CSUN Hosts Cal Poly, Visits UCSB This Week

FULL GAME NOTES

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball continues the second half of the Big West season on Thursday when the Matadors take on Cal Poly inside Premier America Credit Union Arena. The Matadors will wrap up the week at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday evening. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and tip-off at 7 p.m. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio for both games.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN would go 1-1 last week, dropping an 83-62 decision at UC San Diego on Thursday before picking up a 76-70 come-from-behind home win over UC Riverside on Saturday to snap a five-game losing streak.

CSUN kept pace with the Tritons through the midway portion of the first half, only trailing 20-18, but an eight-minute scoring drought would be too much to overcome. UCSD led by 14 at halftime and eventually built as big a lead as 29 in the second half. De'Sean Allen-Eikens had a team-high 19 points in defeat.

The Matadors dug a 12-point hole to UC Riverside this past Saturday before storming back with a big second half. CSUN outscored UCR 50-38 in the second half while the Matadors held the opposition to 28.9 percent shooting for the game. Allen-Eikens led the way again with 26 points while Gianni Hunt scored a career-high 21 points to go with five made 3-pointers.

BIG PICTURE
CSUN enters the week with a 14-9 overall record and 5-6 Big West mark with nine regular season games left to be played. The Matadors are currently sixth in The Big West standings and hold the No. 5 seed in the Big West tournament race. The top eight seeds make it to the 2024 Big West Championship held in Henderson, Nev. starting March 13.

CSUN has already matched its win total of the previous two seasons combined while the Matadors have surpassed their entire conference win total of each of the past two years. The team is now two wins shy of posting its most victories in a season since 2013-14. Earlier this season, CSUN won seven-straight games and tied the school Division I record for consecutive wins that 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 top the conference in rebounds per game (41.6), defensive rebounds per game (29.1) and rebounding margin (+7.4) while nationally, CSUN is seventh in all of Division I in overall rebounds per game. CSUN had out-rebounded its opponents in 17 of 23 games on the year while going 13-4 in the 17 games. On the defensive side, CSUN is second-best in the conference in opponent field goal percentage (39.8) and fourth in opponent 3-point percentage (31.8) along with third in steals per game (7.8) and fifth in blocks per game (3.7).

THE BIG WEST LEADERBOARDS
De'Sean Allen-Eikens, CSUN's top scorer, is fifth in The Big West in points per game (18.0) while he ranks 10th in the conference in rebounds per game (5.6) and field goal percentage (48.3). Just outside the top-10 in scoring, Dionte Bostick is 12th in the conference at 13.9 points. On the glass, Keonte Jones is up to third in The Big West in rebounds per game (7.2) while Jones is the conference leader in steals per game (1.8), ranks third in blocks per game (1.5) and checks in at sixth in field goal percentage (54.8). On the assist list, Jared Barnett is 12th in assists per game (3.1). As a team, CSUN is fourth in the conference in points per game (76.3) and assists per game (13.8).

SCOUTING CAL POLY
The Mustangs come in with a 4-19 overall record and 0-11 league record. In last week's games, the Mustangs fell to UC Irvine 73-59 and UC Davis 59-52, both at Mott Athletics Center. Overall, Cal Poly is 0-10 in true road games on the year. Kobe Sanders is fourth in The Big West in scoring at 18.7 points while he averages 2.9 assists. Jarred Hyder is the team's other double-digit scorer at 10.3 points while Joel Armotrading tops the team in rebounding (4.9). Head coach John Smith is in his fifth season leading the team.

Series History: Cal Poly leads CSUN 57-55 in the all-time series, but the Matadors have won the last two meetings. Dionte Bostick scored a team-high 22 points in a CSUN 83-73 win over Cal Poly at Mott Athletics Center earlier this season on Dec. 28. Overall, CSUN has won the last five meetings at home in the series.

SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
The Gauchos hold a 13-8 overall record and 6-5 Big West record. UCSB split two games last week, falling to UC Davis 79-69 before beating Cal State Bakersfield 70-59. This season, the Gauchos are 7-4 at the Thunderdome but just 2-3 in conference play. Ajay Mitchell is second in The Big West in scoring at 19.7 points on 51.7 percent shooting while he is fourth in assists per game (4.1). Yohan Traore is second on the team in points per game at 15.7 to go with 5.5 rebounds per game. As a team, UCSB is second in the league in scoring (77.8). Head coach Joe Pasternack is in his seventh season.

Series History: UCSB holds a 47-22 edge over CSUN in the all-time series. The Gauchos routed the Matadors by a 97-69 score earlier this season on Jan. 18 at Premier America Credit Union Arena. UCSB has won the last two meetings at the Thunderdome.

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CSUN Hosts Cal Poly, Visits UCSB This Week

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Players Mentioned

De'Sean Allen-Eikens

Jared Barnett

Dionte Bostick

Gianni Hunt

Keonte Jones