CSUN Rallies Past UC San Diego to Reach Big West Semifinals

Thursday, March 12

Henderson, Nev.

6:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

20-13,12-8Big West

UC San Diego

23-11,12-8Big West

UC San Diego

CSUN

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Rallies Past UC San Diego to Reach Big West Semifinals

3/12/2026 9:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

HENDERSON, Nev.---Senior Larry Hughes II scored a career-high 34 points as CSUN Men's Basketball came from behind to defeat UC San Diego 80-70 in the quarterfinals of the Big West Championship on Thursday at Lee's Family Forum. Joshua O'Garro totaled 15 points and six rebounds while Josiah Davis added 14 points and nine assists for the Matadors who outscored the Tritons 48-34 in the second half.

The Matadors have advanced to the Big West semifinals for the first time since 2014 and will play top-seeded UC Irvine on Friday.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Hughes shouldered the offensive load at the start, making four of his first five shots to put CSUN ahead 12-8. The Matadors would take a 16-10 lead following a Mahmoud Fofana layup, but the Tritons roared back with an 11-2 run to go in front. Tom Beattie scored 14 consecutive Triton points to power UCSD in the first half while the Tritons extended to a 31-25 lead near the five-minute mark. CSUN missed nine of 10 shots near the end of the half, but Hughes helped right the ship with two late baskets to pull the Matadors to within 36-32 at halftime.

The tear drop from Larry??

Larry Hughes II with 17 first-half points for CSUN!#GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/41GZThoUt1
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) March 13, 2026

UCSD went on a 7-2 run to begin the second half, extending the lead to 43-34. Near the 13-minute mark, the Matadors made a push as an 8-0 run, capped by a Davis steal and dunk on the other end to even the game at 46-46. Beattie quickly gave UCSD the lead right back with a three, but CSUN scored the next five points with Hughes draining a three for a 51-49 CSUN lead. After consecutive Triton threes, CSUN trailed 58-55 with 7:48 left to play before going on a 10-1 run as Hughes closed the string with back-to-back baskets.

In the final minutes, Davis took over for CSUN, scoring an and-one basket inside with 2:51 to go then finding Grady Lewis for a layup a minute later. Davis scored another driving layup with a minute to play for a Matador 77-70 lead. Three late free throws from the Matadors sealed a victory and spot in the Big West semifinals.

He's just too tough.

Josiah Davis with the and-one bucket inside! #GoMatadors pic.twitter.com/YuSCnMjaOn
— CSUN Men's Basketball (@CSUNMBB) March 13, 2026

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN improved to 20-13 on the season while UC San Diego slipped to 23-11.
The Matadors have now won 20 in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1999-01.
Hughes' 34 points are the most points scored by a Matador in the program's history at the Big West tournament.
Hughes also became just the second Matador in team history to make 100 threes in a season.
Fofana collected a team-high 12 rebounds to push his career total to 603. He is just the ninth Matador in team history to reach 600 rebounds for a career.
CSUN shot 49.2 percent overall after making 65.4 percent of its shots in the second half. From three, the Matadors made 8-of-28 (28.6 percent) while they hit 12-of-15 free throws (80.0 percent). UC San Diego finished at 37.7 percent from the field while making 9-of-33 threes (27.3 percent) and 15-of-17 free throws (88.2 percent).
The Matadors out-rebounded the Tritons 36-35.
Off the bench, Lewis contributed six points and five rebounds while Jordan Brinson had five points.

ACCORDING TO COACH ANDY NEWMAN
"Really proud of our guys' effort. That's a really good UC San Diego team that we found a way to come out on top of. They're very well coached and they have really good players. We were down and the guys stayed together. That's attributed to their leadership and the character of these guys. They stayed with the process and at the end of the day came out on top. Any time you beat a really quality team like that and in an environment like this, you did something really well. Just proud of our guys."

UP NEXT
Fourth-seeded CSUN takes on top-seeded UC Irvine on Friday for a spot in the Big West Championship game. Tip-off for the semifinal is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+. Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister have the call in an audio broadcast at GoMatadors.com/Radio.

#GoMatadors