Pacific Eliminates Northridge

Cal State Northridge and Pacific appeared evenly matched when they took the court Thursday for their first-round game in the Big West Conference tournament. They had finished tied for third place in league play with 11-7 records and had split their season series.

But Pacific’s edge in experience was evident in a 78-66 victory at the Anaheim Convention Center, a victory that extended the Tigers’ winning streak to six games and propelled them into tonight’s semifinals against Utah State. Last year, Utah State defeated Pacific in the championship game.

Pacific (20-9) got a career-high 19 points and 12 rebounds from senior center Mike Preston and a career-high 21 points and nine rebounds from fourth-year junior forward Eli Nolan, ending Northridge’s four-game winning streak and its first season as a member of the Big West.

Pacific, with eight seniors, broke open the game after Northridge had tied the score, 44-44, with 13 minutes 38 seconds left. The Tigers went on an 18-4 run in the next five minutes and led by 15 points with 7:22 left.

“That’s probably the best second half we played all year,” said Pacific Coach Bob Thomason, who is trying to lead the Tigers into their fourth tournament final in six years.

Northridge (12-16) was hoping that its mix of full- and half-court presses would unnerve the Tigers and force turnovers that would result in easy baskets. But Pacific handled the pressure well and committed only 14 turnovers. The Tigers outrebounded the Matadors, 38-30, and shot 50%. Pacific held Northridge point guard Markus Carr to 15 points on five-of-16 shooting. The Matadors shot only 30% in the second half and had no answer inside for the 6-foot-9 Preston, who had nine offensive rebounds.

“We knew their perimeter guys we’re pretty good, so sometimes we left our post men down there on an island, sort of playing one on one,” said Northridge forward Ian Boylan, a freshman who scored 16 of his 17 points in the first half. “Their post men did a good job getting close to the basket, getting fouled and getting easy buckets.”

Pacific began its pivotal run when Northridge freshman Chris Davis was called for a technical foul after he fouled Preston with 12:36 left. Demetrius Jackson made two free throws, Preston made two more and the Tigers never looked back as Preston made a shot and Nolan made consecutive three-point shots to fuel the run.

Utah State 61, Idaho 41--Utah State, the two-time defending tournament champion but loser of its last two regular-season games, reversed that trend by holding the Vandals to the lowest point total of any opponent this season.

Center Jeremy Vague scored 14 points and forward Desmond Penigar had 12 for Utah State (22-6), which committed only nine turnovers, shot 55% and limited Idaho to 32% shooting. Forward Rodney Hilaire and center Matt Gerschefske each had 10 points for Idaho (9-19).

UC Santa Barbara 74, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 65--Santa Barbara (18-10) advanced to the semifinals against Irvine by defeating the Mustangs for the ninth consecutive time.

The Gauchos extended a 30-26 halftime lead to a 56-41 advantage with seven minutes left. Cal Poly (15-12) cut the deficit to 59-50 with 2:52 left but Santa Barbara held on.