lead to 27-22 on a basket from Noble Crawford before CSUN answered with the next six points. Matthews Robinson gave Chicago State a 30-28 lead on a three with 18:17 on the clock, but that would be the last lead of the day for the Cougars. Washington and Adams scored on back-to-back possessions while PJ Fuller II converted on an and-one three-point play for a 37-32 lead for CSUN. Mahmoud Fofana also converted on a traditional three-point play after he picked up a steal as the lead grew to 42-35. The Matadors, who missed their first 10 shots from 3-point range to begin the game, would make their first from long range with 11:14 left to play, courtesy of Washington. Chicago State pulled to within 47-39 on a three from Robinson, but Keonte Jones found Jalen Barbee for a corner three to stretch the lead to double digits.
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The Matadors would see their lead slip to 50-45 on six consecutive Cougar points before they put together a backbreaking 9-0 run. Barbee drilled another three to begin that run while Fofana and Brinson added baskets as well. The Matadors also took advantage of two technical foul calls and another personal foul, all occurring within a seven-second span, as CSUN made six consecutive free throws to extend to an 18-point advantage with 6:13 to play. Barbee added to the lead with a field goal before picking up a steal off an inbound pass. Moments later, Washington drilled a jumper to cap a 10-0 CSUN run, pushing the lead past 20 at 71-49. Chicago State would pull no closer than 18 points in the remaining minutes while CSUN posted a 10-2 run, capped by a Fofana basket, to lead by as many as 26 points late in the contest.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"We had to get our minds back into it. We lacked a lot of passion and energy in the first half, and when shots don't go in and you lack passion, you could start pressing a little bit. The message at halftime was let's get back to playing our brand of basketball and if you miss a shot, who cares. We've got to stay aggressive because I could feel we were tightening up a little bit."
UP NEXT
CSUN will take a week off from competition before hosting La Sierra on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Each side struggled offensively in a closely contested first period. The Matadors shot 30.3 percent in the half while the Cougars made 28.0 percent of their shots as neither side led by more than four points. Chicago State took a 10-6 lead after a 6-2 spurt before CSUN made some noise with a dunk from Marcus Adams Jr. off a feed from Jordan Brinson.
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?? MARCUS ADAMS JR. SLAM ??@marcusadams21 #GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/q8XXMEV6nE
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) December 21, 2024
The dunk opened an 8-0 run with Festus Ndumanya scoring down low for a 14-10 lead with 9:41 on the clock. The lead would be short-lived though as Chicago State went on an 8-0 run of its own, eventually building a 20-16 lead at the five-minute mark. The Matadors scored the next four points to square the game up at 20-20, but the Cougars went into halftime with a slim 25-22 lead on a late three from Tory McKoy Jr.
Out of intermission, the Cougars stretched their lead to 27-22 on a basket from Noble Crawford before CSUN answered with the next six points. Matthews Robinson gave Chicago State a 30-28 lead on a three with 18:17 on the clock, but that would be the last lead of the day for the Cougars. Washington and Adams scored on back-to-back possessions while PJ Fuller II converted on an and-one three-point play for a 37-32 lead for CSUN. Mahmoud Fofana also converted on a traditional three-point play after he picked up a steal as the lead grew to 42-35. The Matadors, who missed their first 10 shots from 3-point range to begin the game, would make their first from long range with 11:14 left to play, courtesy of Washington. Chicago State pulled to within 47-39 on a three from Robinson, but Keonte Jones found Jalen Barbee for a corner three to stretch the lead to double digits.
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Two three-pointers for Jalen Barbee in the last two minutes. ??
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) December 21, 2024
CSUN trying to pull away.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/zezHQQwJdh
The Matadors would see their lead slip to 50-45 on six consecutive Cougar points before they put together a backbreaking 9-0 run. Barbee drilled another three to begin that run while Fofana and Brinson added baskets as well. The Matadors also took advantage of two technical foul calls and another personal foul, all occurring within a seven-second span, as CSUN made six consecutive free throws to extend to an 18-point advantage with 6:13 to play. Barbee added to the lead with a field goal before picking up a steal off an inbound pass. Moments later, Washington drilled a jumper to cap a 10-0 CSUN run, pushing the lead past 20 at 71-49. Chicago State would pull no closer than 18 points in the remaining minutes while CSUN posted a 10-2 run, capped by a Fofana basket, to lead by as many as 26 points late in the contest.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 8-4 on the season while Chicago State drops to 0-14.
- The Matadors finished shooting 43.3 percent from the floor while going 19-of-21 from the free throw line (90.5 percent) and 4-of-18 from three (22.2 percent). The Cougars would shoot 32.7 percent for the day while making 17-of-28 free throws (60.7 percent) and 6-of-24 threes (25.0 percent).
- In the second half, CSUN outscored Chicago State 59-32.
- On the glass, CSUN held a 43-35 advantage. The Matadors also posted a 21-12 edge in assists and 10-7 lead in steals.
- Off the bench, Adams finished with 11 points and six rebounds while Barbee recorded a season-high 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting.
- Fuller topped CSUN with eight assists to go with eight points. Jones had a team-high eight rebounds with four assists and six points.
ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"We had to get our minds back into it. We lacked a lot of passion and energy in the first half, and when shots don't go in and you lack passion, you could start pressing a little bit. The message at halftime was let's get back to playing our brand of basketball and if you miss a shot, who cares. We've got to stay aggressive because I could feel we were tightening up a little bit."
UP NEXT
CSUN will take a week off from competition before hosting La Sierra on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 6 p.m. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call on ESPN+.
#GoMatadors
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Team Stats
CSU
CSUN
FG%
.327
.433
3FG%
.250
.222
FT%
.607
.905
RB
35
43
TO
19
13
STL
7
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
10
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG/F
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