The Matadors (6-15, 2-4 Big West) could not overcome another rough first half against the Long Beach State 49ers (10-11, 4-1 Big West), losing 64-58 at the Matadome Saturday night.
“If you make your shots and make the plays that are necessary down the stretch, you can win,” said CSUN men’s basketball head coach, Reggie Theus. “And if you don’t, you lose by seven.”
Like the previous two match-ups between these teams, the game started off at a frenetic pace. Despite the speed of the game, both teams struggled converting attempts at the rim, as they went a combined 3-17 from the floor in the first three and a half minutes.
Although the Matadors had another strong first-half defensive outing, holding the 49ers’ two leading scorers, senior guards Mike Caffey (17.8 points per game) and Tyler Lamb (9.3 points per game) to a combined 7-22 and 16 points in the half, the Matadors found themselves in another sizeable first-half deficit due in large part to turnovers and poor shooting.
“When you look at what happened early, I just thought that we dropped the ball four or five times early in the first half around the basket” said Theus. “The bottom line is that you gotta play, you gotta play with confidence.”
By halftime, CSUN had already committed 11 turnovers, which resulted in 14 Long Beach State points. The Matadors’ penchant for giving up possession not only helped jump-start the 49ers’ offense, but it also disrupted any type of scoring rhythm the Matadors had. With leading scorer and senior guard Stephan Hicks in foul trouble and senior forward Stephen Maxwell being crowded, CSUN struggled manufacturing good looks and finished the half shooting 20.8 percent from the floor and down 18-28.
“In the first half they doubled him [Maxwell] a few times, thus he didn’t do well,” Theus said.
With Hicks back for the second half, the Matadors displayed more continuity on offense, as Maxwell found himself with more room to operate, resulting in back-to-back finishes at the rim to bring the Matadors within eight early in the second half.
“In the second half, if you don’t double him, that’s what happens, he scores points,” Theus said.
Maxwell’s reemergence seemingly ignited the Matadors on the other end of the floor as well as they forced four 49ers’ turnovers nearly six minutes into the half. The increased defensive aggressiveness allowed CSUN to get out in transition and attack an unorganized Long Beach State defense, which factored into the Matadors cutting the 49ers’ lead to 36-30 on a pair of free throws by senior forward Devonte Elliot.
“The main message he [Theus] tells me is just push it,” said junior guard Landon Drew, in reference to the increased pressure in the second half. “With that being said, it just develops the mindset to be aggressive.”
However, Long Beach State responded to CSUN’s run by going scoring the next five points to push the lead back up to double figures at 41-30.
Shortly after, CSUN battled back by going on their own 12-5 run, highlighted a Drew 3-pointer, which trimmed the lead to 46-42.
“My mentality is like every time it goes up, I believe it’s going in,” said Drew. “So I’m going to keep on shooting an looking to stay aggressive because I know that helps the team out.”
But in a back and forth affair, the 49ers responded by scoring eight of the next 12 points, putting the Matadors back on their heels.
And in the end, Maxwell, who had 16 second half points, and Drew could not lift the Matadors, as their defense unraveled late and sent the 49ers to the free throw line several times, where they converted and put the game out of reach.
Following this loss, CSUN will look to end their four-game home stand on a positive note against Hawaii at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
