The CSUN men’s basketball team came into Saturday night’s Big West showdown vs. Cal Poly winners of seven of their last eight games and riding a four-game winning streak.
However, for the first time since their Jan. 25 loss to UC San Diego, the Matadors trailed at the half after losing a key contributor in guard PJ Fuller II to injury. After a career night from Scotty Washington, CSUN completed their comeback effort and took down the Mustangs 89-85 to extend their winning streak to five games.
Washington had a career-high 29 points on 10-19 shooting from the field, including 5-8 from behind the arc. It’s his sixth game this season where he’s scored 20 points or more.
“I felt good. I felt good from the way I woke up this morning, to shootaround, to practice, to the game,” Washington said. “Once we get stops, we’re unstoppable.”
CSUN head coach Andy Newman raved when talking about his star guard.
“[He’s] incredible. We weren’t playing great and were making so many mistakes, and he just made big shot after big shot. [He] really carried us offensively, so I was really happy for him that he was able to have that kind of night,” Newman said.
Ultimately, Newman was displeased with his team’s defensive effort and thought they left much to be desired.
“I don’t think we played a very good defense. We’ve got a lot of room to get better there. But credit to these guys to still find a way to win when they’re not playing their best,” Newman said. “So that’s what we’ve kind of been doing and that’s the calling card of a really good team.”
The Matadors got another double-double performance from their superstar forward, Keonte Jones. He had 16 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Jones is up to 12 double-doubles on the season.
Marcus Adams Jr. picked up his second double-double of the season. The sophomore forward had 17 points and 10 rebounds for CSUN.
CSUN and Cal Poly couldn’t separate from each other as each team exchanged blow for blow at the beginning of the first half. The biggest lead the Matadors built up was seven points before the Mustangs roared back to end the half. Cal Poly closed out the first half on a 16-7 run in the final 5:30 to take a 50-46 lead into halftime.
With about two minutes left before the half, Fuller II tried driving to the basket from the three-point line but pulled up with an ankle injury. He was able to walk off the court with some help but ended the night with a boot around his foot, and his availability moving forward is currently unknown.
The Matadors battled back in the second half despite Fuller II’s absence. Newman was proud of his team’s response after losing Fuller II.
“I was really happy how Tyler [Beard] and Jordan [Brinson] picked up the slack for us. Looking forward to those guys contributing more in the future,” Newman said.
Beard had nine points, seven assists and five rebounds off the bench. Brinson’s defensive presence helped limit Cal Poly’s Jarred Hyder to zero points in the second half after scoring 11 in the first half.
In their inspiring second-half performance, CSUN did nearly everything right on the offensive end of the court. Beard’s court vision helped the Matadors shoot the ball lights out. They shot 50% from the field and out-rebounded Cal Poly 25-16.
The Matadors will hit the road this week as they travel to UC Irvine on Feb. 20 for a game with big tournament seeding implications on the line. The Anteaters sit second, one spot above CSUN in the Big West conference standings. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+, and tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
