CSUN Hits the Road to UC San Diego Before Hosting Long Beach State

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball opens another two-game week on Thursday with the Matadors traveling to UC San Diego at 7 p.m. The week will conclude with a home matchup with Long Beach State on Saturday at 5 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ while Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in audio broadcasts at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

FOR STARTERS
CSUN (10-8, 3-3 Big West) looks to snap a three-game road losing streak and earn its first road conference victory when the Matadors visit defending Big West champion UC San Diego on Thursday. The Matadors have gone 8-0 at Premier America Credit Union Arena this season but have struggled to just a 2-8 record away from home. After this week's contests, CSUN will play just once next week as the Matadors make the trek to Hawai'i for the final time as Big West competitors on Saturday, Jan. 24.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
The Matadors earned a split in last week's Big West action, winning at home against Cal Poly 95-90 last Thursday before dropping an 86-79 decision at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.

Josiah Davis tied CSUN's school record for assists in a game in helping lead a short-handed Matador team, playing without Larry Hughes II and Jordan Brinson, to a come-from-behind victory over Cal Poly. In 40 minutes of action, Davis finished with a team-high 23 points to go with 15 assists and eight rebounds while Joshua O'Garro had 20 points and 11 rebounds and James Evans Jr. chipped in with 17 points. The Matadors overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half, outscoring the Mustangs 41-22 to end the game.

CSUN could not slow a hot-shooting Cal State Fullerton team in the second half as the Matadors fell by seven points. The Titans outscored the Matadors 55-39 in the second half, erasing a nine-point halftime lead for CSUN. The loss spoiled a career night for O'Garro who poured in 28 points and added 13 rebounds while Davis had 15 points and Hughes scored 13 in his return to the court.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
CSUN's win over Cal Poly on Jan. 8 improved its perfect record at home to 8-0 this season. The Matadors are one win shy of matching their Division I record for consecutive wins to start a season at home, set by the 1999-00 squad (9-0). However, CSUN has already tied its D-1 record for consecutive wins at home with 10, which began at the end of last season. Since Andy Newman's arrival at CSUN, the Matadors are 27-10 at Premier America Credit Union Arena.

MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
Senior guard Larry Hughes II has put together a career season in his first year with CSUN in 2025-26. Hughes has led the Matadors in scoring throughout the season, posting the second-highest scoring average in the Big West at 18.7. He is also the conference leader in 3-point field goals made per game (3.5) while he ranks third in steals per game (1.9), fifth in 3-point percentage (41.3) and sixth in free throw percentage (85.5). Nationally, Hughes is among the best in all of Division I basketball in outside shooting, ranking ninth overall in 3-point field goals made (59), 15th in 3-pointers made per game (3.5) and 46th in total points scored (318).

THE ASSIST MAN
Josiah Davis has taken the reigns of the point guard position this season, leading the Big West in assists. The 6-3 guard tops the conference and ranks 22nd in the nation in assists per game at 6.2 while his 112 total assists are 10th-most in all of Division I basketball. Davis tied CSUN's all-time assist mark for a game on Jan. 8 against Cal Poly where he tallied 15 in 40 minutes of play. His 15 assists tied the CSUN record first established by Keith Gibbs in 1990-91 and matched twice by Markus Carr in 2000-01. In total, Davis has reached double figures in assists three times this season. No slouch offensively, Davis is also third on the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game, which is a career high as well.

QUICK HITS
CSUN remains the Big West leader in rebounding, pacing the league and ranking 22nd in the nation at 41.5 per game ... The Matadors are also the Big West leader in assists per game, dishing out 16.9 per game ... Hughes' 59 made threes this season are just three off the pace from the top-10 single-season marks in CSUN history ... Forward Joshua O'Garro is up to 24th in the nation in rebounds per game (9.4). He is also among the nation's leaders in double-doubles with his eight ranking 13th overall ... Senior Mahmoud Fofana has quietly put together a career season on the court, registering 10.2 points on 61.7 percent shooting along with 7.3 rebounds per game, which ranks third in the Big West ... James Evans Jr. has posted back-to-back double-digit scoring games of 17 and 10 points, improving his scoring average to 4.5. Evans has also hit 7-of-11 from three over those two games.

SCOUTING UC SAN DIEGO
Defending Big West champion UC San Diego comes in 13-4 overall and 3-2 in Big West play. The Tritons suffered an 88-71 defeat to Cal State Fullerton last Thursday but bounced back with a 69-66 road win at UC Riverside last Saturday. UCSD leads the Big West in field goal percentage at 48.1 while they average 80.2 points and surrender 71.2 points per game. Leo Beath ranks sixth in the conference in scoring at 15.7 points per game followed by Tom Beattie and Bol Dengdit at 10.8 points per game each. Alex Chaikin tops the Tritons in 3-point percentage at 41.1 with 37 made threes.

Series History: The Tritons have won 8-of-10 all-time meetings with the Matadors including all eight meetings since joining the Big West. Last season, UCSD handled CSUN by a 79-54 score in La Jolla.

SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE
LBSU is 6-11 overall and 2-3 in conference play. In last week's action, the Beach fell by a 74-64 score to UC Irvine while they earned a home win over Cal State Bakersfield, 81-75. On the year, Long Beach State averages 74.6 points per game against 77.1 points per game allowed. Gavin Sykes paces the team and ranks third in the Big West in scoring, posting 18.2 points per game on 48.5 percent shooting. Petar Majstorovic is also scoring in double figures at 14.9 points per game to go with a team-best 6.5 rebounds per game.

Series History: The Beach lead the Matadors 48-30 in the all-time series. CSUN though has won three of the past four meetings including sweeping the season series in 2024-25. The Matadors posted an 86-76 victory in last season's meeting in Northridge.

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CSUN Hits the Road to UC San Diego Before Hosting Long Beach State

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Players Mentioned

Jordan Brinson

Josiah Davis

James Evans Jr.

Mahmoud Fofana

Larry Hughes II

Joshua O'Garro