CSUN Visits CSUB Before Hosting Long Beach State This Week

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball continues Big West play with a road test at Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. before a home meeting with Long Beach State inside Premier America Credit Union Arena on Saturday at 5 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
Four scored in double figures led by Dionte Bostick's season-high 23 points as CSUN secured a season sweep of Cal Poly with a 78-65 victory last Thursday. De'Sean Allen-Eikens added 18 points, Gianni Hunt chipped in with 13 points and eight assists and Keonte Jones posted his fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds. CSUN would trail 20-13 in the first half before going on an 11-0 run to take the lead. The Matadors held the Mustangs to 37 percent shooting in the second half to take control of the contest. CSUN shot 52.6 percent from the floor for the night.

CSUN would make it a 2-0 week with a road win at defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara by an 82-74 score last Saturday. The Matadors had five score in double figures with their starting unit accounting for 78 of the team's 82 points. Allen-Eikens had a team-high 20 points while Bostick had 18 points and Gianni Hunt chipped in with 15 points. Aside from a 2-0 deficit, CSUN led for the entire contest and built a 17-point first-half lead. The Gauchos would rally to pull to within three with a minute to play, but the Matadors held on in the closing seconds. CSUN shot 54 percent from the floor and out-rebounded UCSB 35-26. The win was CSUN's first victory in the Thunderdome since 2020.

BIG PICTURE
CSUN enters the week with a 16-9 overall record and 7-6 Big West mark with seven regular season games left to be played. The Matadors are currently fifth in The Big West standings and hold the No. 4 seed in the Big West tournament race. In addition to the top eight seeds advancing to next month's 2024 Big West Championship, the top four seeds would earn a first-round bye. The Big West Championship will be held in Henderson, Nev. starting March 13.

The Matadors have already posted their most wins in 10 seasons while CSUN has its most conference wins since 2020. The team is inching closer to 20 wins, a benchmark only achieved three times in its Division I history and not since 2007-08. Earlier this season, CSUN won seven-straight games and tied the school D-1 record for consecutive wins, which was first achieved by the 2000-01 team.

THEIR BREAD AND BUTTER
Andy Newman has instituted a focus on rebounding and defense in his first season as head coach. As a result, CSUN has vaulted near the top in several rebounding and defensive categories in The Big West this season. The Matadors lead the conference in rebounds per game (41.2), defensive rebounds per game (29.0) and rebounding margin (+7.6) while nationally, CSUN is eighth in all of Division I in overall rebounds per game. CSUN has out-rebounded its opponents in 19 of 25 games on the year while going 15-4 in those 19 games. On the defensive side, CSUN is first in the conference and 19th nationally in opponent field goal percentage (39.9) while CSUN is second in The Big West in defensive 3-point field goal percentage (31.8). The Matadors are also second in the conference in steals per game (7.9). Overall, the Matadors have held opponents under 40 percent shooting in 14 games.

BIG WEST LEADERBOARDS
De'Sean Allen-Eikens enters the week ranked fourth in The Big West in scoring at 18.1 points while he is third in minutes per game (32.9) and 10th in rebounds per game (5.5) and field goal percentage (49.0). Dionte Bostick is just outside the top-10 in scoring, averaging 14.4 points to rank in 11th place. Bostick is also seventh in steals per game (1.6) and eighth in minutes per game (32.2). Keonte Jones is second in The Big West in steals per game (1.8) and blocks per game (1.5) while he is third in rebounds per game (7.2) and sixth in field goal percentage (54.3) to go with scoring 11.9 points. In assists to turnover ratio, Jared Barnett is fourth at 2.0. As a team, CSUN is also fourth in scoring (76.6) and assists (13.8).

SCOUTING CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
The Roadrunners are 10-14 overall and 5-8 in Big West play. The team is 8-3 at the Icardo Center this season with all three of its losses coming to Big West opponents. In last week's action, CSUB lost at UC Riverside (65-63) but defeated Cal State Fullerton (73-71). Kaleb Higgins ranks seventh in The Big West in points per game (17.0) while Modestas Kancleris is sixth in rebounds per game (6.1). Higgins is also the team leader in assists per game (3.7). As a team, the Roadrunners average 68.5 points while the team gives up 69.0 points per game.

Series History: CSUB leads CSUN in the all-time series 28-25. The Roadrunners handed the Matadors a 64-56 defeat as CSUN scored a season low in points. The Matadors look to snap a two-game skid in the series.

SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE
The Beach come in with a 15-9 overall record and 7-5 Big West record as they hold the No. 3 seed in the Big West tournament race. The team has won three of its last four including both games last week against UC San Diego (85-76) and Cal Poly (77-68). LBSU has gone 7-5 on the road this year. Marcus Tsohonis is sixth in The Big West in scoring at 17.5 points while Jadon Jones is averaging 12.5 points. Lassina Traore tops the conference in rebounds per game (9.4) followed by teammate Aboubacar Traore in second place (8.0). As a team, the Beach lead the conference in scoring (78.5) and blocks per game (4.0) while they are second in rebounding (38.6).

Series History: The Beach lead the Matadors 47-28 in the all-time series. CSUN snapped a five-game skid with an early season win at Long Beach State, 84-68. The Matadors are looking for their first season sweep of the Beach since 2020.

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CSUN Visits CSUB Before Hosting Long Beach State This Week

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Players Mentioned

De'Sean Allen-Eikens

Jared Barnett

Dionte Bostick

Gianni Hunt

Keonte Jones