CS Northridge Falls Hard to Boise State

Cal State Northridge had won five games in a row to even its season record before beginning a two-game trip four days ago. But the emotion that helped vault the Matadors to respectability must have been left behind.

An apparently drained Northridge team has been flattened twice in a row, the latest a 79-64 defeat to Boise State on Tuesday before 7,134 at the BSU Pavilion.

“I guess when we got to 7-7 maybe we got a little satisfied,” said Northridge guard Andre Chevalier, who led the Matadors in scoring with 15 points. “We can’t do that.”

Boise State (10-4, 7-1 at home) put the Matadors away with a 14-2 run over a seven-minute stretch midway through the first half.

The loss by Northridge (7-9) was by its biggest margin of the season.

“It’s like we’re regressing now, taking steps backward,” Northridge guard Brooklyn McLinn said. “I hope it’s not complacency because we were 7-7.”

Tanoka Beard, a 6-foot-10 senior, scored 21 points for Boise State.