NORTHRIDGE, Calif. (Feb. 3, 2023) – The UC Santa Barbara Men's Basketball team (18-3, 9-1 Big West) will be back in action as they travel south to Northridge, California to take on the CSUN Matadors. The last time these two teams faced one another was in The Thunderdome, where the Gauchos secured the 72-52 win over the Matadors.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos welcomed the Mustangs of Cal Poly to The Thunderdome for the final leg of the Blue-Green Rivalry for the 2022-23 season as UC Santa Barbara packed The Dome for the occasion. Despite Cal Poly keeping pace with the Gauchos, it was UC Santa Barbara who came out with the victory, defeating Cal Poly 68-62.
SCOUTING THE MATADORS
CSUN has only won one Big West game this season as they took down Cal State Fullerton in overtime in their home gym. Most recently, the Matadors were on the road at UC Irvine, dropping that game 81-56.
Atin Wright continues to be an instrumental player for the Matadors and is also one of the best in The Big West. He currently leads the conference in free throw percentage, making 87.5 percent of his shots from the charity stripe. He is also fourth in the conference in steals and fifth in minutes per game. His stats go beyond just the conference rankings. Wright leads the team in scoring with 321 points which averages out to 14.59 a game, with the next closest Matador sitting at 261 points. to go along with all of his other accolades, Wright leads the team in steals, snatching 31 so far this season.
De'Sean Allen-Eikens has been a huge factor on defense for CSUN. He leads the team in rebounds, grabbing 121 boards throughout the season. Of those, 43 are offensive and 78 were on defense. He is one of two players to start all 22 games for CSUN.
Sophomore guard Dionte Bostick has been a huge part of CSUN's lineup. He distributes the ball to his teammates well as he leads the team in assists with 56. He is also second on the team in points with 261, averaging 12.43 a game since he missed one game this season. He is the only player to start in 21 of the 22 games.
When it comes to protecting the rim, Fidelis Okereke is the person the Matadors look to. The sophomore forward currently leads the team in blocks, registering 15 on the season.
The Matadors are coached by Trent Johnson, who is in his second season with the team. Prior to CSUN, Johnson coached at LSU, Stanford, TCU and Nevada. Over the course of his career, he has amassed a 287-306 record.
Coach Johnson hit the transfer portal hard once stepping into this role. Of the 17 players on his roster, seven of them are transfers from New Orleans, Murray State, Indiana State, Fordham and North Dakota.
WHEREABOUTS
Tipoff for this game will be at the Premier America Credit Union Arena in Northridge at 7 p.m. For those who can't make it in person, the game will be available through ESPN+ or live stats.
