CSUN Wins Thriller at Cal Poly on O'Garro's Game Winner

Thursday, February 5

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

7:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

14-10,7-5Big West

Cal Poly

9-15,5-7Big West

CSUN

Cal Poly

Photo by: Anthony Fortie

CSUN Wins Thriller at Cal Poly on O'Garro's Game Winner

2/5/2026 9:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.---Joshua O'Garro scored a game-winning layup with two seconds remaining to lift CSUN Men's Basketball to a 97-96 victory over Cal Poly on Thursday at Mott Athletics Center. Larry Hughes II scored a career-high 32 points with six made threes while Mahmoud Fofana poured in 17 points and Jordan Brinson chipped in 14 points off the bench.

The Matadors thwarted a late rally from the Mustangs, who rallied from 16 points down to take a one-point lead only to have O'Garro hit the game winner.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Mustangs led through the first five-plus minutes of the contest, building a 15-8 advantage. The Matadors though weathered the early storm and quickly went on an 8-0 run with four different players hitting the scoring column. Brinson, who made four threes in the first half, knocked down a trey to put CSUN on top 19-17 while Jai Chisolm followed with a three of his own moments later. Another Brinson three went down at the 8:29 mark, putting the Matadors ahead 28-22. The first half also saw a big scoring spree from Hughes, who scored 22 points in the period. Hughes scored three straight mid-range shots, beginning at the 7:59 mark as CSUN led for the remainder of the first half. Cal Poly though would keep pace with CSUN, eventually tying the game at 43-43 with 3:10 to go. Moments later, Hughes countered with three consecutive shots from distance to extend to a nine-point lead before Cal Poly scored the final five points of the half to make it a 52-48 game at the break.

On fire ??

20 first-half points for Larry Hughes II! #GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/tAXqPr7K5O
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) February 6, 2026

After a slow start to the game, CSUN flipped the script with a quick start to the second half. A 14-3 run out of intermission, capped by a O'Garro layup extended the lead to 66-51, forcing a Mustang timeout. The Matadors built as big a lead as 16 points in the second half with Davius Loury sinking a three for a 75-59 lead with 13:39 to play. However, Cal Poly would not go away quietly. Two straight Mustang threes would pull the home team to within 82-73. Near the five-minute mark, Cal Poly executed a 7-0 run, trimming a 10-point lead to 91-88 with 4:29 to play. CSUN picked up a timely basket from Josiah Davis for a 95-90 lead with 2:07 to go, but Cal Poly scored the next four points to pull to within one. CSUN committed a costly turnover in the backcourt, resulting in the Mustangs taking a 96-95 lead when Peter Bandelj drew a foul and made two free throws.

With nine seconds left, CSUN elected to not call a timeout and instead drove the ball up the floor. Davis would make a drive to the hoop before finding a cutting O'Garro who swooped in for a driving layup and a 97-96 lead. The Mustangs' Cayden Ward took a last second three as time expired but it was off the mark, clinching a CSUN win.

JOSHUA O'GARRO GAME WINNER??

On his 12th assist of the night, Josiah Davis finds Josh for the winning shot with 2 seconds left. #GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/GTpSOgbih3
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) February 6, 2026

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN improved 14-10 overall and 7-5 in Big West play while Cal Poly dropped to 9-15 overall and 5-7 in conference.
The Matadors edged the Mustangs in field goal percentage at 52.8 compared to 52.4. CSUN made 14-of-27 from 3-point range (51.9 percent) and 7-of-10 free throws (70.0 percent) while Cal Poly hit 17-of-42 threes (40.5 percent) and 13-of-14 free throws (92.9 percent).
On the glass, CSUN had 36 rebounds compared to Cal Poly's 32.
The Matadors held a 36-32 edge in points in the paint and 26-16 lead in bench points.
Hughes made 12-of-20 from the field overall with 6-of-10 shooting from three. His 32 points are the most by a Matador since De'Sean Allen-Eikens scored 34 in 2024.
O'Garro finished with 12 rebounds to go with nine points, six assists and two steals.
Davis totaled 12 assists while scoring eight points. He has now reached double figures in assists in seven games this season.
For Cal Poly, Hamad Mousa had a game-high 33 points with 18 coming in the first half.

ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"Obviously, two really good teams battling it out. We knew and they knew, Cal Poly's a really good team and they're never out of it. Fifteen point leads come go in a minute and half of time. They were up 15 points at our place and that evaporated quickly. Same thing happened here, we got up big, 15 or 16 points, and a couple nice plays by them and before you know it, it's a one possession game. Just really proud of our guys' effort in a game like that. We haven't had a lot of close games. We had one with Fresno State and here, and we're going to need those coming down the stretch."

UP NEXT
CSUN returns to action on Saturday, hosting UC Riverside inside Premier America Credit Union Arena. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 p.m. on Spectrum SportsNet with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.

#GoMatadors