Boise St. Dominates Lackluster CSUN in 79-64 Victory
Cal State Northridge had assembled an unlikely five-game winning streak and considerable self-respect before it boarded an airplane to Milwaukee.
That was four days ago.
What happened to the team’s psyche after that is anyone’s guess, but an emotionally flat Matador squad has been flattened twice since then, the latest a 79-64 defeat to Boise State on Tuesday before a crowd of 7,134 at the BSU Pavilion.
“I guess when we got to 7-7 maybe we got a little satisfied,” Northridge guard Andre Chevalier said. “We can’t do that.”
Boise State (10-4), which won its seventh home game in eight tries, put the Matadors away with a 14-2 run during a seven-minute stretch midway through the first half.
For Northridge (7-9), the margin of defeat was its most lopsided of the season. The Matadors had not lost by more than 10 points before a 13-point loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Sunday.
“It’s like we’re regressing now, taking steps backward,” Northridge guard Brooklyn McLinn said. “I hope its not complacency . . . .”
Boise led, 42-26, at the half and stretched its advantage to as many as 19 points after intermission. This despite the absence of two of its top five scorers, John Coker and Lance Vaughn, who sat out the nonconference game because of injury and illness, respectively.
Tanoka Beard did play, however, and that was enough.
Beard, a 6-foot-10 senior, scored 21 points to lead Boise in scoring for the eighth consecutive game. Beard, working almost exclusively inside, made six of nine shots and connected on all nine of his free throws.
Anthony Moten, Chris Yard and Peter Micelli all took turns attempting to defend Beard with little success.
Moten, making only his second start, fouled out in 17 minutes. Yard, who was benched for the first 15 minutes of the second half, had four fouls in 18 minutes. Micelli, too, watched the start of the second half from the bench, entering after five minutes only after Jason Stewart picked up his fourth foul.
Cassidy started Stewart, a walk-on playing in only his third game, and freshman Josh Willis in place of Yard and Micelli because he “wanted to get more done.”
“I wanted guys who were going to go out there hard,” Cassidy said.
But Northridge already playing without James Morris, a 5-8 guard whose tenacious play sets a tempo for the Matador defense. Morris sustained a back injury when he landed hard in Sunday’s game.
Defense was not the only shortcoming for Northridge on Tuesday. The Matadors also struggled on offense.
Chevalier, the team’s top scorer, was shut out until he made a baseline jumper 17 minutes into the game. His basket was Northridge’s second field-goal in more than 10 minutes.
After McLinn’s three-point shot gave the Matadors their last lead, 13-11, at the 13:44 mark of the first half, Northridge made only one other other field goal--another jumper by McLinn--until Chevalier converted.
