Matadors Remember Rally in Honolulu

Not that the snow-covered backdrop of Brigham Young conjures up images of hula girls and warm surf, but the first half of Northridge’s game against Southern Utah on Friday reminded the Matadors of Hawaii.

Last week, Northridge trailed Hawaii by 13 points in the first round of the PowerBar Invitational before scoring 61 second-half points to run away with a victory.

The Matadors this time retreated to the locker room with a five-point deficit against Southern Utah in the first round of the Brigham Young tournament.

“We had the same feeling we had after the first half at Hawaii,” guard Jason Crowe said. “Coach [Bobby Braswell] didn’t yell at us. It helped us that we’d come back before. We’re starting to expect it.”

In Hawaii, the Matadors went on to defeat Coppin State and won the tournament. Defeating host BYU will be a challenge, but again, the experience of beating Hawaii in front of a hostile crowd of more than 7,000 will be helpful.

“Victories like these say our program has grown up,” Braswell said. “We are rapidly maturing.”

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Northridge forward Rico Harris missed his second game in a row because of a hip pointer. Harris practiced Thursday, but the injury was too painful for him to play.

Harris, a 6-foot-9 junior, is second on the team with an 11.8 scoring average. He scored 17 in each of his last two games, including the victory over Hawaii.

Northridge has won two in a row without Harris, but Braswell wants him back as soon as possible.

“Rico is an impact player who adds a dimension for us,” he said. “We’ll evaluate the injury [today] and see if he can play.”

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The coaches of each of the four teams in the tournament took turns speaking at a banquet Thursday night.

Braswell seemed to speak primarily to his own players, thanking them for their focus amid the distractions of the PowerBar Invitational last week.

Steve Cleveland of BYU talked about the tradition of the 25-year-old tournament, which the Cougars have won 15 times.

Keith Richard of Louisiana Tech, in his first season after four as an assistant, said that his team took a drive over to the home of Utah Jazz star Karl Malone, who led the Bulldogs to the NCAA tournament in 1984 and ’85.

Bill Evans of Southern Utah reflected fondly on previous games against Northridge, and no wonder. The Thunderbirds held a 13-4 series advantage entering Friday’s game and Evans was 9-2 against the Matadors since taking over in 1992.

“I’ve always enjoyed the competition provided by Northridge,” Evans said. “I always enjoyed Coach Pete Cassidy.”

Far less enjoyable was his first meeting with a Northridge team coached by Braswell, who took over from Cassidy in 1996.