CSUN Matadors shock UCLA 76-72, snapping the NCAA’s longest home win streak

UCLA Bruins #12 Sebastian Mack (G) is driving, attacking the paint, and heading toward the basket at Pauley Pavilion. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

 WESTWOOD, CA – The Cal State Northridge Matadors (CSUN, 8-4) grabbed the lead early and never looked back snapping the UCLA Bruins (5-5) NCAA best 29 game home win streak, 76-72 at Pauley Pavilion.

It was CSUN’s first win against UCLA in over 23 years with the Bruins favored by 18 points leading up to the game. Dionte Bostick led the Matadors with 18 points in a balanced team effort that saw five different players score in double figures.

Freshman Sebastian Mack scored a career-high 27 points off the bench for the Bruins while Dylan Andrews chipped in 22. The rest of the Bruin team went 6-29 from the floor thanks to the swarming aggressive Matador defense.

“They outplayed us in every facet,” said Bruin coach Mick Cronin. “There are hustle stats at the bottom: points off turnovers, second chance points, points in the paint, we’re minus in every category.”

At the opening tip, it was raining outside of Pauley Pavilion. Inside, it was raining bricks with both teams missing their first 10 shots combined. Andrews broke the seal hitting a jump shot to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead, their only lead of the night.

On CSUN’s next possession, Mahmod Fofana drilled a three-pointer to give CSUN the 3-2 lead and the Matadors didn’t look back.

Over the next several minutes the Matadors’ defense swarmed the Bruins leading to multiple turnovers and fastbreak opportunities. Gianni Hunt sliced through three Bruins’ defenders to make a heavily contested shot giving CSUN the 11-5 lead.

Cal State Northridge Matadors #0 Dionte Bostic (G) going up for a layup. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

A minute later the Matadors’ ball rotation left the Bruins struggling to keep up as Fofana hit a wide-open Hunt who drained a three-pointer as part of an 11-0 run by the Matadors giving them a 16-5 lead with 12:33 remaining in the first half. UCLA immediately called a timeout as coach Cronin chastised his players on the sideline.

“They’re all nice kids, they’re trying,” said Cronin. “Tonight, the other team outplayed us exponentially with aggressiveness.”

Cronin plugged in 7-3 freshman center Aday Mara into the lineup hoping to slow down the Matadors’ points in the paint and intimate them defensively but the slow-footed Spaniard struggled to keep up with CSUN’s quicker players.

On offense Mara struggled as three Matador defenders swarmed him, stripping the ball shortly after entering the game. Frustrations came to a head on the next Bruins possession when a hard foul on Mara by the Matadors led to a double technical foul. Mara missed both free throws.

UCLA Bruins #2 Dylan Andrews (G) is dribbling and being guarded by a Cal State Northridge Matadors defender. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

Missed free throws were a theme for the Bruins who missed more than a third of their 35 free throws on the night. The dozen missed free throws were the difference maker in a four-point loss. Bruins players weren’t sure what to attribute the missed free throws to, especially when UCLA came into the game shooting over 73 percent from the charity stripe.       

“We’re usually a pretty good free throw shooting team,” said Bruin guard Lazar Stefanovic. “We don’t have many issues with it this year. We practice them all the time.”

Second-chance points were the bane of the Bruins's existence. Hunt turned an offensive rebound into a floater in the lane to bring the Matador lead back up to ten, 33-23 with 2:40 remaining in the first half.

“They were a much tougher team than us,” said Stefanovic. “They were stronger than us, boxing us out, getting rebounds, we couldn’t match their physicality.”

In the final minute 6-foot-9 Bryan Ndjonga hit a nimble stutter-step that left his defender floored as he drained a jumper that brought oohs and ahhs from the Bruin crowd. It was the freshman forward's only basket of the half but it gave CSUN a 14-point lead, 40-26 entering halftime.

Cal State Northridge Matadors #25 De’Sean Allen-Eikens (F) is going up for a dunk. Photo by Jerry Kelly/TGSportstv1.

At the half, no Bruin player had more than two baskets with the team shooting an atrocious 29 percent from the field and 20 percent from three. Defensively UCLA had ten turnovers thanks largely to CSUN’s seven steals. The Matadors outscored the Bruins in the paint 22-10 leading by as much as 14 points in the first half.

Early in the second half things continued to fall in CSUN’s favor literally as De’Sean Allen-Elkens watched the ball squirt on his hands and somehow slipped its way into the basket had players and fans alike shaking their heads in disbelief as the lead grew to 49-34, with 15:05 remaining.

The game got chippy again a minute later after a hard blindside shove in the back of Mack by CSUN’s Jasman Sangha. Mack sprung off the floor and got in the face of the wrong Matador player, which led to another double technical foul on both teams. There were five technicals in total called during the game as the physicality rose in the second half.

“We raised our physicality level in the second half,” said Stefanovic. “We have to be able to start our games with that high-intensity level and have other teams match ours.”

Keonte Jones raised his physicality level posterizing 6-foot-10 Adem Bona with a thunderous one-handed slam that had the entire arena buzzing as CSUN went up by 15 points, 53-38.

Allen-Eikens had his own ill intentions as he tried to hammer home a dunk on Stefanovic that rimmed out during a three-on-one fast break. A minute later he made up for it was a desperation three from deep as the shot clock expired to give the Matadors a 63-56 lead.

The Bruins rallied late to cut the lead down to four points and had a chance to tie in the final seconds but the Matadors were able to hold them off winning 76-72.

The Bruins outscored CSUN by ten points in the second half including 21 second-half points from Mack.

Both teams are off until Friday with CSUN hosting Montana State (5-5) and UCLA hosting Maryland (7-4).