Matadors Lose Heads, Chance for an Upset

On the verge of making a strong statement, Cal State Northridge was undone by a few choice words and fell to Arizona State, 97-91, in its men’s college basketball season opener Sunday before 4,026 at the University Activity Center.

The Matadors had charged back from a five-point halftime deficit and led by a point with 12 minutes to play when forward Jabari Simmons was called for a foul and drew a technical for popping off to official Jerry White.

The fouls were Simmons’ fourth and fifth, and Bobby Lazor made three of four free throws to return the lead to the Sun Devils. More importantly, the loss of Simmons, a 6-foot-7 junior who led Northridge in scoring and rebounding in two exhibition victories, made the Matadors thin in the front court.

Senior forward Kevin Taylor injured his right ankle two minutes later, and Northridge was left with freshman Brian Heinle and sophomore Jeffrey Parris--both playing their first collegiate game--to match up with the 6-9 Lazor and 6-8 Mike Batiste.

Lazor scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half and Batiste had 14 points and made several uncontested dunks. All-Pac-10 guard Jeremy Veal scored a career-high 32 points and made two free throws with 14.8 seconds to play to extend Arizona State’s lead to 95-91.

“Our lack of composure really hurt us,” Taylor said. “That wasn’t the class that we should display. It wasn’t just one person. There were several instances where we lost our poise.”

Northridge made its last surge with about three minutes left when Mike O’Quinn and Lucky Grundy made three-point baskets and Taylor, who had returned a minute earlier, was fouled during Grundy’s shot. Taylor made one of two free throws to tie the score, 86-86.

Lazor and Taylor each scored inside, then Lazor made a dunk with 2:10 to play to put Arizona State ahead for good. Northridge guard Greg Minor hit one of two free throws, but a dunk by Batiste increased the lead to 92-89 with 1:17 to play.

“They made good plays at the end and we got sloppy at times defensively,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said. “Losing Jabari didn’t help. It put everybody else in jeopardy. But he has some personal things he’s working through.”

Simmons, a transfer from Compton College who played at Santa Barbara High, learned moments before the team left its hotel for the game that his girlfriend had gone into labor. He scored only six points on three of 12 shooting and had six rebounds.

Three players in their first Northridge game picked up the slack. O’Quinn, a senior transfer from Loyola who sat out last season, scored 26 points, 13 in each half. Minor, a sophomore transfer who played at Canyon High, scored 22, including four three-pointers, and Heinle had 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Despite being outshot 58% to 49% from the field, Northridge stayed close by outrebounding Arizona State, 47-40. The Matadors grabbed 28 offensive rebounds and all nine Matadors who played had at least one rebound by halftime.

Arizona State, which finished last season with 11 consecutive losses, won its first game under interim Coach Don Newman, who replaced Bill Frieder in September. Newman was 2-9 against Northridge while coaching at Cal State Sacramento the past five seasons, including two losses last season.

“A couple times I saw our guys getting lackadaisical, and they were soon reminded that they were in a game against a team that doesn’t quit,” Newman said.

But the Matadors could not rebound from the loss of Simmons. Braswell said that his players need to control their anger. O’Quinn had a technical and Grundy screamed at officials in the final seconds and was restrained by Taylor.

“The lack of composure concerns me more than our level of play,” Braswell said. “We need to address that.”