Matadors Dream of Reaching Final 64

Tom Samson, the only four-year letterman on Cal State Northridge’s basketball team, has been through a full range of emotions with the Matadors. But never has he felt like he has in this week building up to the Big Sky Conference tournament.

“I have never lost so much sleep,” said Samson, Northridge’s center. “Since Saturday night, I honestly can’t think of anything else. I know a lot of people say that for effect, but I’m totally honest. I’m sitting in classes in which I need to be paying attention and taking really good notes, and I can’t concentrate.”

Truth be told, the tournament itself, which begins Thursday with the Matadors facing Montana State, isn’t what has Samson so anxious. It’s what potentially lies beyond.

The NCAA tournament.

Believe it or not, the Matadors are three victories away from their ultimate SportsCenter fantasy.

“And here’s a shocker,” some ESPN anchor will say, “Cal Northridge [you know he’ll get the name wrong], up until now best-known as the school decimated by the 1994 earthquake, has shaken up the field of 64. [TV guys always have to throw in a pun.]

“The Mat-a-dors [he’ll say it like he can’t believe this is the nickname], in their first season eligible for the NCAA tournament, won the Big Sky tournament as the No. 6 seed, taking the automatic berth with a 15-14 record.

“March Madness. Gotta love it.”

A player’s pipe dream?

Perhaps not.

Northridge (12-14, 8-8) is seeded last in the six-team Big Sky field but the Matadors would have finished fourth had they not turned the ball over 27 times and lost by seven to Idaho State on Saturday night.

Even with that loss, Northridge finished only two games behind third-place Montana State (16-13, 10-6) and three games behind second-place Montana. First-place Northern Arizona squeaked out a two-point victory over the Matadors last Thursday at Flagstaff, site of the tournament.

In six of Northridge’s eight Big Sky losses, the Matadors were within striking distance in the final two minutes. Northridge lost, 83-79, in its last meeting with Montana State.

“We’ve played competitive basketball all season,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said. “I think we’ve had an opportunity in most of our games to win.”

The Matadors’ confidence is riding on the premise that all they need to do is stretch their normal 15 or 20 minutes of inspired play to 30 or 35 minutes for three games.

“Everybody knows if we can put two halves together, there isn’t a team we shouldn’t beat in this conference,” Samson said.

Northridge can also flip on the television for inspiration.

“I look at something that happened Saturday night,” Samson said. “Loyola Marymount, a team that we played, a team that lost [seven] in a row down the stretch in [the West Coast Conference], they went out and beat a team that many predicted was going to walk away with the tournament, Santa Clara.”

Loyola Marymount lost the next night, but the Matadors can take heart from Fairfield of the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference.

The Stags (8-18, 3-12) were seeded last in the eight-team MAAC tournament. But on Monday night they won the tournament championship by beating Canisius, which they lost to by 46 points in the regular season.

Besides merely providing a rallying cry for Northridge, Fairfield did the Matadors one other favor.

If Northridge should win the Big Sky tournament, the Matadors probably won’t have to play No. 1 Kansas in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They probably would play No. 2 Minnesota.

“I’d be happy to play anybody,” Braswell said.

* DOWNEY: Ruben Garces’ journey to Rhode Island. C5

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Big Sky Conference Tournament

At Northern Arizona University

All Times Pacific

First Round--Thursday

* No. 6 Cal State Northridge (12-14) vs. No. 3 Montana State (16-13), 6:05 p.m.

* No. 5 Idaho State (14-12) vs. No. 4 Weber State (14-12), 8:35 p.m.

Semifinals--Friday

* Highest remaining seed vs. No. 2 Montana (19-10), 6:05 p.m.

* Lowest remaining seed vs. No. 1 Northern Arizona (21-5), 8:35 p.m.

Championship--Saturday

6:05 p.m.; Televised on tape-delay basis on ESPN at 9:30 p.m.

Cal State Northridge

12-14 overall, 8-8 in Big Sky Conference

59 at UNLV: 61

77 CS Dominguez Hills: 57

74 at Loyola Marymount: 77

73 at UCLA: 95

73 Ohio: 80

54 St. Mary’s: 56

68 at Pepperdine: 57

77 UC Irvine: 53

75 UC Santa Barbara: 58

65 at Iowa: 90

78 *Portland State: 62

77 *Eastern Washington: 66

68 *at Montana State: 85

62 *at Montana: 76

99 *Sacramento State: 66

90 *Weber State: 81

84 *at Idaho State: 91

65 *Northern Arizona: 74

75 *Montana: 78

79 *Montana State: 83

78 *at Eastern Washington: 75

80 *at Portland State: 76

89 *at Weber State: 76

93 *at Sacramento St.(OT): 90

74 *at Northern Arizona: 76

67 *Idaho State: 73

*--Big Sky Conference Game