Georgia State 97, Cal State Northridge 88--The...

Georgia State 97, Cal State Northridge 88--The Matadors ended an exhausting eight-day trip by going three and out in the round-robin Nike Festival at Honolulu, losing for the third time in as many games.

Northridge (6-6), highly touted after an upset of UCLA, suddenly is struggling. The Matadors were out-rebounded and outshot for much of the tournament after opening the trip Monday with a victory over James Madison at Harrisonburg, Va.

Road weary or not, players and coaches agreed matters are amiss.

“We don’t have the same swagger we’ve had,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said. “When you lose a few games, that’s what happens. We need to get home. We need to practice. It’s been a long road trip.”

The Matadors’ frustration boiled over during halftime of Friday’s game against Hawaii, when assistant Mike Johnson broke three bones in his right hand after punching a locker-room wall.

Northridge, after losses to Alabama Birmingham and Hawaii, made its best showing against Georgia State (10-1), which is off to its best start ever despite the absence of Coach Lefty Driesell, recovering in Georgia after having surgery to remove bone spurs in his neck.

The Matadors overcame an eight-point first-half deficit and held a slim lead five times during a seesaw second half that suddenly turned one-sided.

Shernard Long, who had a game-high 29 points, connected on three consecutive three-point shots during a two-minute stretch in which the Panthers took control.

Georgia State finished 3-0 in the tournament.

Center Brian Heinle had 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, all team highs for Northridge.

“Every loss is bad, but this one hurts,” Heinle said. “It puts us at .500 and now we just gotta play better. We gotta play to win. It’s only going to get tougher in conference.”

Northridge, which shot below 38% against Alabama Birmingham and Hawaii, started fast, parlaying a 15-3 run into a 20-13 lead midway through the first half. The Matadors finished 28 of 57 (49.1%).

The Matadors are at home Wednesday against Vanguard before opening Big Sky Conference play at Weber State on Jan. 4.