Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Hits the Road for Big West Showdowns at UC Irvine, UC Davis
2/19/2025 4:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
GAME NOTES
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (18-7, 10-4 Big West) hits the road this week for two key Big West showdowns. The Matadors visit first-place UC Irvine on Thursday night at 7 p.m. before heading to UC Davis for a Saturday afternoon matchup at 2 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ while audio broadcasts will be available at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
FOR STARTERS
With six games left in the regular season, CSUN remains in third place in the Big West standings at 10-4 while both UC San Diego and UC Irvine are each in first place at 12-2. UC Riverside sits at 10-5 and UC Davis is not far behind at 9-6. The rest of the top eight in the league includes UC Santa Barbara in sixth at 8-7, Hawai'i in seventh at 6-9 and Cal State Bakersfield in eighth at 5-10. If the regular season ended today, CSUN would get a first-round bye in the Big West Championship, but should the Matadors finish in the top two spots, they would get a double bye into the semifinal round.
ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN tied a season high with its fifth consecutive victory last Saturday, knocking off Cal Poly in a high-scoring shootout, 89-85, at Premier America Credit Union Arena. The Matadors were led by Scotty Washington who poured in a career-high 29 points while both Marcus Adams Jr. (17 points and 10 rebounds) and Keonte Jones (16 points and 12 rebounds) had double-doubles in the win. The Matadors trailed 50-46 at halftime before rallying in the second half and holding off the high-powered Mustang offense down the stretch. Jones made a timely basket with under a minute and Adams made two free throws in the final second to ice the victory. CSUN would control the glass all throughout, leading 47-31 overall.
WASHINGTON NABS SECOND PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOD
After his career night against Cal Poly, junior Scotty Washington picked up his second Big West Player of the Week award of the season on Feb. 17. Washington made 10-of-16 shots overall including going 5-of-8 from three. He was near perfect in the second half, making 5-of-7 shots and scoring 16 points in the period. The award was his second in three weeks after taking home the Big West honor Feb. 3. Washington is the first Matador to win two Big West Player of the Week awards in the same season since Lamine Diane in 2020.
TOP MATADOR PERFORMERS
Sophomore Marcus Adams Jr. remains among the Big West leaders in scoring this season, averaging a team-high 15.9 points, good enough for eighth best in the conference. Adams has shot 53.2 percent from the floor including 39.8 percent from three-point range with a team-high 47 made threes. He is also averaging the second-most rebounds at 4.8. Scotty Washington enters this week's play second on the team and 10th in the Big West in scoring at 14.8 points. Washington is a close second in three-point makes at 46 on 37.1 percent shooting, but he has improved that shooting in Big West play by making 44.6 percent of his threes to go with a team-best 17.1 points per game. Senior Keonte Jones has now registered 12 double-doubles on the season, which ranks 10th in the nation, while he is up to 19th in rebounds per game (9.6). Jones is also leading CSUN in assists per game (4.3), steals per game (2.0) and blocks per game (1.5) to go with averaging 13.2 points. Other standouts include PJ Fuller II, who is averaging 8.8 points and 3.1 assists, along with Mahmoud Fofana who is averaging 7.5 points and 4.6 rebounds.
CSUN IN THE BIG WEST AND NATIONALLY
The Matadors remain the Big West leader in scoring offense at 81.0 along with rebounds per game (40.8), rebound margin (+9.2) and assists per game (17.1). CSUN is also holding steady in second place in defensive field goal percentage (40.0), steals per game (8.3) and turnovers forced per game (15.9). Nationally, CSUN has moved up to eighth in rebound margin, ninth in rebounds per game and 10th in turnovers forced per game.
FASTEST TO 18 WINS SINCE...
CSUN has reached 18 wins in just 25 games this season, the quickest for the program since the 2007-08 season when the Matadors started 18-6 en route to winning a Big West regular season title. This season's team has already posted its fifth-most wins in a season since joining the Division I ranks. CSUN is just two wins away from becoming just the fourth Division I Matador team to post 20 victories in a single year.
SCOUTING UC IRVINE
UC Irvine comes in a 22-4 overall and 12-2 in Big West play, currently tied with UC San Diego for the top spot in the conference. The Anteaters notched wins last week over UC Santa Barbara (62-60) and Hawai'i (66-49). UCI has especially been tough to beat at home, winning nine of 10 games. As a team, UCI leads the Big West in free throw percentage at 80.0, which also ranks fifth in the nation, while the team is eighth in the country in defensive field goal percentage (38.5). Bent Leuchten is second in the Big West in rebounding (8.8) and ninth in scoring (15.8) this season. Other top scorers include Devin Tillis (13.8), Myles Che (12.3) and Justin Hohn (11.5).
Series History: UC Irvine leads CSUN 45-25 in the all-time series with six straight victories. Earlier this season, UCI knocked off CSUN 77-67. The Matadors' last win in the series was a 72-70 win at the Bren Events Center on March 4, 2020.
SCOUTING UC DAVIS
The Aggies are 15-11 overall and 9-6 in conference, just 1.5 games back of CSUN. In last week's action, UC Davis earned a split, beating UC Riverside 75-74 before falling to UC San Diego 85-60. The team has gone 8-2 at home this year. The Aggies are first in the Big West in blocks per game (3.7) and third in steals per game (7.9). TY Johnson tops the Big West in scoring average at 21.4 points while Niko Rocak is first in blocks per game (2.1). Rocak also paces the Aggies in rebounds per game at 7.3. Other top scorers include Pablo Tamba at 10.7 points per game.
Series History: UC Davis holds a 31-22 lead over CSUN in the all-time series. The Matadors snapped a seven-game skid in the series with a 73-61 win on Jan. 4. The Aggies though have won the last 14 meetings in Davis with their last loss coming in 2009.
