Kansas Cuts In on Matadors’ Dance

Cal State Northridge’s finest basketball season since moving to Division I ended with a thud Friday night when the outmanned Matadors couldn’t join the growing list of teams pulling upsets in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Kansas, seeded No. 4 in the Midwest Regional, beat the Matadors, 99-75, by scoring the final 17 points of the first half to wipe out a 37-35 Northridge lead and take control of the game in Dayton, Ohio. Although the Matadors closed to within eight points with nearly eight minutes to play, it was as close as they could get.

Northridge finished the season with a 22-10 record, the most victories since the 1977-78 team went 22-7 while making the NCAA Division II Western Regional final.

The Matadors won their first Big Sky Conference regular-season title and tournament. They went 13-3 in conference play to better Eastern Washington by two games. They avenged their only home-court loss of the season by defeating the Eagles in the Big Sky tournament final to earn the school’s first berth in the NCAA tournament.

NORTHRIDGE COVERAGE

READY AND WAITING

Kansas knew Cal State Northridge was capable of an upset, so the Jayhawks didn’t take the Matadors lightly and pulled away to a 99-75 victory Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. W1

ERIC SONDHEIMER

Coach Bobby Braswell and his Northridge players might have learned something about playing in the NCAA tournament--size does matter. Kansas had too many players 6-foot-9 or taller who dominated the Matadors inside. W3

GAME REPORT

What happened, how it happened and important facts you won’t find in the box score. W3

LOCAL REACTION

Despite a first-round NCAA tournament loss, the more than 600 students who gathered on campus to watch the game were happy to be part of March Madness. B1