Northridge Gets a Fresh Perspective

Jonathan Heard and Calvin Chitwood didn’t count on having such important roles on the Cal State Northridge basketball team so early in their college careers. Neither is shying away from the opportunity.

Heard and Chitwood, both freshmen, drove a damaged UC Santa Barbara team batty on Sunday as they combined for 34 points in lifting the Matadors to a 70-50 Big West Conference victory in front of 1,024 at the Matadome.

Northridge (4-7, 2-1) looked to be a different team than the one that opened conference play with an overtime loss to Cal State Fullerton, a game the Matadors felt they should have won. Sunday’s victory was satisfying all the way around as Heard had 19 points and Chitwood had 15 and a season-high 10 rebounds.

“We should actually be 3-0 [in league] right now,” Northridge Coach Bobby Braswell said. “We’re a lot better basketball team probably because of the loss to Fullerton. We’re playing about as well as we’ve played in a long time, from a team standpoint at both ends of the floor.”

Northridge won its second in a row after the indefinite suspension of starting guard Joseph Frazier on Thursday, leading swingman Ian Boylan to quip that the climate around the team was “too boring.”

Heard, starting in place of Frazier, was more proud of the six steals he had than his four dunks. “I’m always up to the challenge,” he said. “We challenge each other in practice so I feel like when it comes to the game, I have no fear out there.”

Chitwood began his career with a team-leading 19 points against Oklahoma and is averaging 10 for the season.

“Something clicked in our minds and we’re finally coming together as a team,” he said. “We’re just given simple roles to execute and we just focus on doing our part.”

Boylan said that what Heard and Chitwood are doing isn’t unexpected.

“They do it every day in practice,” said Boylan, who had a career-high 10 assists. “The way Jonathan played from the defensive side was outstanding.”

In notching their biggest win over the Gauchos in 29 meetings, Northridge forced 20 turnovers and limited Santa Barbara to 26.1% shooting from the field in the first half and 35.7% for the game. The Matadors led virtually from start to finish, and by as many as 23 points.

The Gauchos’ offensive woes only figure to become more challenging. Junior forward Casey Cook, their leading scorer, sprained his right ankle in the first half and didn’t return. Cook, who was on crutches afterward, will have X-rays taken this morning but Santa Barbara officials fear that it may be broken.

With three other players sidelined because of injury or academic ineligibility, Santa Barbara (4-6, 2-1) is left with six scholarship players and eight in all as it heads to Utah State for a game Thursday.