Hartman’s 33 Give Matadors Heartburn

One team was fresh off a 44-point victory, the other a 50-point setback.

So much for momentum heading into conference play.

Portland State (6-5), humbled by Duke three days earlier, shocked Cal State Northridge, 83-75, behind record shooting in a Big Sky Conference opener Friday night in front of 857 at Peter W. Stott Center.

Forward Jason Hartman, a transfer from Washington who scored a career-high 33 points, made nine of 16 shots and all 14 of his free throws.

Hartman, a junior from Thousand Oaks High, scored 22 points in the second half and helped stave off a Northridge rally by finishing a fast break with a dunk and free throw to lift Portland State’s lead to 78-70 with 45 seconds to play.

This was Hartman’s sixth game since gaining eligibility, and he had made only 36% of his shots.

“We’ve been playing against gigantic teams and I haven’t had looks inside,” he said. “Midway through the second half they got me the ball on consecutive possessions and it was a chance for me to make something happen.”

Hartman’s heat was contagious. The Vikings shot a school record 65%, making 26 of 40 shots, and made 27 of 33 free throws.

Getting flattened by Duke, 89-39, did not dampen the Vikings’ confidence.

“Duke would do that to any team in the Big Sky, so we just forgot about that game quickly,” Hartman said. “This was a victory against one of the best teams in our conference, that’s a whole different thing.”

This game might not be forgotten quickly by Northridge (4-7). The Matadors stayed nearly even through the first half, but Portland State scored the first eight points of the second half and built a 15-point lead with 9:10 to play.

The Matadors clawed back by creating turnovers and were within 67-65 on a basket in the lane by guard Carl Holmes with 3:30 to play.

Portland State scored the next four on free throws, and after a basket on an offensive rebound by Mike O’Quinn with 2:30 to play, Northridge did not score another basket until Holmes made a desperation three-pointer with 34 seconds left.

“We weren’t very tough tonight, we did not match Jason Hartman’s toughness or Portland State’s toughness,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said.

“We missed too many easy shots and we did nothing to stop them, especially in the second half.”

The first half ended well for Northridge when Lucky Grundy drove through the Viking defense for a layup at the buzzer to pull Northridge to within 36-35 despite being outshot, 63% to 46%.

Portland State’s largest lead of the half came after Braswell was called for a technical foul--his first of the season--for arguing a foul call with 9:53 to play.

Hartman, who was fouled, made four free throws to build the lead to 22-17.

Northridge made six of 11 three-pointers in the half, but had difficulty getting the ball inside against the Viking zone and made only six of 15 two-point shots.

O’Quinn, the Matadors’ leading scorer, made three of 12 shots and finished with 10 points. Forward Jabari Simmons made six of 19 shots for 12 points and Holmes had 14 points.

Northridge made 39.4% of its shots, only 14 of 40 in the second half. Portland State made 14 of 21 shots after halftime.

“I thought we were ready for the second half, but we obviously weren’t,” Braswell said.

Matador notes

This was one of 10 Portland State games scheduled to be played at the Rose Garden, the 21,000-seat home of the Portland Trailblazers. Rose Garden officials, however, recently canceled several of the Vikings’ dates and the game was played on campus. Fox Sports Northwest television pulled out when the venue was changed.