Thursday, January 15
La Jolla, Calif.
7:00 p.m.
California State University at Northridge
11-8,4-3Big West
84
at
79
UC San Diego
13-5,3-3Big West
1
2
F
CSUN
39
45
84
UC San Diego
30
49
79
Photo by: Chuck Marvel
CSUN Secures 84-79 Road Win at UC San Diego
1/15/2026 10:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LA JOLLA, Calif.---Five scored in double figures as CSUN Men's Basketball knocked off UC San Diego 84-79 on Thursday at LionTree Arena. Josiah Davis led the Matadors with 23 points while James Evans Jr. poured in a season-high 22 points off the bench. Larry Hughes II had 13 points and Mahmoud Fofana recorded a double-double of 12 points and 17 rebounds in the victory. The Matadors erased a late deficit and outscored the Tritons 10-3 over the final two-plus minutes of the contest.Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
Each side started slow in the early going with UC San Diego holding a 4-2 edge at the first media timeout. After missing their first five shots, the Matadors made four of their next five attempts, taking their first lead at 11-8 on an Evans three. UCSD briefly took a 21-19 lead with 8:43 to go, but CSUN would score the next six points. The Matadors extended to a 31-25 lead on a Fofana layup, set up by Evans. Right before halftime, CSUN went on a 6-0 run with Evans scoring an and-one basket, giving the freshman 14 points in the first half. CSUN would take a 39-30 lead into the break as the Matadors held the Tritons to 34.3 percent shooting in the period.Â
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After a Davius Loury layup opened the second half, CSUN saw an 11-point lead slip to 43-39 on an 8-2 UCSD run. Evans helped keep CSUN ahead on a layup with 15:20 remaining for a 51-46 lead, but the Tritons scored the next four to pull to within one. The teams traded runs until UCSD captured the lead at 67-66 when Hudson Mayes scored on a floating jumper with 7:10 to go. Moments later, Leo Beath converted on a traditional three-point play with under five minutes to play, putting CSUN in a 72-69 hole. The Matadors trailed by as many as four points at 75-71 but never wavered down the stretch. CSUN scored five of the next six points with Fofana scoring inside to tie the game up at 76-76.
The Matadors would go back in front following a defensive stop and a Davis three-point play for a 79-76 lead. The Tritons picked up a three from Alex Chaikin on their next time down the floor, but Davis answered with another and-one bucket for an 82-79 advantage with 1:10 on the clock.Â
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In the final minute, CSUN picked up two key defensive stops while Fofana made a timely putback layup with 22 seconds to go to help seal the victory.Â
NOTES OF THE GAME
ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"As a competitor, you never like to have a team just have your number. This was great to see our guys defend like they did in the second half, and to play like they did and come out of here with a win. Going back to the CCAA days, I haven't had a game inside 25 [points] here. For this group to come in here and do what they did tonight, I'm just super proud of them.
"We've got to get better [defensively]. It's one of the weirdest things, our guys defend their butts off in the first half and in the second half the disparity is huge for us, so we've got to get better in that space. But tonight, when we had to have stops, we got them. That's what's most important."
UP NEXT
CSUN returns to Premier America Credit Union Arena on Saturday to take on Long Beach State. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.Â
#GoMatadors
Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
Each side started slow in the early going with UC San Diego holding a 4-2 edge at the first media timeout. After missing their first five shots, the Matadors made four of their next five attempts, taking their first lead at 11-8 on an Evans three. UCSD briefly took a 21-19 lead with 8:43 to go, but CSUN would score the next six points. The Matadors extended to a 31-25 lead on a Fofana layup, set up by Evans. Right before halftime, CSUN went on a 6-0 run with Evans scoring an and-one basket, giving the freshman 14 points in the first half. CSUN would take a 39-30 lead into the break as the Matadors held the Tritons to 34.3 percent shooting in the period.Â
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AND ONE?
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) January 16, 2026
James Evans Jr. has 14 points in 13 minutes played.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/97ppCqX1um
After a Davius Loury layup opened the second half, CSUN saw an 11-point lead slip to 43-39 on an 8-2 UCSD run. Evans helped keep CSUN ahead on a layup with 15:20 remaining for a 51-46 lead, but the Tritons scored the next four to pull to within one. The teams traded runs until UCSD captured the lead at 67-66 when Hudson Mayes scored on a floating jumper with 7:10 to go. Moments later, Leo Beath converted on a traditional three-point play with under five minutes to play, putting CSUN in a 72-69 hole. The Matadors trailed by as many as four points at 75-71 but never wavered down the stretch. CSUN scored five of the next six points with Fofana scoring inside to tie the game up at 76-76.
The Matadors would go back in front following a defensive stop and a Davis three-point play for a 79-76 lead. The Tritons picked up a three from Alex Chaikin on their next time down the floor, but Davis answered with another and-one bucket for an 82-79 advantage with 1:10 on the clock.Â
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BACK-TO-BACK AND ONES FOR JOSIAH DAVIS.
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) January 16, 2026
CSUN out in front with just over one minute left.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/Nk7LbwlGsx
In the final minute, CSUN picked up two key defensive stops while Fofana made a timely putback layup with 22 seconds to go to help seal the victory.Â
NOTES OF THE GAME
- CSUN improves to 11-8 overall and 4-3 in Big West play while UC San Diego slips to 13-5 overall and 3-3 in conference.Â
- The Matadors ended an eight-game skid to UC San Diego and notched their first win against the Tritons as a Big West member.Â
- Overall, CSUN shot 46.9 percent for the game, making 5-of-18 threes (27.8 percent) and 19-of-29 free throws (65.5 percent). UCSD was held to 41.8 percent shooting while going 9-of-30 from three (30.0 percent) and 14-of-19 at the free throw line (73.7 percent).Â
- The Matadors out-rebounded the Tritons 46-32 while CSUN had a 46-38 edge in points in the paint.Â
- Joshua O'Garro also scored in double figures and narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds.Â
- Davis went 7-of-8 at the free throw line.Â
- Fofana's 17 rebounds are a new career high while he has recorded 10 or more rebounds in three of the last four contests.Â
- For UCSD, Chaikin had a team-high 22 points.Â
ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"As a competitor, you never like to have a team just have your number. This was great to see our guys defend like they did in the second half, and to play like they did and come out of here with a win. Going back to the CCAA days, I haven't had a game inside 25 [points] here. For this group to come in here and do what they did tonight, I'm just super proud of them.
"We've got to get better [defensively]. It's one of the weirdest things, our guys defend their butts off in the first half and in the second half the disparity is huge for us, so we've got to get better in that space. But tonight, when we had to have stops, we got them. That's what's most important."
UP NEXT
CSUN returns to Premier America Credit Union Arena on Saturday to take on Long Beach State. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.Â
#GoMatadors
Â
Team Stats
CSUN
UCSD
FG%
.469
.418
3FG%
.278
.300
FT%
.655
.737
RB
46
32
TO
7
6
STL
5
3
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
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