CSUN STILL ROAD WEARY : PORTLAND STATE 83, CSUN 75.

Byline: Marc J. Spears Daily News Staff Writer

The phrase ``Close but no cigar'' might as well be Cal State Northridge's motto away from the San Fernando Valley this season.

The Matadors have been competitive against good competition in opposing gyms this season, but they haven't found a way to win.

Their Big Sky opener was no different as Jason Hartman of Thousand Oaks scored a career-high 33 points to spark Portland State to an 83-75 upset victory over CSUN on Friday night. The Matadors' loss, in front of 857 at the Peter Scott Center, dropped them to 0-6 in true road games this season and extended their losing streak against Division I opponents to four games.

``It is not anything about the road,'' said CSUN coach Bobby Braswell. ``It is about our team growing up, showing some character, playing strong in the beginning and finishing strong. That is just something that we got to grow into.

``There are a lot of new players on this team and a lot of people that haven't been in this situation before that have to do some growing up. We have a lot more to play on the road . . . that's for sure.''

The Matadors (4-7, 0-1 in conference) were led by freshman guard Carl Holmes (14 points) while forward Jabari Simmons added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Portland State shot a school-record 65 percent, making 26 of 40 field goals and nailing 27 of 33 free throws while beating CSUN for the first time.

Northridge had trouble getting the ball inside, shot just 39.4 percent from the field (26 of 66) and was 10 points under its scoring average. Moreover, forward Mike O'Quinn and guard Greg Minor each scored 10 points, which was a combined 13 points under their average.

After being down by as many as 15 points, the Matadors cut the Vikings' lead to 67-65 with 3:33 remaining but could get no closer.

Hartman made 9 of 16 shots and nailed 14 of 14 free throws on his career night for Portland State (6-5, 1-0 Big Sky). The two-time Ventura County most valuable player began his collegiate career at Washington, where he averaged 7.1 points and started five games.

But after his scoring average dropped, his minutes went down and he started just two games as a sophomore. He opted to transfer to Portland State and play for former Washington assistant Ritchie McKay.

After redshirting last season, Hartman became eligible to play on Dec. 13 and has been a starter in all six games he has played.

``This goes back to my Thousand Oaks days,'' said Hartman, about his offensive performance. ``It felt nice. It was a team effort, but it just happened that the offensive calls came for me.

``Obviously it is nice to play well against people from our area. We looked at it as trying to get a win against one of the better teams in the conference.''

The second half opened one-sided in favor of Portland State as Hartman became a one-man show. The Vikings began with a 24-10 run, that included 10 points from Hartman, gave them a 60-45 lead with 10:25 remaining after a base-line one-handed slam by Hartman.