CSUN Falls at the Buzzer to UC Irvine, 68-67

Thursday, February 26

Northridge, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

18-11,11-6Big West

UC Irvine

19-10,12-5Big West

UC Irvine

CSUN

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Falls at the Buzzer to UC Irvine, 68-67

2/26/2026 9:29:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball led with one second remaining before falling at the buzzer to UC Irvine, 68-67, on Thursday evening at Premier America Credit Union Arena. Joshua O'Garro finished with his 12th double-double of the season, posting 17 points and 10 rebounds while Josiah Davis totaled 15 points and Larry Hughes II poured in 12 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
In a battle of first-place teams in the Big West, CSUN took a 67-64 lead with a minute to play following a go-ahead layup from Davis and two made free throws from Hughes. However, Jurian Dixon hit a jumper to cut the deficit to one and the Matadors turned the ball over with nine seconds left to set up the final play. The Anteaters' Tama Isaac missed a driving layup, but the ball was knocked out of bounds off CSUN, giving UC Irvine one last chance with 1.3 seconds to play. Inbounding the ball under their own hoop, Isaac found an open Derin Saran for a layup that circled around the basket before falling in, giving UCI the one-point victory.

Earlier in the contest, CSUN grabbed an early lead behind seven points from James Evans Jr. After hitting the first basket of the ballgame, Evans made two straight shots near the 12-minute mark as the Matadors hung on to a 14-11 lead. UC Irvine scored the next five points before Davis leveled the game at 16-16 on a drive to the cup. From there, the Anteaters took control, going on an 8-1 run to take a 24-17 lead on a Saran jumper. The lead would swell to 12 points at 31-19 following seven straight Anteater points, forcing a Matador timeout near the four-minute mark. Jordan Brinson slowed the UCI run with a three, but the Matadors went into halftime trailing 36-24.

Out of intermission, CSUN came out quickly with a 9-2 run as O'Garro contributed seven of those points. The Matadors pulled to within two when Davis scored a traditional three-point play inside while CSUN finally drew even at 40-40 following a Mahmoud Fofana steal and an O'Garro fastbreak layup. UCI though slowed the uprising, scoring the next six points and eventually took a 52-44 lead. CSUN would have a response, scoring the next nine points with Hughes putting the Matadors ahead at 53-52 on a three with 8:25 to go. Each side traded big baskets down the stretch with UCI taking a 62-59 lead only to have CSUN score the next four points on baskets from Fofana and O'Garro. The Anteaters led 64-63 with 1:40 to go before a circus shot from Davis that put CSUN back ahead. However, the Matadors' efforts would not be enough as UCI came away victorious on the winning basket at the horn.

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN drops to 18-11 overall and 11-6 in Big West play while UC Irvine improves to 19-10 overall and 12-5 in conference.
The Anteaters shot 46.6 percent overall while the Matadors finished at 41.0 percent. UCI hit 5-of-16 threes (31.3 percent) and made 9-of-11 free throws (81.8 percent). CSUN finished 4-of-19 from three (21.1 percent) and 13-of-21 at the free throw line (61.9 percent).
The Matadors led in rebounding 37-33 and held a 40-34 advantage in points in the paint.
Off the bench, Brinson totaled seven rebounds with five points.
Fofana chipped in six points, four rebounds and four blocks.
For UCI, Dixon had a team-high 14 points while Saran had 13 points.

ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"Honestly, our guys battled hard. One mistake cost us the game. Well fought game, proud of our guys and they made one more play than we did."

UP NEXT
CSUN travels Saturday to face UC Riverside. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

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