Thursday, March 13
Henderson, Nev.
6:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
22-10,14-6Big West
72
vs
78
(5) UC Santa Barbara
21-12,11-9Big West
1
2
F
UC Santa Barbara
35
43
78
CSUN
28
44
72
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN's Comeback Fall Short in 78-72 Defeat to UCSB at Big West Championship
3/13/2025 9:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HENDERSON, Nev.---CSUN Men's Basketball dropped a 78-72 decision to UC Santa Barbara in a Big West quarterfinal game on Thursday at Lee's Family Forum. Keonte Jones finished with his 14th double-double of the season, posting 19 points and 11 rebounds while Mahmoud Fofana had 17 points and eight rebounds and Scotty Washington scored 14.
HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN committed two early turnovers, leading to UCSB taking a 5-0 lead. Moments later, Stephan Swenson would hit two consecutive threes as the Gauchos opened a 14-7 lead with 13:54 left in the first period. The Matadors would pull to within 16-13 on a Jones layup before taking an 18-16 lead on a Jones three to beat the 24-second shot clock. Cole Anderson though responded with a three to give UCSB the lead right back. CSUN came up empty on four consecutive possessions before Anderson hit another three and Max Murrell slammed home a dunk off a CSUN turnover. Down by six, CSUN would pick up back-to-back baskets from Washington to pull to within 24-22. UCSB maintained a slim lead until a 7-0 run, capped by a Swenson layup made it a 35-26 game. However, CSUN would hold UCSB scoreless over the final 2:20 of the first half and get a challenging layup from Jones in traffic to pull to within 35-28 at the break.
The teams traded points to start the second half before Swenson picked up a steal and a subsequent three to extend the lead to double digits at 42-32. UCSB would pick up another take away leading to a three from Swenson as the lead swelled to 11 at 45-34 with 15:27 to go. The Matadors would put together a 7-0 run, closed by a traditional 3-point play from Fofana to close the gap to 48-44. However, the Gauchos again answered quickly with Colin Smith knocking down a jumper along with a three moments later. CSUN continued to claw back, pulling to within 55-51, but Swenson nailed his seventh three of the ballgame. The Gauchos extended to their biggest lead of the night at 65-53 with 7:51 to play on two free throws from Kenny Pohto.
The Matadors made one last push in the final six minutes of the game, starting with a Tyler Beard three. Beard then picked up a timely steal leading to a layup on the other end to cut the lead to 72-65. PJ Fuller II made a clutch layup of his own while three free throws for CSUN near the two-minute mark cut the lead to 74-70. After UCSB picked up a free throw, Washington sank a jumper in the lane to bring CSUN to within three points with 48 seconds to go. CSUN would get a defensive stop leading to a pivotal possession with 19 seconds left. Trailing 75-72, CSUN drew up a play but a whistle on a moving screen gave the ball back to UCSB. A made free throw coupled with another Matador turnover secured the win for UC Santa Barbara.
NOTES OF THE GAME
"Credit to Santa Barbara. They played great. They defended well, they made shots when they needed them. Swenson had an incredible game. They kept us off-balanced for all 40 minutes. We couldn't quite get into a rhythm. Credit to them, they deserved to win and they did.
"I'm really proud of our guys and the effort that they gave, and what they've done for the school, to this program and to themselves. Setting school records says a lot, that's huge. The effort, the tenacity, the focus and the sacrifice it takes to do something like that is huge. Credit to these guys for doing that and I couldn't be more proud as you look at the entire season and what they accomplished together, couldn't be more proud."
SEASON OUTLOOK
CSUN wraps up the conference tournament tied for the school record in wins, a 15-game turnaround from two seasons ago. The Matadors went 14-6 in conference play, posting their best conference win percentage (.700) since the 2007-08 season while the team won 10 games on the road, tied for the most wins in school history. Under the direction of head coach Andy Newman, CSUN has gone 41-25 over the last two seasons, posting back-to-back winning years for the first time since 2008-09.
