Northridge Puts on Winning Face, 77-64

It was an about-face. Or all about saving face.

Either way, Cal State Northridge repaired its defense like the crew of a ship plugging every leak before setting sail.

Three days after surrendering 114 points in a loss to UCLA, the Matadors defeated James Madison, 77-64, Tuesday night before 631 at Northridge.

The Dukes (6-4) came in shooting 49%, but made only 22 of 71 shots and four of 25 three-point attempts.

“We got away from our usual principles of defense against UCLA and tonight we wanted to get back to our normal high-pressure style,” Northridge center Brian Heinle said.

The most intense pressure came midway through the second half when James Madison missed eight shots in a row and was stuck at 34 points for more than five minutes. At that rate, the Dukes wouldn’t have reached 114 points until Christmas.

“It was a good way to come back after the UCLA game,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said. “We got after it and our pressure forced them into bad shots.”

Certainly, defense was the best offense for Northridge (7-4), which shot only 41%.

Northridge came out cold in the second half, missing its first five shots, but James Madison could only whittle four points from a 13-point deficit in the first four minutes.

Freshman guard Markus Carr made layups on a backdoor pass from Jeff Parris and on a drive along the perimeter to enable Northridge to resume control.

Most of the Matadors’ baskets came on penetration, and it was more than Carr driving down Madison Avenue.

Guard Derrick Higgins made several twisting layups and made eight of 13 shots for 16 points. A three-foot basket by Higgins and a three-point basket by Heinle, who scored a game-high 19 points, put Northridge ahead, 48-32, with 14:30 to play.

Not until 1:06 remained did the Dukes cut the deficit to fewer than 10 points, and they didn’t score again while Northridge made four of 10 free throws in the final minute.

“This was an athletic team, not as athletic as UCLA, but still a good team,” said Parris, who had a game-high 12 rebounds. “We just played defense the way we are capable of playing.”

Chatney Howard, Jamar Perry and Jabari Outtz each came in averaging double figures in scoring for James Madison, but they combined to make 14 of 46 shots.

The Northridge defense was as good in the first half as it has been all season. James Madison made only eight of 29 shots in the half and missed all seven three-point attempts.

During one four-minute stretch, Northridge missed seven consecutive shots, but the Dukes could cut a 10-point deficit to only six because the Matadors got back quickly on defense.

A three-point basket by Carl Holmes ended the drought, putting Northridge ahead, 23-14, an advantage that soon was 29-17 on a layup by Carr and two layups by Higgins.

Matador notes

Forward Rico Harris missed his fifth consecutive game with a hip pointer. Northridge is 3-3 without the 6-foot-9 junior, who also was suspended for a game at Tennessee. . . . Jermar Welch, the 6-6 sophomore who was academically ineligible until the game last Saturday against UCLA, played only one minute after logging nine against the Bruins. . . . The Matadors had six steals to give them 120 this season, more than any Big Sky Conference team.