Northridge Walks Away With a Bye

Ian Boylan was the picture of perfection and Cal State Northridge did what it was supposed to do in routing Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and clinching a first-round bye in next month’s Big West Conference tournament Wednesday night at Northridge.

But the biggest news in the Matadors’ 88-65 victory was the return of senior guard Joseph Frazier and the continued improvement of forward Eto Onyenegecha as second-place Northridge improved to 14-10 overall and 11-4 in the Big West.

Frazier entered with 2:13 left following a 14-game suspension by Coach Bobby Braswell for a poor attitude for his behavior in a December practice. He gave the crowd of 1,223 a highlight with a steal and a two-handed dunk for the final points.

“The past is the past. It’s just good to be here,” said Frazier, who averaged 11.2 points before the suspension.

Boylan became Northridge’s all-time steals leader with 254 and didn’t miss in scoring 18 points. The senior forward made all five of his shots, including four three-pointers, and made all four of his free throws.

Jonathan Heard had 15 points for Northridge and Onyenegecha, bothered by tendinitis in his knees, added 14 points and six rebounds.

Cal Poly (4-18, 2-11) was led by Mike Titchenal with 15 points.

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-- Eric Stephens

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No. 19 Pacific 79, UC Santa Barbara 56 -- Guillaume Yango scored 16 points at Stockton to help the Tigers (21-2, 15-0) clinch the Big West title and earn their 17th straight victory. The Gauchos fell to 8-14, 5-8.