CSUN Takes Down UC San Diego Behind Balanced Effort

Saturday, January 31

Northridge, Calif.

5:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

13-10,6-5Big West

UC San Diego

15-8,5-6Big West

UC San Diego

CSUN

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Takes Down UC San Diego Behind Balanced Effort

1/31/2026 7:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball completed a season sweep of UC San Diego with an 81-64 victory on Saturday at Premier America Credit Union Arena. Five Matadors scored in double figures and nine reached the scoring column with Mahmoud Fofana leading the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Off the bench, CSUN picked up big efforts from Jai Chisolm and Jordan Brinson, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Josiah Davis nearly reached a triple-double, finishing with 10 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After spotting the Tritons a three out of the gate, CSUN scored the next seven points for a 7-3 lead. The Matadors picked up a spirited effort from their bench in the first half as the combination of Chisolm and Brinson contributed 19 combined points. Chisolm scored inside at the 14:27 mark and added a fastbreak layup seconds later after a James Evans Jr. steal. Brinson knocked down a three near the midway point of the half, starting a 5-0 CSUN run for a 20-16 lead. The Matadors though surrendered seven straight points as Bol Dengdit scored inside for a Triton three-point advantage at 23-20. CSUN would rebound with an 8-2 run with Chisolm closing the spurt with a shot from distance. The CSUN lead stood at 30-28 with 3:35 to play before the Matadors closed the half with an 11-0 run as four different players hit the scoring column for a 41-28 lead.

FIRE US UP JAI ??

Chisolm has 11 points on 5-5 FG.#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/ZXhhEMPa23
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) February 1, 2026

Fofana and Davis combined for the first four points of the second half, extending the lead to 45-28. However, UC San Diego was far from done. The Tritons' Hudson Mayes scored on a traditional three-point play, beginning a 14-0 run that suddenly cut the lead to 45-42. CSUN rebounded by picking up a timely bucket from Fofana, off a second-chance shot, to stop the run before Hughes drilled a three moments later for a 51-44 lead with 12:33 to go. The Matadors would turn the game around beginning at the 13-minute mark, holding UC San Diego to just one point and no field goals for four minutes. During that stretch, the Matadors went on a 10-1 run to take a 59-45 lead.

Leo Beath hit a three with 5:29 to play, making it a 65-53 game, but Grady Lewis scored inside and Hughes sank another three to run the lead to 70-53. Utilizing the full court press, UCSD caused three straight turnovers, pulling to within 75-63 before CSUN countered with a dunk from Fofana. Joshua O'Garro punctuated the win with another dunk at the 1:27 mark as CSUN led by as many as 18 points in the closing moments.

O'Garro with the exclamation point??#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/nc3CsB6DbY
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) February 1, 2026

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN improved to 13-10 overall and 6-5 in Big West play while UC San Diego slipped to 15-8 overall and 5-6 in conference.
The Matadors shot 45.2 percent overall, making 7-of-21 from three (33.3 percent) and 18-of-23 from the free throw line (78.3 percent). The Tritons were held to 34.3 percent shooting while they made 8-of-28 threes (28.6 percent) and 8-of-18 free throws (44.4 percent).
In rebounds, CSUN held a 48-35 advantage for the game. The Matadors also outscored the Tritons 42-32 in points in the paint and 30-25 in bench points.
Hughes also reached double figures for CSUN with 11 points including 3-of-6 makes from three.
Lewis chipped in with six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor.
The Matadors earned their first season sweep of UC San Diego in team history.

ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"I feel like we're back, hate to say it. This crowd we've been playing in front of has been awesome. Our guys play at a really high level in front of them. Just really happy that we're back to playing good at home again and we can rely on that moving forward.

"It was great to see [the bench play well]. They've been putting in the work. It was really good to see that work come to fruition. That was the player that we recruited in Jai Chisolm, and everybody is seeing that now. It's a learning curve for guys coming out of that level to get used to this, and it's good to see he's right on the cusp of turning this thing around and making it a good year for him."

UP NEXT
CSUN will return to the road next Thursday, Feb. 6 to face Cal Poly. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ while Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

#GoMatadors