CSUN GETS A BIG WEST WIN MATADORS LOOK LIKE TEAM OF OLD, END LOSING STREAK AT SIX CSUN 73, CAL POLY SLO 54.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

SAN LUIS OBISPO - Not like this wasn't a surprise.

Cal State Northridge involved in another lopsided game? It was expected after an embarrassing 18-point loss at UC Santa Barbara.

The only surprise was that the Matadors were on the winning side of the rout this time.

After losing to UC Santa Barbara - its worst loss of the season - CSUN again looked like the formidable team it was at the start of the season.

CSUN erased its six-game losing streak with a 73-54 win over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in front of a sellout crowd of 3,032 on Saturday at Mott Gym.

It was CSUN's biggest conference road victory since an 86-62 win over Montana State in 2000 and the first victory in almost a month. CSUN hadn't won at Cal Poly since the 1994-95 season, though this was just the fourth game the team has played at Mott Gym since then.

``I told the guys (Friday), `We're at rock bottom, fellas,' '' CSUN coach Bobby Braswell said. ``We can't go any lower. The only thing we can do is play better. We're taking on the role of the underdog now. No one even thought we could win a (conference) game.''

Not the way the Matadors were playing. CSUN (7-8, 1-4 Big West) won its first conference game by playing solid defense, something it's always done well but something that was lost in the slump.

The Mustangs (7-8, 3-3) had a season-high 26 turnovers, thanks to an enthusiastic man-to-man defense. Curtis Slaughter and Joe Frazier were slapping the floor with both hands on nearly every defensive possession. The Matadors ditched the full-court press, and it worked.

``They just got after it tonight,'' Cal Poly coach Kevin Bromley said. ``They were doing it all. They were hand-checking, shoving us off the post, just being more physical than we were.''

CSUN guards Ian Boylan and Slaughter scored 17 points each and were a combined 12 of 23 from the field. Sophomore guard Frazier, who's just 6-foot-2, had 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

Cal Poly center Varnie Dennis, who leads the conference in rebounds, had 19 points but just four boards.

CSUN needed this win in the worst way. Perhaps a players meeting Friday, in which no one's feelings were spared, put CSUN back on the winning track.

``We really got after each other,'' Slaughter said. ``We called everyone out. We weren't holding back.''

And that translated to the court.

CSUN had just a four-point lead at halftime, but early in the second half, Boylan scored seven consecutive points in a 10-2 run to give CSUN a 38-28 lead with 15:28 left. The Matadors outscored the Mustangs 45-30 in the second half.

The Mustangs haven't exactly had a stellar season, but they recorded an impressive win over Pacific on Thursday. They looked as lifeless Saturday as CSUN did at the Thunderdome on Thursday.

Eight Matadors had at least one steal, including two by Frazier. On offense, he drove the lane and twice made baskets and was fouled. CSUN, which inexplicably outscored Cal Poly 30-8 in the paint, had several easy dunks and layups. It was just too easy.

But not everything was easy for Frazier.

Frazier had two inside shots blocked on one possession. After a blocked shot by Varnie Dennis inside, he got his own rebound and had his second shot blocked.

``You just gotta keep fighting,'' said Frazier, who was tossed in the hotel pool as a way of celebrating his 20th birthday on Friday.

The Matadors had a 28-24 halftime lead and Cal Poly had 17 turnovers in that stretch. CSUN was outrebounded just 36-34, an area Cal Poly was expected to dominate.

The Matadors shot 45 percent for the game. Boylan made 6 of 9 shots and Slaughter made 7 of 13.

``This is a big relief,'' Braswell said. ``We needed to get this monkey off our back. Guys were pressing, you could see it in their eyes.''