Big Sky in Twilight Zone

Cal State Northridge visits Big Sky Conference whistle-stops Missoula and Bozeman, Mont., for games tonight and Saturday against Montana and Montana State.

If form holds, whistles will indeed stop any momentum built by Northridge.

Crucial calls going against a team--especially on the road--is nothing new to college basketball. But questionable foul calls in the final seconds of recent one-point losses at Northern Arizona and Weber State raise a more disturbing question for Northridge.

Can officials accustomed to teams that employ methodical half-court offenses and passive zone defenses adjust to Northridge’s faster pace and up-tempo man-to-man defensive style?

They haven’t so far. The Matadors (7-11, 3-5 in Big Sky play) have been called for 46 more fouls than their opponents.

Every time officials stop the action because a player touched a hand or a hip on an opponent somewhere beyond the three-point arc, a message is encoded in the shrill whistle:

Back off, partner!

Although he tries to be diplomatic, Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell believes Big Sky officials should realize the distance between a defender and the player with the ball can be something less than the wide-open plains of Montana.

“It doesn’t matter what they are used to seeing and calling, the game is changing,” Braswell said. “The officials need to be prepared for teams that play up-tempo, aggressive defenses.

“If our conference is ever going to advance further than the first round [of the NCAA tournament], we’d better start looking at the fact that teams in the tournament play that way. Officials in the tournament let the teams play. We’d better get used to it.”

The Big Sky is 1-8 in NCAA tournament games during the 1990s with the only victory coming in 1995 when Weber State shocked Michigan State. The Big Sky is 15-42 overall in the tournament and no team has advanced beyond the second round since 1977.

Northridge’s recent one-point losses indicate Big Sky officials have yet to change their stripes.

Against Northern Arizona, the score was tied, 85-85, with 1.4 seconds to play in overtime when Matador guard Greg Minor was called for touching the hip of Lumberjack guard Ross Land, who was holding the ball more than 20 feet from the basket.

Braswell called two timeouts and yelled at the official who made the call. Land made the first free throw and Northern Arizona won, 86-85.

“That was a tough way to lose a basketball game,” Braswell said.

No tougher than a 70-69 loss at Weber State a week earlier.

Northridge led, 69-68, with 1:19 to play and had the ball. A deflected pass caused a wild scramble near the top of the key and players from both teams dived for the ball.

Northridge guard Mike O’Quinn reached over a body and grasped the ball with both hands, causing an apparent jump ball that would have given the Matadors possession. A whistle blew, the official hesitated . . . and called a foul on O’Quinn, who responded by running off the court until he regained his composure.

Damien Baskerville of Weber State made two free throws and the Wildcats won, 70-69. Baskerville said he was surprised by the call.

A Weber State athletics official walked past the press table while Baskerville shot the free throws and said, “Even by Big Sky standards that was a brutal call.”

Like most coaches, Braswell is careful not to publicly criticize the officiating. In his second year, he is relatively new to the Big Sky.

“A lot of it has to do with officials who have been in the league a long time and coaches who have been in the league a long time,” he said. “It’s tough for new guys to adjust.”

An obvious solution for Braswell would be to give in. Cease playing man-to-man defense and go to a zone. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Northridge has used a zone at times against teams that lack good outside shooters. But as for a change of philosophy, Braswell will hear none of it.

“This is the system I believe in and I recruit players who can flourish in this system once they become familiar with it,” he said.

Whether that familiarity breeds anything but the apparent contempt of Big Sky officials remains to be seen.