Northridge Hopes Opener Follows Script of ‘Hoosiers’ : College basketball: Matadors will begin second Division I season as heavy underdogs to Butler in venue used in popular film.

It happened in “Hoosiers,” the film that depicted a relatively unknown school defeating a heavily favored perennial contender to win the Indiana state high school basketball championship at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Pete Cassidy, Cal State Northridge’s basketball coach, is hoping for a similar result when he takes his second-year Division I squad into Hinkle Fieldhouse tonight for its opener against Butler, an established Division I team.

“I told Tom (assistant coach McCollum) to make sure he brings a tape to measure the basket,” Cassidy said in reference to a scene in the movie.

In all likelihood, Butler won’t need such an advantage. The Bulldogs advanced to the National Invitation Tournament last season and are picked to finish second in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.

And it doesn’t get any easier for Northridge on Sunday at Southern Illinois or on Monday at Evansville.

Southern Illinois is favored to win the Missouri Valley Conference and Evansville is picked to place in the middle of the pack in the competitive MCC.

Cassidy, who believes CSUN’s schedule is as tough as it was last season when his team went 8-20, has not set goals in terms of wins.

“At Division II, we talked about 20 wins in the season, winning the conference and getting to the playoffs,” Cassidy said. “It is unrealistic now to set goals like that. We are not in a conference, for one thing, and we have 17 road games.

“Our challenge is to be the best we can be. I know that sounds like a cliche, but what we want to do is improve every day in practice. We want to be smart, go hard and play together. We can’t sell ourselves short. We do not want to be afraid to win.”

If Northridge can win enough, Cassidy hopes the Matadors will be in line for selection to the NIT. “That is the only postseason (event) we are probably eligible for,” he said.

Including this Midwest swing, 10 of the Matadors’ first 13 games are on the road. The heavy hitters include Utah and Brigham Young of the Western Athletic Conference and Stanford of the Pacific 10.

Washington of the Pacific 10; Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Fullerton of the Big West; Montana, Montana State and Boise State of the Big Sky; and the University of San Diego, Loyola Marymount and St. Mary’s of the West Coast Conference offer other formidable challenges.

Northridge probably will be favored against at least three teams on its schedule: Cal State Sacramento, a first-year Division I team that will play CSUN on a home-and-home basis, and Division II opponents Fort Lewis (Colo.) and Southern Connecticut State.

Despite the expired eligibility of Kyle Kerlegan, the team’s top scorer, and Todd Bowser, the top rebounder and third-leading scorer, senior forward Keith Gibbs believes the Matadors already are better than they were last season.

“We’re totally different,” Gibbs said. “Maturity-wise, talent-wise and in our attitudes. We’re not listening to predictions like we did last year. We’re not listening to the press. Everybody still says we’re going to lose a certain amount of games, but we’re not listening.”

Ryan Martin, a freshman from Ocean View High in Huntington Beach, has stepped in for Kerlegan and provided an outside shooting touch.

In Northridge’s exhibition wins over the University of Victoria and High Five America, he connected on nine of 12 shots from three-point range.

“He’s a pretty good shooter, but he does more than that,” Cassidy said. “He plays position defense and he does a good job of penetrating and dishing off. He’s very focused and very much a competitor.”

Percy Fisher, Bowser’s understudy last season, will be counted on--along with power forward Shelton Boykin--for rebounding and defense.

A groin injury slowed junior college transfer James Morris in the preseason, but he is expected to contribute as point guard Andre Chevalier’s backup and occasional backcourt mate.

Reserve center Brian Kilian, walk-on guard Brooklyn McLinn and senior guards David Swanson and David Keeter also should make contributions.

A consistent performance from Gibbs, who is more comfortable away from the point-guard position he played off and on last season, is also critical to CSUN’s hopes of improving.