Men's Basketball Rings In New Year January 2 vs. Cal State Northridge

Riverside—The UC Riverside Men’s Basketball Team rings in the New Year with its first Big West Conference tilt of the season as the Highlanders welcome Cal State Northridge to the Student Recreation Center this Monday, January 2 at 7 pm PT.

A win over the Matadors would give UCR its first three-game winning streak since late in the 2009-10 season when they upended UC Irvine, Youngstown State and Pacific in consecutive games.

The Highlanders are coming off of a 70-65 road win over UT San Antonio that improved UCR’s record to 6-7 on the year: that is the second most wins the team has ever recorded in its Division I era prior to the New Year.

Kareem Nitoto recorded season highs of 20 points and 7 assists in the victory, and is now averaging 10.5 points per game on the year. Phil Martin is still the Highlanders’ leading scorer and rebounder averaging 15.1 points and 5.5 boards per contest.

The Matadors enter Monday’s game with a 3-8 record including 0-1 in conference play. They dropped their Big West opener 71-62 to UC Irvine. Stephen Hicks led the Northridge offense with 17 points thanks in large part to an 11-of-14 effort from the charity stripe. Hicks is the Matadors leading scorer averaging 17.1 points per game.

Cal State Northridge’s Achilles' Heel this season has been its defense as the Matadors are allowing opponents to score 74.0 points per game on 44.0 percent shooting from the field and 35.4 percent from three-point range.

The Highlanders have won the past two meetings between the teams, ending a 12-game losing streak to the Matadors on January 13, 2011. CSUN still owns a 35-30 overall advantage in the series including a 15-5 mark since UC Riverside joined the Big West in 2001-02.

Men's Basketball Rings In New Year January 2 vs. Cal State Northridge

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