CSUN Visits Bakersfield Before Hosting Fullerton on Senior Night

Thursday, March 5

Bakersfield, Calif.

6:30 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

Cal State Bakersfield

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Visits Bakersfield Before Hosting Fullerton on Senior Night

3/4/2026 11:28:00 AM | Men's Basketball

MBB Game Notes - March 4

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.---CSUN Men's Basketball wraps up the regular season this week as the Matadors look to clinch a first-round bye in next week's Big West Championship. The Matadors open this week at Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+ while the regular season concludes on Saturday with a Senior Night matchup against Cal State Fullerton at 5 p.m. on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan and Alan Zinsmeister on the call.

BIG WEST RACE OUTLOOK
CSUN (18-12, 11-7 Big West) enters the final week of Big West play tied for third place in the conference standings with UC San Diego at identical 11-7 records. Both CSUN and UCSD are two games back of first place UC Irvine and Hawai'i at 13-5 records each. UC Santa Barbara is in fifth, but just a half game back of third place at 11-8 while UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton are tied for sixth at 10-8 each and Cal Poly sits in eighth place at 9-9.

With two wins this week, the Matadors would assure themselves a first-round bye in the Big West tournament next week. First round action of the Big West Championship from Lee's Family Forum in Henderson, Nev. begins Wednesday, March 11 while second round competition starts on Thursday, March 12.

SENIOR SALUTE
CSUN will honor an eight-member senior class consisting of Jordan Brinson, Josiah Davis, Mahmoud Fofana, Larry Hughes II, Grady Lewis, Joshua O'Garro, Robert Thibiant and Joseph Barrio prior to tip-off on Saturday. Both Brinson and Fofana are the longest tenured Matadors with three years spent at CSUN, which includes three straight winnings seasons. The trio of Lewis, Thibiant and Barrio are completing their second year with the program. The quartet of Hughes, Davis, Fofana and O'Garro have been CSUN's top four leading scorers this season and each have enjoyed career seasons in scoring inside a Matador uniform.

ABOUT LAST WEEK
CSUN entered last week tied for first place in the Big West but suffered a pair of setbacks. UC Irvine handed the Matadors a 68-67 defeat at Premier America Credit Union Arena last Thursday, scoring the game-winning basket at the buzzer after CSUN led with 1.3 seconds remaining. Joshua O'Garro led the way versus UCI, posting a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Two days later, CSUN fell again, this time on the road at UC Riverside 95-84 as the Matadors surrendered 56 second-half points. The loss to UCR spoiled a career night for Josiah Davis who scored a personal-best 38 points on 15-of-23 shooting.

THE ASSIST MAN
Senior Josiah Davis' league-leading 7.2 assists per game and 217 total assists are among the best in the nation, ranking fifth and sixth in all of Division I basketball, respectively. Davis has already etched his name in CSUN history this season, tying the single-game record for assists with 15 in two separate games. Overall, Davis has dished out the second-most assists in a season in school history with his 217 helpers. While his playmaking has been impressive, Davis has also seen his offensive production increase in Big West play to a CSUN-best 17.3 points per game, highlighted by a career-high 38 point outburst at UC Riverside on Feb. 28. Overall, Davis is averaging 15.5 points on the season, which ranks second-best on the team.

MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
Senior guard Larry Hughes II has led the team in scoring throughout the season, posting the fourth-best average in the Big West at 17.7. Hughes also tops the Big West and ranks 22nd in the nation in 3-point field goals made per game (3.1) while he is third in the conference in 3-point percentage (41.0). His 91 made threes are the fourth-most in school history for a season. No slouch on the defensive end, Hughes is tied for fourth place in the Big West in steals per game at 1.6.

OWNING THE GLASS
CSUN remains the Big West leader in rebounding, totaling 41.6 per game, good enough for sixth-best in the nation. The Matadors, who have also led the Big West in rebounding each of the last two seasons, are tops in the league in offensive rebounds per game (13.2) and ranked second in both rebounding margin (+5.6) and defensive rebounds per game (28.4). CSUN boasts two of the top three rebounders in the Big West on its squad as Joshua O'Garro sits in first place at 9.3 per game and Mahmoud Fofana ranks third at 7.9 per game. O'Garro, who scores 14.1 points per game, has averaged 7.5 defensive rebounds and registered 12 double-doubles, which rank sixth and 20th in the nation, respectively. Fofana is the Matadors' top offensive rebounder, posting 3.0 per game to lead the conference.

QUICK HITS
CSUN enters Thursday ranked third in the Big West in team scoring average at 81.5. Overall, CSUN has scored 80 or more points in 20 of 30 games this season ... The Matadors are also first in the Big West and 34th in the nation in assists per game at 17.0 ... Mahmoud Fofana became the 20th Matador in school history to reach 500 career rebounds on Jan. 24 against Hawai'i. With nine more rebounds this season, Fofana would reach the all-time career top-10 in school history ... Fofana also tops the Big West in field goal percentage at 63.4. CSUN's record for a season is 64.1 percent, set by Tom Ruetten in 1984-85 ... Joshua O'Garro is ranked 24th in the nation in rebounds per game at 9.3. O'Garro's previous best rebounding average was 7.0 set at Texas State in 2024-25 ... Senior Jordan Brinson, who is completing his seventh year in college this season, has made 12 of his last 17 attempts from three, improving his season percentage to 36.5 this season.

SCOUTING CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
The Roadrunners are 8-22 overall and 2-16 in Big West action. CSUB dropped games last week to UC San Diego, 84-72, and Long Beach State, 88-87. The Runners' last win came on Jan. 8 against UC Riverside. On the season, CSUB has gone 6-10 at the Icardo Center. Bakersfield leads the Big West in free throws made per game (18.8) while team is averages 72.6 points per game against 81.2 points per game allowed. Dalin Smith ranks sixth in the Big West in scoring, averaging 16.0 points followed by Ronald Jessamy at 13.2 points.

Series History: CSUN trails the all-time series to Bakersfield, 29-28. The Matadors took the first meeting this season on Dec. 4 behind a 27-point effort from Larry Hughes II.

SCOUTING CAL STATE FULLERTON
The Titans are 15-15 overall with a 10-8 mark in the Big West. Fullerton is just one game back of the top four spots in the Big West entering play this week. Winners of five of the last seven, Fullerton suffered a last second loss to Hawai'i last Saturday, 87-85. The Titans lead the Big West in scoring, averaging 83.7 points per game while they are first in steals per game (8.0) and turnovers per game (14.8). On the road this season, the Titans are 6-11. Josh Ward tops the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game, good enough for 10th-best in the Big West. The tandem of Landon Seaman (12.4) and Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (12.1) are also scoring in doubles figures for the high-scoring Titans.

Series History: Fullerton extended its lead over CSUN to 52-41 in the all-time series after picking up an 86-79 win at Titan Gym on Jan. 10. The loss at Fullerton snapped a five-game CSUN win streak in the series.

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