SOUTHLAND ROUNDUP

Cal State Northridge 77, James Madison 64--The Matadors, who gave up 114 points in a loss to UCLA, recovered and shut down the Dukes 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.

“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% itself.

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.

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