#GoMatadors
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NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball (18-7, 10-4 Big West) hits the road this week for two key Big West showdowns. The Matadors visit first-place UC Irvine on Thursday night at 7 p.m. before heading to UC Davis for a Saturday afternoon matchup at 2 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ while audio broadcasts will be available at GoMatadors.com/Radio.
FOR STARTERS
With six games left in the regular season, CSUN remains in third place in the Big West standings at 10-4 while both UC San Diego and UC Irvine are each in first place at 12-2. UC Riverside sits at 10-5 and UC Davis is not far behind at 9-6. The rest of the top eight in the league includes UC Santa Barbara in sixth at 8-7, Hawai'i in seventh at 6-9 and Cal State Bakersfield in eighth at 5-10. If the regular season ended today, CSUN would get a first-round bye in the Big West Championship, but should the Matadors finish in the top two spots, they would get a double bye into the semifinal round.
ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN tied a season high with its fifth consecutive victory last Saturday, knocking off Cal Poly in a high-scoring shootout, 89-85, at Premier America Credit Union Arena. The Matadors were led by Scotty Washington who poured in a career-high 29 points while both Marcus Adams Jr. (17 points and 10 rebounds) and Keonte Jones (16 points and 12 rebounds) had double-doubles in the win. The Matadors trailed 50-46 at halftime before rallying in the second half and holding off the high-powered Mustang offense down the stretch. Jones made a timely basket with under a minute and Adams made two free throws in the final second to ice the victory. CSUN would control the glass all throughout, leading 47-31 overall.
WASHINGTON NABS SECOND PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOD
After his career night against Cal Poly, junior Scotty Washington picked up his second Big West Player of the Week award of the season on Feb. 17. Washington made 10-of-16 shots overall including going 5-of-8 from three. He was near perfect in the second half, making 5-of-7 shots and scoring 16 points in the period. The award was his second in three weeks after taking home the Big West honor Feb. 3. Washington is the first Matador to win two Big West Player of the Week awards in the same season since Lamine Diane in 2020.
TOP MATADOR PERFORMERS
Sophomore Marcus Adams Jr. remains among the Big West leaders in scoring this season, averaging a team-high 15.9 points, good enough for eighth best in the conference. Adams has shot 53.2 percent from the floor including 39.8 percent from three-point range with a team-high 47 made threes. He is also averaging the second-most rebounds at 4.8. Scotty Washington enters this week's play second on the team and 10th in the Big West in scoring at 14.8 points. Washington is a close second in three-point makes at 46 on 37.1 percent shooting, but he has improved that shooting in Big West play by making 44.6 percent of his threes to go with a team-best 17.1 points per game. Senior Keonte Jones has now registered 12 double-doubles on the season, which ranks 10th in the nation, while he is up to 19th in rebounds per game (9.6). Jones is also leading CSUN in assists per game (4.3), steals per game (2.0) and blocks per game (1.5) to go with averaging 13.2 points. Other standouts include PJ Fuller II, who is averaging 8.8 points and 3.1 assists, along with Mahmoud Fofana who is averaging 7.5 points and 4.6 rebounds.
CSUN IN THE BIG WEST AND NATIONALLY
The Matadors remain the Big West leader in scoring offense at 81.0 along with rebounds per game (40.8), rebound margin (+9.2) and assists per game (17.1). CSUN is also holding steady in second place in defensive field goal percentage (40.0), steals per game (8.3) and turnovers forced per game (15.9). Nationally, CSUN has moved up to eighth in rebound margin, ninth in rebounds per game and 10th in turnovers forced per game.
FASTEST TO 18 WINS SINCE...
CSUN has reached 18 wins in just 25 games this season, the quickest for the program since the 2007-08 season when the Matadors started 18-6 en route to winning a Big West regular season title. This season's team has already posted its fifth-most wins in a season since joining the Division I ranks. CSUN is just two wins away from becoming just the fourth Division I Matador team to post 20 victories in a single year.
SCOUTING UC IRVINE
UC Irvine comes in a 22-4 overall and 12-2 in Big West play, currently tied with UC San Diego for the top spot in the conference. The Anteaters notched wins last week over UC Santa Barbara (62-60) and Hawai'i (66-49). UCI has especially been tough to beat at home, winning nine of 10 games. As a team, UCI leads the Big West in free throw percentage at 80.0, which also ranks fifth in the nation, while the team is eighth in the country in defensive field goal percentage (38.5). Bent Leuchten is second in the Big West in rebounding (8.8) and ninth in scoring (15.8) this season. Other top scorers include Devin Tillis (13.8), Myles Che (12.3) and Justin Hohn (11.5).
Series History: UC Irvine leads CSUN 45-25 in the all-time series with six straight victories. Earlier this season, UCI knocked off CSUN 77-67. The Matadors' last win in the series was a 72-70 win at the Bren Events Center on March 4, 2020.
SCOUTING UC DAVIS
The Aggies are 15-11 overall and 9-6 in conference, just 1.5 games back of CSUN. In last week's action, UC Davis earned a split, beating UC Riverside 75-74 before falling to UC San Diego 85-60. The team has gone 8-2 at home this year. The Aggies are first in the Big West in blocks per game (3.7) and third in steals per game (7.9). TY Johnson tops the Big West in scoring average at 21.4 points while Niko Rocak is first in blocks per game (2.1). Rocak also paces the Aggies in rebounds per game at 7.3. Other top scorers include Pablo Tamba at 10.7 points per game.
Series History: UC Davis holds a 31-22 lead over CSUN in the all-time series. The Matadors snapped a seven-game skid in the series with a 73-61 win on Jan. 4. The Aggies though have won the last 14 meetings in Davis with their last loss coming in 2009.
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