CSUN Returns Home to Host La Sierra, Sacramento State

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball continues non-conference play with its final two home games for the 2025 calendar year. The Matadors host La Sierra on Friday at 2 p.m. before meeting Sacramento State on Monday at 7 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+.

FOR STARTERS
The Matadors (6-5, 1-1 Big West) enter this week winners of two straight with three non-conference games left on the schedule. After CSUN completes a two-game homestand, the Matadors hit the road to face Stanford for the third straight season on Dec. 27. The New Year will usher the restart of Big West play as the Matadors visit UC Davis on Jan. 1 to kick off the remaining 18 games in the league schedule.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
The Matadors began last week with a thrilling 89-87 victory against Fresno State on Wednesday before traveling cross country to hand Delaware an 88-66 defeat on Saturday.

Josiah Davis sank a go-ahead three with two seconds remaining to propel CSUN to victory over Fresno State. The three was Davis' first of the season as he finished with 11 points and eight assists. Larry Hughes II had a team-high 25 points and Joshua O'Garro recorded a double-double at 23 points and 11 rebounds. The Matadors led by as many as 18 points before Fresno State roared back in the second half to eventually take an 87-86 lead with 26 seconds left, leading to Davis' game-winning shot. Davis also blocked the potential game winner as time expired.

CSUN kept up its momentum with a wire-to-wire 22-point win in Delaware. Hughes again led the Matadors with 23 points while adding seven rebounds and five steals. O'Garro had 18 points and eight rebounds and the tandem of Davius Loury and Mahmoud Fofana had 12 points apiece. The Matadors went in front 48-28 by halftime and held as big a lead as 35 points in the second half. CSUN shot 50.8 percent from the field while making 11-of-23 from 3-point range.

HUGHES CLAIMS BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
After averaging 24.0 points per game across two CSUN victories, guard Larry Hughes II earned his first career Big West Player of the Week award on Dec. 15. Hughes shot 51.5 percent overall against Fresno State on Dec. 10 and Delaware on Dec. 13 while he added six made threes and 8-of-8 shooting at the free throw line. In addition, he went on to average 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 2.0 assists per game for the week. Hughes is the first Matador this season to earn the Big West Player of the Week award and the first overall since Marcus Adams Jr. on Feb. 24, 2025.

MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
Senior guard Larry Hughes II has enjoyed a breakout season with CSUN in 2025-26. After transferring in from Saint Louis, Hughes is averaging a career-high 18.8 points per game, good enough for second place in the Big West. Hughes has been especially effective from 3-point range, averaging 3.5 makes per game to lead the conference. He is also ranked sixth in the Big West in 3-point percentage (43.2) while he is second in steals per game at 2.1. Prior to this season, Hughes had scored in double figures in 15 of 65 career games, but since arriving at CSUN, he has scored in double figures in 10 of 11 games including topping 20 points in six games.

LEADING THE BIG WEST
Newcomers Josiah Davis and Joshua O'Garro have made a difference in their first seasons with CSUN as the tandem leads the Big West in assists and rebounding, respectively. Davis, the team's starting point guard, tops the league with a 5.9 assists per game mark. That assist average ranks 26th in the nation while Davis is third on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game. Meanwhile, O'Garro tops the Big West and ranks 22nd in the nation in rebounding at 9.7 per game. O'Garro is also second on the squad in scoring at 14.6 points on 50.9 percent shooting.

SCOUTING LA SIERRA
Playing out of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA),the Golden Eagles are 7-3 on the season and winners of two in a row against Caltech (77-70) and Nobel (71-70). A season ago, La Sierra finished 6-22 overall for the year. As a team, La Sierra has averaged 74.1 points on 49.1 percent shooting while the team gives up 77.6 points a game. Jasper Reinalda leads the squad in scoring at 16.8 points per game to go with 12.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.

Series History: CSUN has won all three meetings with La Sierra, dating back to 2013. The teams played last season on Dec. 28 with the Matadors coming out on top 87-52 at Premier America Credit Union Arena.

SCOUTING SACRAMENTO STATE
The Hornets are 4-6 on the season after dropping two straight to the likes of Pacific (68-54) and Baylor (110-88). On the season, the team has gone 4-1 at home but 0-5 on the road. Sacramento State was picked to finish seventh in the Big Sky prior to the start of the season. The team is playing under first-year head coach Mike Bibby this season. Prophet Johnson leads the Hornets in scoring at 15.5 points on 47.2 percent shooting to go with 8.7 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game. Mikey Williams is also scoring in double figures at 14.1 points per game. As a team, Sacramento State averages 76.4 points per game while the team leads the Big Sky in blocks per game (4.6).

Series History: The Matadors lead the Hornets 30-9 in the all-time series, which dates back to 1960. CSUN snapped a two-game skid in the series with a 79-69 win last season in Sacramento. The teams last played in Northridge in 2018 with Sacramento State picking up an 88-68 victory.

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CSUN Returns Home to Host La Sierra, Sacramento State

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Adams Jr.

Josiah Davis

Mahmoud Fofana

Larry Hughes II

Davius Loury

Joshua O'Garro