Just two days after suffering a gut wrenching loss to UC Riverside in their Big West home opener, the CSUN men’s basketball team went on the road to Cal Poly and picked up their first conference win of the season at the Mott Athletics Center.
In the 115th meeting between the two programs, the Matadors (7-3, 1-1) came away on top 102-91 over the Mustangs (5-6, 0-2) despite a furious second half rally that saw Cal Poly battle back from being down by 24 points at one point.
CSUN head coach Andy Newman said his team got hampered a bit in the second half with complacency as the Mustangs tried to rally from a 51-34 deficit at the half.
“I thought our guys battled hard and played good. We gotta tune some things up, but I thought our guys defended and played with intent,” Newman said. The first half was just perfect…Complacency crept in and a couple calls didn’t go (our) way and all of a sudden it’s a three point game.”
It was one of the best offensive nights that the program has had in a long time. The Matadors went over the 100-point mark for the first time since they put up 108 vs. Long Beach State on Feb. 1, 2017. CSUN finished shooting 50% from the field and an even better 57.1% from behind the arc.
CSUN forward Grady Lewis had a breakout performance in the win. He had 15 points and 12 rebounds in the first half. Lewis ended his night with career-highs with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Lewis wasn’t the only Matador with a big offensive game as guard PJ Fuller II went off for 22 points and seven assists.
“We’re dynamic, obviously we can score in a lot of different ways…we shot two 3’s in the first half and scored 51 points doing it,” Newman noted. “In the second half, we adjusted, they adjusted and kinda packed it in a little bit. Then we made some 3’s, some big ones.”
Cal Poly was led by guard Owen Koonce who had a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.
The Matadors played only eight non-conference games before their first two Big West games of the season, thanks to Bold Week, something that Newman said is tough to deal with, but adds that other coaches across the conference have to deal with it as well.
“It’s tough because we’re still learning our team, we’re still learning our rotation, we’re still learning who’s playing, and who’s not…so we’re really a work in progress right now,” Newman said. “So to play league games while you’re still trying to figure it out is tough, but I’ll say this, every team is going through the same thing. It’s fair for everybody.”
CSUN will have a sizable break between the win at Cal Poly and their next game. The Matadors won’t play again for another 11 days, until their Dec. 18 game at USC as CSUN looks to make it consecutive years of upsetting a local power conference foe after last year’s win over UCLA at the Pauley Pavilion.
