Cal State Northridge ends 11-year Pac-12 drought smacking UCLA 76-72

Dec 20, 2023, 05:05 pm

LOS ANGELES -- — Dionte Bostick scored 18 points and De'Sean Allen-Eikens scored 17 points and Cal State Northridge ended an 11-year losing streak against the Pac-12 Conference stunning UCLA 76-72 on Tuesday night.

Prior to Tuesday, the last time the Matadors beat a Pac-12 school occurred Dec. 21, 2012. CSUN hadn't won in Pauley Pavilion since the 2000-01 season, a year that resulted in a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The loss ended UCLA's 29-game home winning streak.

Reserves Mahmoud Fofana scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Gianni Hunt — a transfer from Sacramento State making his Matadors debut — scored 12. Keonte Jones added 12 points before leaving late due to injury.

UCLA freshman Sebastian Mack came off the bench and scored a career-high 27 points, Dylan Andrews scored 22 points and Lazar Stefanovic 11. Adem Boma secured 10 rebounds for the Bruins.

Bostick made a pair of foul shots with 16:34 left to give CSUN its largest lead at 47-29. UCLA rallied and closed within 57-56 nine minutes later on a layup by Mack with 7:48 left but the Matadors held on.

Andrews' jumper 2 1/2 minutes in marked UCLA's lone lead at 2-0.

The Matadors raced to an 18-7 lead before UCLA closed to 20-19 with a 12-2 run in a 2 1/2-minute stretch. CSUN unloaded again by outscoring UCLA 20-7 over the final 7:03 of the first half and the Matadors up 40-26 at halftime.

Cal State Northridge (8-3) hosts Montana State on Friday.

The Bruins (5-5) host Maryland on Friday.

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