CS Northridge Falls Behind, 18-2, Ends Up Losing by 17

The Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team was hoping to crash Utah State’s party at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday night but turned out to be a perfect guest instead.

The Aggies entered the contest with a 199-62 record on their home court--which opened in December, 1970--and left with a 95-78 nonconference victory over Northridge before 6,047.

Utah State (2-1) deserved much of the credit for the historical win, but Northridge did its best to aid the Aggies.

The Matadors shot 35.7% (28 of 78) from the field and committed 21 turnovers. They shot a horrendous 28.2% (11 of 39) in the first half as Utah State took a 50-31 halftime lead.

At one point, Northridge was one of 15 from the field and trailed, 18-2.

“They were very aggressive on defense,” Matador swingman Derrick Gathers said. “They said they were going to come after us and they did. They were fired up after losing to Brigham Young earlier in the week, and it showed.”

Although Northridge (1-3) trailed by 21 points early in the second half, the Matadors trimmed the Aggies’ lead to 12 points on three occasions, but the could get no closer.

Kris Brodowski’s basket pulled Northridge to within, 85-73, with 2:27 left, but Utah State countered with a 6-1 run on free throws by Gary Patterson and baskets by Roger Daley and former El Camino Real High standout Brent Lofton.

“We’re still very impatient with our offense,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said. “We’re not executing very well. We’ve got a lot of guys standing around and our offense is based on movement without the ball.”

Early foul trouble didn’t help Northridge either; Gathers picked up his second personal foul less than five minutes into the game, and Kendell McDaniels and Brodowski each had two shortly thereafter.

Things got so bad that Gathers (6-foot-3, 190 pounds) was guarding Utah State center Randy Funk (6-7, 215) toward the end of the half.

“We didn’t do a good job stopping their penetration,” Cassidy said. “Tonight, we played to our namesake. Ole! “

Four of Utah State’s five starters scored in double figures, led by burly (6-4, 200) forward Kendall Youngblood, who had 17 points.

Forward Rich Jardine and Funk added 15 points each as the Aggies’ starting front line outscored the Matadors’, 47-37.

Gathers had a game-high 22 points for Northridge, but 15 of those came in the second half when the matter already had been decided and Utah State was substituting freely.

Bill Mazurie had 13 points for the Matadors and Jemarl Baker added 12.

After starting out strongly against Weber State on Friday night, the Matadors struggled early against the Aggies.

Utah State jumped to an 8-0 lead, and, after a McDaniels basket, the Aggies went on a 10-0 run to take an 18-2 lead with 13:07 left in the first half.

Two Mazurie free throws ended the Utah State blitz, but things got worse for Northridge before they got better.

Trailing, 27-11, after Baker’s three-point basket, Northridge watched Utah State score nine of the next 10 points to take a 36-12 lead.

Northridge narrowed the deficit to 46-31 with 2:15 left in the half, but the Aggies scored the last four points to lead, 50-31, at intermission.

Youngblood led all scorers at halftime with 13 points, and teammates Funk and Jardine added 11 and 10, respectively.

Baker and Gathers had seven each for Northridge.