CSUN Battles But Falls Just Short at Stanford, 88-80

STANFORD, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball gave Stanford all it could handle, but the Cardinal prevailed by an 88-80 margin on Saturday at Maples Pavilion. All five Matador starters reached double figures in the contest as Larry Hughes II scored a team-high 26 points and hit six from 3-point range while Joshua O'Garro had 15 points and six rebounds. CSUN took a lead into halftime before the Cardinal outscored the Matadors 55-42 in the second half.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Hughes made a pair of threes in the early going as CSUN got off to a 9-4 lead at the outset. After Stanford took a brief 13-11 lead, CSUN went on a 6-0 run with O'Garro capping the run for a 17-13 lead. Hughes though was the story of the first half, as the 6-4 guard scored eight consecutive points near the midway point of the first half, putting CSUN ahead 27-19. In all, Hughes poured in 19 of CSUN's 38 points in the first period. Another three went down at the 4:32 mark, one of Hughes' five made in the first half, giving CSUN a nine-point edge at 36-27. The Matadors though went the next three minutes without a point while the Cardinal fought its way back to within 36-33. Seconds later, however, Mahmoud Fofana threw down a dunk, which was set up by O'Garro, to make it a 38-33 game at halftime.

The tide would turn in the second half as Stanford capitalized on five empty offensive trips for CSUN to begin the period. Meanwhile, the Cardinal went on a 13-0 run out of the gate, capped by a Ryan Agarwal three for a 46-38 lead. Hughes ended the run with a jumper, but Stanford countered with another three, this time from Ebuka Okorie. CSUN would fall behind by as many as 12 points before mounting a rally near the midway point of the second half. The Matadors capitalized on Stanford fouls, making eight from the free throw line during a 15-3 run. Josiah Davis sank a pair at the free throw line to even the game at 69-69 with 7:34 to go. Stanford though answered once more with a 6-0 run before Hughes made another from long range to cut the deficit to 75-72 with 5:15 left. After the teams traded points, O'Garro pulled CSUN to within 79-76 but a comeback was not in the cards. Benny Gealer made a clutch three with 2:08 to go while Stanford made four free throws in the final minute to seal a win.

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN drops to 8-6 overall while Stanford improves to 11-2.
The Cardinal shot 48.1 percent overall, just edging CSUN at 47.1 percent. The Matadors made 8-of-17 threes (47.1 percent) and 24-of-30 free throws (80.0 percent) while the Cardinal hit 11-of-27 threes (40.7 percent) and 27-of-38 free throws (71.1 percent).
On the glass, Stanford out-rebounded CSUN by a 33-30 margin.
The teams were even in points in the paint at 26-26 while Stanford led 21-16 in points off turnovers.
Both Davius Loury and Fofana had 11 points each while Davis totaled 10 points and six assists.
For Stanford, Okorie had a game-high 30 points.

ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"This is a game where when you are playing defense and rebounding, the scoreboard is reflecting that and we're making runs. We just go through some lulls. I don't know if it's fatigue or lack of concentration but that defensive intensity just falls. I get it, it's hard to do that for 40 minutes. That's why championship teams can sustain that defensive effort and they win championships. We haven't reached that level yet. We know what the problem is, we've talked about it, we just need guys to step up and do it."

UP NEXT
CSUN will restart Big West play on New Year's Day at UC Davis. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. on ESPN+ while Ghizal Hasan will call the action in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

#GoMatadors

CSUN Battles But Falls Just Short at Stanford, 88-80

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Team Stats

Larry Hughes II

Joshua O'Garro

Davius Loury

Mahmoud Fofana

Players Mentioned

Josiah Davis

Mahmoud Fofana

Larry Hughes II

Davius Loury

Joshua O'Garro