Thursday, January 9
Northridge, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
11-5,3-2Big West
67
vs
77
UC Irvine
14-2,4-0Big West
1
2
F
UC Irvine
41
36
77
CSUN
24
43
67
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN's Comeback Bid Falls Short Against UC Irvine
1/9/2025 10:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball's second-half rally fell short in a 77-67 loss to UC Irvine on Thursday evening at Premier America Credit Union Arena. Scotty Washington had a game-high 19 points while Marcus Adams Jr. chipped in with 11 points. Mahmoud Fofana added a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. The Matadors trimmed a 21-point deficit to five in the second half but could not complete the comeback down the stretch.
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN would get off to a slow start, missing 11 of 12 shots to kick off the game. In contrast, UC Irvine was efficient at the start, building a 15-2 lead following back-to-back threes from Jurian Dixon and Bent Leuchten, Tyler Beard ended a 10-0 UCI run with a mid-range basket, however, the Anteaters put together another 10-0 run, capped by a Myles Che three for a 25-5 lead with 9:15 left in the first half. CSUN faced an uphill climb for the remainder of the first half. Washington scored four consecutive points to chip away at the deficit while he scored a traditional 3-point play at the six-minute mark to pull CSUN to within 27-12. The Matadors fell behind by an 18-point margin after a Devin Tillis basket before battling back with an 8-3 spurt to cut the lead to 35-22 game with 4:01 on clock. Moments later, CSUN picked up a steal but could not convert on a layup attempt from Adams. After three more empty possessions, the Anteaters took advantage and scored six of the next eight points to take a 41-24 lead to halftime.
Out of intermission, Justin Hohn drilled a three to extend to a 20-point Anteater advantage. Adams scored on the next possession for the Matadors, but Hohn sank another from downtown to push UCI's lead to the biggest of the night at 47-26. Despite the big deficit, CSUN would not quit and began chipping away at the big lead. PJ Fuller II started a 6-0 run beginning at the 14-minute mark of the second half. UCI picked up a three from Berk Can Akin, but Beard answered with a three of his own. After two consecutive defensive stops, Fofana finished in transition off a feed from Jordan Brinson to pull CSUN closer at 56-44 with 10:57 left to go.
CSUN would manage to pull to within 10 after a Washington mid-range jumper, but UCI countered with the next four points. The deficit stood at 63-50 before CSUN picked up a steal courtesy of Fofana, leading to an Adams layup. From there, CSUN forced another turnover and followed with a Washington jumper to cut the lead into single digits at 63-54. The Matadors forced yet another UCI turnover, which led to Washington earning his way to the free throw line to pull to within seven. A fourth consecutive Anteater turnover occurred next, leading to Fofana finishing on the fast break and bringing the Matadors to within 63-58 with 6:00 to play.
After a UCI timeout, the Anteaters seized control as an 8-0 run quickly pushed the lead back to double digits at 71-58. CSUN went nearly four minutes without a point during the key stretch as Fuller finally ended the drought with a jumper with 2:29 to go. The Matadors were able to get the deficit back to single digits at 76-67 with a minute to play, but the Anteaters held on in the closing moments.
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"I thought our guys battled hard to get back in it. I'm proud of their effort, but we couldn't sustain it. We fouled when we shouldn't have. Credit to them, they made free throws, and our offensive execution went away. It cost us in that stretch."
UP NEXT
CSUN hits the road for a Saturday night matchup at Cal State Bakersfield. Tip-off is slated for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
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HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN would get off to a slow start, missing 11 of 12 shots to kick off the game. In contrast, UC Irvine was efficient at the start, building a 15-2 lead following back-to-back threes from Jurian Dixon and Bent Leuchten, Tyler Beard ended a 10-0 UCI run with a mid-range basket, however, the Anteaters put together another 10-0 run, capped by a Myles Che three for a 25-5 lead with 9:15 left in the first half. CSUN faced an uphill climb for the remainder of the first half. Washington scored four consecutive points to chip away at the deficit while he scored a traditional 3-point play at the six-minute mark to pull CSUN to within 27-12. The Matadors fell behind by an 18-point margin after a Devin Tillis basket before battling back with an 8-3 spurt to cut the lead to 35-22 game with 4:01 on clock. Moments later, CSUN picked up a steal but could not convert on a layup attempt from Adams. After three more empty possessions, the Anteaters took advantage and scored six of the next eight points to take a 41-24 lead to halftime.
Out of intermission, Justin Hohn drilled a three to extend to a 20-point Anteater advantage. Adams scored on the next possession for the Matadors, but Hohn sank another from downtown to push UCI's lead to the biggest of the night at 47-26. Despite the big deficit, CSUN would not quit and began chipping away at the big lead. PJ Fuller II started a 6-0 run beginning at the 14-minute mark of the second half. UCI picked up a three from Berk Can Akin, but Beard answered with a three of his own. After two consecutive defensive stops, Fofana finished in transition off a feed from Jordan Brinson to pull CSUN closer at 56-44 with 10:57 left to go.
CSUN would manage to pull to within 10 after a Washington mid-range jumper, but UCI countered with the next four points. The deficit stood at 63-50 before CSUN picked up a steal courtesy of Fofana, leading to an Adams layup. From there, CSUN forced another turnover and followed with a Washington jumper to cut the lead into single digits at 63-54. The Matadors forced yet another UCI turnover, which led to Washington earning his way to the free throw line to pull to within seven. A fourth consecutive Anteater turnover occurred next, leading to Fofana finishing on the fast break and bringing the Matadors to within 63-58 with 6:00 to play.
After a UCI timeout, the Anteaters seized control as an 8-0 run quickly pushed the lead back to double digits at 71-58. CSUN went nearly four minutes without a point during the key stretch as Fuller finally ended the drought with a jumper with 2:29 to go. The Matadors were able to get the deficit back to single digits at 76-67 with a minute to play, but the Anteaters held on in the closing moments.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN drops to 11-5 overall and 3-2 in BIg West play while UC Irvine improves to 14-2 overall and 4-0 in conference.
- The Matadors shot 37.5 percent for the night while making 2-of-14 from three (14.3 percent) and 17-of-20 from the free throw line (85.0 percent). In contrast, UC Irvine finished shooting 41.7 percent while hitting 11-of-25 threes (44.0 percent) and 26-of-32 free throws (81.3 percent).
- On the glass, CSUN held a 40-35 edge in rebounding. The Matadors also outscored the Anteaters 38-16 in points in the paint.
- Washington finished 7-of-14 from the floor while Fofana was an efficient 5-of-8. Each also had three steals on the night.
- Fuller and Brinson each scored seven points for CSUN.
ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"I thought our guys battled hard to get back in it. I'm proud of their effort, but we couldn't sustain it. We fouled when we shouldn't have. Credit to them, they made free throws, and our offensive execution went away. It cost us in that stretch."
UP NEXT
CSUN hits the road for a Saturday night matchup at Cal State Bakersfield. Tip-off is slated for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
Irvine
CSUN
FG%
.417
.375
3FG%
.440
.143
FT%
.813
.850
RB
35
40
TO
18
16
STL
13
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG/F
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