Cal State Northridge stuns UCLA, ends nation's longest home winning streak

The UCLA men's basketball team's play wouldn't win any beauty contests of late, and Tuesday's nonconference showdown with Cal State Northridge was as ugly as it's gotten for the Bruins in the young season.

The result, a 76-72 loss at Pauley Pavilion, cost UCLA the nation's longest home winning streak at 29 games.

The Matadors (8-3) had five players score in double figures led by guard Dionte Bostick's 18 points to go with seven rebounds.

UCLA (5-5) was paced by the backcourt of Sebastian Mack and Dylan Andrews, who combined for 49 points on 14-of-25 shooting. The rest of the team, however, was just 6 of 29 from the field.

Other issues included a season-worst 19 turnovers and 12 missed free throws en route to losing its third consecutive game.

The Bruins opened the game 2 of 14 from the field, including misses on its first six shot attempts, and trailed 16-5 through the opening 7 1/2 minutes.

Trailing by as many as 19 early in the second half, the home crowd wanted something -- anything -- to erupt for and a couple stops here, a few baskets in the paint there turned a restless murmur into a full-on roar after each sequence.

CSUN, however, used a late 11-3 run to hold off a UCLA charge that got within 57-56 with 7:48 to play. The Bruins never led in the second half.

It was just the second time UCLA has lost to CSUN in 11 all-time meetings and the first since November 2000.

UCLA will close nonconference play Friday against visiting Maryland. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will air on ESPN2.

The Bruins chipped away at the large, early deficit with the help of a 2-3 zone and some transition baskets, including a Will McClendon steal that led to a Mack layup through contact and a traditional three-point play.

That was in the middle of a 12-2 run that pulled UCLA within 20-19 with 8:52 left in the first half. Freshman center Aday Mara then had a chance to give the Bruins the lead but missed a pair of free throws at the 7:56 mark.

After cutting the deficit to a point for a second time moments later, the Bruins went the final 6 minutes, 35 seconds of the half without a made field goal as the Matadors took a 40-26 lead into the break.

CSUN pushed the lead to as many as 19 on a Bostick 3-pointer and layup to open the second-half scoring.

Finally, a UCLA sequence that included a Mack layup, a defensive stop, an Andrews floater and another defensive stop, all with the help of an increasingly boisterous crowd, cut the deficit to 53-46 with 12:11 left.

From there, the Bruins inched closer and closer after 3-pointers from Andrews and Mack, who then added a layup to pull within 57-56 at the 7:48 mark.

The Matadors immediately answered with an 11-3 run aided by a pair of turnovers from Mack and Andrews to ignite the push.

Gianni Hunt's 3-pointer with 5:18 left restored the CSUN advantage to 68-59 and UCLA never got closer than three points the rest of the way.

The freshman combo guard was particular effective getting to the free-throw line, making 13 of 16 shots, while 39 of the points Mack and Andrews scored came in the second half.

For long stretches, Mack's ability to knife into the paint was the only effective source of offense for UCLA.

If not for Mack's four steals, it would have been tough to find a single player worthy of being chosen.

For a Mick Cronin-led team, it's becoming more and more surprising that it has failed to find consistency on the defensive end.

The standout defender, Adem Bona, improved on the boards with 10 rebounds, but the sophomore failed to block a shot for a team that struggled giving up layups.

For the wrong reasons, the sequence of the game was back-to-back turnovers from Mack and Andrews as UCLA was making its strongest push with less than eight minutes to play.

The Bruins, as Cronin said, lost "all the hustle stats."

UCLA was outrebounded 36-34, outscored 34-20 in the paint, gave up 20 points off turnovers and were beat 13-9 in second-chance points.

The early deficit was too much to overcome and each time the Bruins made a push, the Matadors had a counter.