Northridge Tops Loyola, 74-71

Bobby Braswell knew this game would be trouble. He walked into the Cal State Northridge locker room and felt as if he had entered a comedy club.

Winners of four consecutive games heading into Thursday, the Matadors seemed a little too loose for their coach’s liking, and it showed in a lackluster first half.

But the Matadors recovered for a 74-71 victory over Loyola Marymount in a nonconference game before 1,051 fans at Northridge.

Ian Boylan scored a career-high 27 points, Curtis Slaughter added 22 points against his former school and the Matadors (6-2) ended up getting the last laugh despite irritating Braswell.

“I’m glad we had this game tonight.... It was somewhat of a wake-up call for us to understand we just can’t show up and win,” Braswell said. “I sensed there was a lot more smiling, giggling and laughing than normal. These guys are usually a little more serious than that.”

Northridge made 10 of 34 shots (29.4%) in the first half and trailed, 32-31.

But the Matadors went on a 28-8 run over a 10-minute span in the second half, finishing it with Slaughter’s three-pointer for a 63-52 lead with 6:10 left to play.

Loyola Marymount (5-5) didn’t fade and pulled to within three, but Charles Brown’s three-point attempt at the buzzer fell short.

“For a young team, we showed incredibly great poise,” said Loyola Marymount Coach Steve Aggers, whose lineup at one time included four freshmen and a sophomore. “Games like this against quality opponents on the road help you when conference play rolls out.”

Forward Andy Osborn scored a career-high 23 points for Loyola Marymount, which played without center Jason Dickens, out because of strep throat.

Loyola Marymount forward Miroslav Neskovic left the game in the first half with a right knee injury, initially diagnosed as a torn meniscus. Neskovic will undergo an MRI examination today.

Northridge plays Saturday at Southern Illinois, which lost to Connecticut in the Sweet 16 last season.

“We wanted to make sure we took care of business at home, to give us some confidence when we play on the road,” said Slaughter, who left Loyola Marymount after his sophomore season because he was academically ineligible.

-- Mike Bresnahan

No. 17 Stanford 84, UC Irvine 57 -- Julius Barnes, Stanford’s only senior starter, scored 24 points, and the Cardinal avoided its first three-game losing streak outside the Pacific 10 Conference since 1969 with a victory at Palo Alto.

Josh Childress added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Stanford (6-3), which had lost three of its previous four games since an upset victory over nationally ranked Florida in the Preseason NIT. Dan Grunfeld added 12 points and Rob Little 11.

Greg Ethington scored 13 points to lead the Anteaters (3-3), who had won three in a row. Jordan Harris added 12.

Stanford scored a season-high for points, and UC Irvine was held to a season low.