CSUN RUNS OUT OF STEAM; MATADORS SHOOT 37 PERCENT IN DEFEAT : BYU 84 CSUN 78.Byline: Jody Genessy Special to the Daily News The Cal State Northridge basketball team is off to a great start by its standards, but winning a second tournament title in as many weeks may have been asking too much. A week after earning the PowerBar Invitational championship in Hawaii, the Matadors fell a few buckets short at BYU's Cougar cougar: see puma. cougar or puma or mountain lion or panther Species (Puma concolor) of large, graceful cat that lives in a wide variety of habitats in the Americas, from southern Alaska to Patagonia. Classic. Northridge lost in the title game to the host Cougars 84-78 on Saturday night. During a few long stretches, the Matadors looked in desperate need of a PowerBar or something to boost their energy level. Playing at high altitude Conventionally, an altitude above 10,000 meters (33,000 feet). See also altitude. , on the road and on consecutive nights did little to help them find the basket. Northridge coach Bobby Braswell Bobby Braswell, an American basketball coach, is currently the head coach for Cal State Northridge. Braswell was named the fourth head coach in Northridge history on April 30, 1996, succeeding the retired Pete Cassidy. believes his team was more winded that usual because of that combination. As a result, the Matadors' five-game winning streak Noun 1. winning streak - a streak of wins streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" was snapped. Their record now stands at 5-3, with a game against UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX coming up Saturday. ``We were out of energy,'' said Braswell. ``When you play back-to-back games, that happens. We just ran out of juice. . . . I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what it was. We were just tired.'' It showed. Though it took an early 10-point lead, the fatigued Northridge squad suffered through a miserable shooting performance in the first half. The Matadors hit only 29 percent of their field goals and 47 percent of their free throws. Thanks to an almost-equally inept half by BYU BYU Brigham Young University BYU Bayou BYU Bob's Your Uncle BYU Bayreuth, Germany - Bindlacher Berg (Airport Code) BYU Beyond Your Understanding , the Matadors only trailed 35-32 at the break. Northridge actually shot better (sort of) in the second half, but that's also when BYU took control of the game. For the contest, Northridge shot a dismal 37 percent from the field and a lousy 49 percent from the free-throw line free-throw line n. See foul line. . The poor free-throw shooting (16 for 33) was especially damaging in the second half as BYU built a 14-point lead. ``We didn't shoot well,'' said Braswell, whose team shot 45 percent from the field in beating Southern Utah on Friday. ``We can't win or beat anybody shooting (37) percent. We hurt ourselves and we didn't shoot well from the line, either.'' It was good outside shooting that sparked the Matadors to their 17-7 lead midway through the first half. Brian Heinle, Greg Minor Greg Magado Minor (born September 18, 1971 in Sandersville, Georgia) is an American former NBA basketball player. Having averaged 12.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in three seasons at the University of Louisville, Minor was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers as the and Andre Larry each nailed 3s to help them take control early. The Cougars fought right back with a couple of long bombs from Nathan Cooper and Brian Dignan, but the game changed completely when Cougar reserve Todd Christensen entered. The sophomore drilled three 3-pointers and made an off-balance layup to help BYU take its first lead 26-23 with four minutes left in the half. He ended the half with 13 points in about nine minutes of play, including a jumper right before the buzzer to give BYU its three-point lead. ``Todd Christensen came off the bench tonight and just gave us a huge offensive spark,'' said BYU coach Steve Cleveland. ``He made some huge baskets.'' Cooper and the Cougars wore down the Matadors in the second half. He finished with 20 points and earned MVP (Multimedia Video Processor) A high-speed DSP chip from Texas Instruments, introduced in 1994. Officially introduced as the TMS320C80, it combines RISC technology with the functionality of four DSPs on one chip. honors for the tournament. The Matadors made it exciting down the stretch, using a confusing press to pull within five points. But they never threatened to take the lead as BYU hit some key free throws to clinch the victory. Heinle led Northridge with 18 points, and he was the Matadors sole all-tournament player selection. Jeffrey Parris scored 17 points. The Matadors played their third straight game without power forward Rico Harris, who suffered a hip pointer in the Hawaii tournament. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion