Happy Thanksgiving!
We give thanks for a UC Irvine game this afternoon. CSUN and Long Beach State end their tournaments with losses.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers. We hope you enjoy the holiday with family, friends and yummy food. If you can sneak away for a couple of hours, the Big West’s only remaining unbeaten team has quite a challenge on its hands north of the border. UC Irvine begins play in the Western Slam vs. a Kennesaw State team that also hangs its hat on dominating the glass. If you can’t break away from the feast, you can always watch it on demand later on!
CSUN, which has made comebacks from double-digit deficits its thing, was not able to make it all the way back this time, losing at Montana. The Matadors were without head coach Andy Newman again. I guess that suspension, whatever it’s for, is for three games. I wonder if we’ll ever get clarity on what happened. Scott Cutler is now 1-1 in his capacity as acting head coach. Long Beach State, as expected, lost its 8th straight game. The Beach did find someone other than Devin Askew or TJ Wainwright to score, and they were in the game until halftime. Baby steps.
Montana 83, CSUN 75
MISSOULA, Mont. — Keonte Jones posted a double double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, but the Matadors (5-2) were unable to claw their way back in a loss to the Grizzlies (5-3). Montana, picked to win the Big Sky Conference, went 3-0 to win its own Stew Morrill Classic. CSUN shot 38.5% from the field and fell behind by as many as 15 points in the 2nd half. Marcus Adams Jr. added 17 points for the Matadors. CSUN was without head coach Andy Newman, who is serving a three-game suspension for a compliance issue. Newman will also miss Saturday’s game at Montana State.
San José State 82, Long Beach State 66
HENDERSON, Nev. — The Beach (1-8) trailed by just two at halftime but lost track of the Spartans in the 2nd half to finish 0-3 in the Ball Dawgs Classic. San Jose shot 64.3% from the field in the 2nd half while holding LBSU to 37.9%. Kam Martin scored 17 points to lead Long Beach, making 6 of 13 shots and 3 of 7 from the 3-point line.
Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024
4:30 PM PST: UC Irvine vs. Kennesaw State, ESPN+, Live Stats
The Anteaters (5-0) begin play in the Western Slam in Canada at VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Built for the 1975 Canada Winter Games, the 6,500-seat multi-purpose facility is home to the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the Western Hockey League. Lethbridge, just about an hour north of the Montana border and a couple of hours south of Calgary, is Alberta’s 4th most populous city at around 106,500 people. UC Irvine remains ranked third in CollegeInsider.com's Mid Major poll. First up for the ‘Eaters at the Western Slam are the Owls (5-1). Kennesaw State’s most recent outing was an impressive 79-77 victory at home over Rutgers of the Big Ten. The rugged Owls are dominating the boards, outrebounding their opponents by 15 a game. KSU is also shooting .463 from the field and holding opponents to .385. The Owls also make 37% of their three-point shots. Junior Simeon Cottle leads the team in scoring at 18.2 points per game, makes 3.5 threes a game and is 28 of 29 from the free throw line. KSU’s Achilles heel is its ball handling; the Owls are averaging 14.3 turnovers per game.