#GoMatadors
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HOW IT HAPPENED
CSUN committed two early turnovers, leading to UCSB taking a 5-0 lead. Moments later, Stephan Swenson would hit two consecutive threes as the Gauchos opened a 14-7 lead with 13:54 left in the first period. The Matadors would pull to within 16-13 on a Jones layup before taking an 18-16 lead on a Jones three to beat the 24-second shot clock. Cole Anderson though responded with a three to give UCSB the lead right back. CSUN came up empty on four consecutive possessions before Anderson hit another three and Max Murrell slammed home a dunk off a CSUN turnover. Down by six, CSUN would pick up back-to-back baskets from Washington to pull to within 24-22. UCSB maintained a slim lead until a 7-0 run, capped by a Swenson layup made it a 35-26 game. However, CSUN would hold UCSB scoreless over the final 2:20 of the first half and get a challenging layup from Jones in traffic to pull to within 35-28 at the break.
The teams traded points to start the second half before Swenson picked up a steal and a subsequent three to extend the lead to double digits at 42-32. UCSB would pick up another take away leading to a three from Swenson as the lead swelled to 11 at 45-34 with 15:27 to go. The Matadors would put together a 7-0 run, closed by a traditional 3-point play from Fofana to close the gap to 48-44. However, the Gauchos again answered quickly with Colin Smith knocking down a jumper along with a three moments later. CSUN continued to claw back, pulling to within 55-51, but Swenson nailed his seventh three of the ballgame. The Gauchos extended to their biggest lead of the night at 65-53 with 7:51 to play on two free throws from Kenny Pohto.
The Matadors made one last push in the final six minutes of the game, starting with a Tyler Beard three. Beard then picked up a timely steal leading to a layup on the other end to cut the lead to 72-65. PJ Fuller II made a clutch layup of his own while three free throws for CSUN near the two-minute mark cut the lead to 74-70. After UCSB picked up a free throw, Washington sank a jumper in the lane to bring CSUN to within three points with 48 seconds to go. CSUN would get a defensive stop leading to a pivotal possession with 19 seconds left. Trailing 75-72, CSUN drew up a play but a whistle on a moving screen gave the ball back to UCSB. A made free throw coupled with another Matador turnover secured the win for UC Santa Barbara.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN ends the Big West Championship at 22-10 while UCSB improves to 21-12 and will play top-seeded UC San Diego in the tournament semifinals on Friday.
- The Matadors shot 45.5 percent overall while making 4-of-15 threes (26.7 percent) and 18-of-20 free throws (90.0 percent). The Gauchos finished at 37.7 percent to go with 13-of-36 shooting from three (36.1 percent) and 19-of-22 shooting from the free throw line (86.4 percent).
- CSUN out-rebounded UCSB 42-27 and led 20-8 in second chance points.
- The Gauchos scored 30 points off a total of 21 CSUN turnovers.
- Fuller recorded nine points as he wraps up the tournament at 1,009 career points.
- Beard also had seven points off the bench.
"Credit to Santa Barbara. They played great. They defended well, they made shots when they needed them. Swenson had an incredible game. They kept us off-balanced for all 40 minutes. We couldn't quite get into a rhythm. Credit to them, they deserved to win and they did.
"I'm really proud of our guys and the effort that they gave, and what they've done for the school, to this program and to themselves. Setting school records says a lot, that's huge. The effort, the tenacity, the focus and the sacrifice it takes to do something like that is huge. Credit to these guys for doing that and I couldn't be more proud as you look at the entire season and what they accomplished together, couldn't be more proud."
SEASON OUTLOOK
CSUN wraps up the conference tournament tied for the school record in wins, a 15-game turnaround from two seasons ago. The Matadors went 14-6 in conference play, posting their best conference win percentage (.700) since the 2007-08 season while the team won 10 games on the road, tied for the most wins in school history. Under the direction of head coach Andy Newman, CSUN has gone 41-25 over the last two seasons, posting back-to-back winning years for the first time since 2008-09.
#GoMatadors
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Team Stats
UCSB
CSUN
FG%
.377
.455
3FG%
.361
.267
FT%
.864
.900
RB
27
42
TO
12
21
STL
12
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
17
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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