GAME NOTES: Back out on the road, the slumping Cal State Northridge Matadors confront the Pepperdine Waves in non-conference action at Firestone Fieldhouse on Thursday night.

The Matadors, who defeated Montana State and Samford in back-to-back efforts last month, have lost four in a row and are 0-4 in true road dates thus far. The latest setback came at home however, as the squad bowed to South Dakota by three points on Tuesday, 68-65.

While CSUN has already played eight games to this point, the Waves have participated in half that many and have been out of action for more than a week now. The last time Pepperdine took the floor was on Nov. 24 versus Iowa on the road, a contest that ended in a 72-61 final and snapped the team's three-game win streak to begin the 2014-15 campaign.

The series between these teams is tied at eight games apiece, with the Matadors posting an 81-75 victory on the road in Northridge in the most recent clash two seasons ago.

Again going with a short bench, the Matadors may have cost themselves a potential win as they relied heavily on the starters against South Dakota in a 68-65 home loss a few nights back. Stephan Hicks did all he could to keep CSUN close with his game-high 27 points, shooting 9-of-13 from the floor and 9- of-10 at the free-throw line, while also clearing nine rebounds in the close call. Devonte Elliott accounted for 14 points off the bench and Stephen Maxwell another 11 points in the setback.

Hicks, who now needs just 83 points to become the program's all-time leading scorer, is currently second on the team's scoring list this season with his 15.9 ppg as he shoots 53.3 percent from the floor. With his 50.0 percent accuracy, Maxwell is putting up a slightly better 16.1 ppg to go along with his team-best 7.1 rpg which means he is now 45 rebounds shy of becoming the school's all-time leader in that category. Maxwell is also shooting an impressive 86.1 percent at the free-throw line, Hicks 79.5 percent, which is reminiscent of a program that led the nation last season with 79.1 percent at the stripe last season.

The problem for the Waves when they met up with Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena is that they ended up with just as many turnovers (19) as made field goals and that rarely turns into a positive outcome for a program. Shooting just 37.3 percent from the field and 7-of-27 (.259) behind the 3-point line, Pepperdine was led by Shawn Olden who finished with 17 points, while Stacy Davis came within a rebound of a double-double as he posted 13 points. Jett Raines accounted for eight points and a game-high 10 boards for the squad as well.

Through four games, Davis leads the team in scoring with 16.5 ppg and is one of the better rebounders with eight per contest, trailing only Raines (13.3 ppg) who is pulling down nine boards per game. Raines is shooting 56.4 percent from the field, but for someone who has played a total of 132 minutes, it is hard to believe that he has just a single assist to his credit. Jeremy Major accounts for another 11.8 ppg and is tied with Olden for the most 3-pointers with five. The team as a whole is knocking down a shade over four triples per contest.

You would think that with Maxwell and Hicks playing as well as they are the Matadors would have more wins by now, but at least they will be in the running for a victory when they hit the floor on Thursday.