Northridge Stays Close to 10th-Ranked Utah but Still Loses 8th in a Row

Cal State Northridge buzzed around like a pesky fly for much of Saturday night’s game against Utah.

But in the end, the 10th-ranked Utes swatted the Matadors away.

Northridge had no answer for a late 8-0 run by the Utes, who went on to post a 75-58 victory before 14,394 at the Huntsman Center.

The Matadors, down by just four points with 8 minutes 30 seconds to play, still are looking for their first win. They are 0-8 and have lost 11 consecutive games dating to last season.

“In that one bad stretch we made some foolish mistakes,” Northridge Coach Pete Cassidy said. “Every possession is so critical. Every shot is so critical. We had plenty of time. The shot clock was not close to running down.

“We’ve had a history of dry spells that happen for seven or eight minutes. It seems like seven or eight weeks. This time the dry spell wasn’t as long.”

Nevertheless, Cassidy was pleased with his team’s effort.

“We played hard and we played well. We are showing improvement,” he said.

The Utes (8-1) played without Josh Grant, an honorable mention All-American who is recovering from knee surgery and probably will be redshirted.

Reserve guard Jimmy Soto keyed Utah’s surge en route to a game-high 19 points.

“Soto really hurt us,” Cassidy said. “We did not do a good job controlling him.”

Brooklyn McLinn led Northridge in scoring with nine points and Percy Fisher, Andre Chevalier and Keith Gibbs each scored eight.

The Utes built a 54-43 lead with 13:26 remaining, but Northridge fought back with three-point baskets by James Morris and McLinn and a layup by John Moses off Brian Kilian’s steal. The 8-0 tear reduced the deficit to four points with 9:58 left.

Utah countered with three free throws but McLinn hit a three-point basket, one of seven the Matadors made in 14 tries. But Northridge missed its next three field-goal attempts.

Meanwhile, Utah scored eight points in a row--six on drives--to go back in front, 66-54, with 6:37 left.

This time, Northridge did not recover.

“Personally, I think we gave up,” Fisher said. “We don’t keep the intensity for the full 40 minutes. We’re a 35-minute club.

“We know we can win, but we let ourselves get down by three and then by 10, then we come back in contention and then we get down again.

“We create a lot of work for ourselves because of mistakes.”

The closest the Matadors drew was within nine points with 5:08 to go.

“Northridge plays very hard,” Utah Coach Rick Majerus said. “I saw the tape from the Evansville game and the Boise State game and every single game they are in there until they get to about the last seven minutes.”

Utah ran out to a 11-4 lead but the Matadors came back on a three-point basket by David Keeter, a tip-in by Fisher and a pair of three-point baskets by Ryan Martin. Martin’s second shot, from 23 feet, tied the score, 15-15.

Three consecutive turnovers cooled Northridge and the Utes took advantage, putting together a 13-2 run that gave them their largest lead of the half, 31-19 with 7:55 left.

The resilient Matadors scored seven consecutive points to stay in contention. In the last four minutes of the half they outscored Utah, 8-3, to pull within 37-34 at intermission.

Northridge was in a similar position at halftime Friday night against Boise State, but the Matadors shot 19% from the field in the second half of a 66-45 loss. The Matadors nearly doubled that against Utah, shooting 36% in the second half, but that still wasn’t enough. “A loss is a loss,” Chevalier said. “Some people took last night’s loss harder than tonight’s because we played better tonight. We played pretty good, but it’s still not the best we can play.”

McLinn said the Matadors gained Utah’s respect.

“Most definitely we earned their respect,” McLinn said of Utah, which advanced to the final 16 of the NCAA tournament a year ago before falling to Nevada Las Vegas. “It is a thrill to hit a shot and have the crowd get real quiet. And their players were saying ‘Damn, he’s shooting again.’

“We just need to turn some respect into some wins and we’ll be all right.”

Matador notes

Gibbs suffered a mild sprain in his left ankle early in the second half but was able to return. . . Northridge tied its season-low for turnovers with 12, seven less that its average. . . Shelton Boykin had a season-high five assists.