Matadors Can’t Pass This Class

Perhaps the moment that summed up Cal State Northridge’s 95-73 nonconference loss to UCLA on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion was in the first half, when UCLA’s J.R. Henderson, one of California’s most heavily recruited players, drove to the basket against Walter Jefferson, a walk-on who was discovered in a basketball class.

“I just think we were outclassed, no doubt about it,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said.

Facing a team that began the season ranked fifth in the nation, the Matadors could have played their best game and lost.

And playing their worst? Forget it.

“We just didn’t come out to play good basketball tonight,” Braswell said.

Northridge hinged its upset hopes on its full-court press, and it seemed to work for the early part of the game. The Matadors were all over the court, stealing the ball and forcing the Bruins into other turnovers, many of which turned into easy baskets for the Matadors.

But after Northridge pulled within 22-20 with 9 minutes 17 seconds to play, the game reversed itself. UCLA beat Northridge’s press and then shredded the half-court defense.

Time after time, one of the Bruins big men--and compared to the Matadors, aren’t they all?--found himself open under the basket for another crowd-pleasing, two-handed, knees-pointing-to-the-sky dunk.

“They just kept running and running at us and it wore us down,” said guard Gerald Rhoden.

A couple of the most positive developments for Northridge (1-3) were the continued strong play of Rhoden, whose 15 points made him the team’s leading scorer for the second consecutive game, and the play of forward Keith Higgins, who made several nice moves and scored 10 points. This after he missed all seven of his shots on Saturday.

Junior point guard Lucky Grundy, a walk-on, also performed well, playing 21 minutes with only one turnover. Grundy started in place of Trenton Cross, who suffered bruised ribs in Saturday’s game against Loyola Marymount. Cross came off the bench and didn’t appear to be bothered by the injury. He played 20 minutes, scoring six points.

The Matadors outrebounded UCLA, 44-32, and had 23 offensive rebounds. Forward Kevin Taylor led Northridge with 13 rebounds. He scored 14 points.