PORTLAND STATE STEPS UP TO SWAT FAVORED NORTHRIDGE MATADORS FIND LIFE ON ROAD IS ROUGH PORTLAND STATE 76, CSUN 62.

Byline: Chris Branam Staff Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. - This is how it's going to be now. Off to the best Division I start in school history, the Cal State Northridge men's basketball players are going to just have to get used to being a favorite.

The price of success? CSUN can't play meekly for any stretch on the road against a Big Sky Conference opponent. It happened against Portland State on Thursday night, and the Matadors were buried 76-62 in front of 1,283 at Stott Center.

"We came out knowing we were the best team in the conference," CSUN junior guard Carl Holmes said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "We came out a little bit overconfident. We came out sluggish. (Portland State) just put it on us."

Northridge hardly fought back, falling behind by at least 10 points through much of the game. CSUN (10-4, 2-1) had its five-game winning streak snapped and dropped out of a first-place tie with Weber State; Eastern Washington, the Matadors' opponent Saturday night in Cheney, leads the Big Sky at 2-0.

The host Vikings (9-5, 1-1), who outrebounded Northridge 45-31, got 21 points from Derek Nesland, who missed all 12 of his shots last week in a loss at Weber State.

"The statistics are very, very telling," CSUN coach Bobby Braswell said. "Portland State was a desperate basketball team. (The Vikings) knew they needed to win. They were better than us at every position."

The first half was a nightmare for CSUN, a complete opposite of its spectacular performance six days ago at Idaho State, where the Matadors cruised to a 101-86 win. Portland led 27-12 at the 8 1/2-minute mark.

Every CSUN possession against PSU was awkward. Worse, the aggressiveness that makes the Matadors one of the most-potent offenses in the conference was gone.

"We came out not as focused as we should have been," said CSUN sophomore point guard Markus Carr, the Big Sky's top playmaker whose two assists were a season low. "We got beat down... You don't know why, you can't explain it, but one night you're great and the next night you're not so great."

Not so great was the perfect description. Brian Heinle, CSUN's leading scorer, had a season-worst 3 points, and he took only two shots, another low. Heinle, a junior center from Eugene playing in front of his family, capped a disappointing effort with a technical foul with 9 minutes, 57 seconds left.

Heinle's gaffe led to three free throws by PSU and the Vikings suddenly had a 19-point lead, 64-45. Just as quickly, the Northridge players sprung to life, darting around the court and causing a few turnovers.

Jeff Parris' 3-point play with 5:08 left made it 65-57, and the thought was creeping into the Matadors' minds: They might steal this game. Then, Portland's Anthony Lackey made a 3-pointer - the Vikings' first field goal in 11 minutes - and the rest of the game played out like the first half; CSUN took bad shots, hoped for fouls and continued to scramble.

"They came out and pushed us around," said Holmes, who had 11 points in 31 minutes. "This is an embarrassing loss for our program. It's not the end of the season, but this loss hurts."

After the team met for almost 20 minutes in the locker room after the game, Braswell emerged only to say about the same thing. He knows the Matadors were tested Thursday in the role of a Big Sky favorite. Their grade was below-average.

"We were a step behind in everything we did," he said. "I told them, `You've got a target on your back and on your chest, everywhere you go'."