Northridge Goes the Extra Mile to Win

Before playing Big West Conference rival Utah State on Saturday, several Cal State Northridge players arrived earlier than usual to work on their perimeter shooting.

The extra practice helped because the Matadors made eight of 17 three-point baskets to help them defeat the visiting Aggies, 70-67, in front of 1,189 at Northridge. Coming in, Northridge had made only 29.6% of its three-pointers in 14 games.

The victory extended Northridge’s winning streak to six, the most since the Matadors won seven in a row to carry them into the NCAA tournament in 2001.

Senior guard Davin White led Northridge, which improved to 8-7 overall and 6-1 in the conference, by scoring all of his team-high 15 points in the second half. White made three three-pointers, including a key shot from the top of the key with 52.4 seconds left that gave the Matadors a 68-67 lead.

“We know that we’ve been shooting poorly and that’s why teams play a lot of zone [defense] against us,” said White, who also had four assists and two steals off the bench. “I think that it really helped us coming in early to work on our shots. We needed it.”

Utah State, which attempted 14 free throws compared to Northridge’s 35, was led by freshman Jaycee Carroll’s 19 points. Junior forward Nate Harris finished with 18 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots and four assists. But senior Spencer Nelson was held to eight points, six under his average.

For the Aggies (11-5, 2-3), the loss was their second in a row to the Matadors after sweeping Northridge in two regular-season games last season. Coach Bobby Braswell’s team upset Utah State in the semifinals of last season’s Big West tournament, ending the Aggies’ hopes of playing in the NCAA tournament.

Freshman Jonathan Heard had 14 points for Northridge, which had 15 assists on 18 baskets.

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Lonnie White

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UC Irvine 97, Cal State Fullerton 81 -- Point guard Aaron Fitzgerald had 22 points and 10 assists and guard Jeff Gloger had a career-high 20 points to lead the visiting Anteaters (7-6, 2-4) over the Titans (8-5, 3-2) in a Big West game.

Irvine was dramatically different from the team that played in a listless 68-55 loss at UC Riverside on Thursday.

After that loss, the Anteaters canceled practice Friday and met for 90 minutes on their own.

“We were all disappointed and embarrassed with the performance that we had against Riverside,” Gloger said. “We went around and everyone had something to say. I think it was beneficial to us.”

Seven players scored for Irvine as it built a 48-30 halftime lead, stunning the 1,472 at Titan Gym. Ross Schraeder and reserve Davis Baker combined for five of the Anteaters’ seven three-pointers in the first half.

Irvine shot 58.9% from the field, including nine of 14 three-pointers.

Fullerton played its first game without starting forward Hardy Asprilla, who torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Thursday night against Long Beach State. The Titans played a miserable first half before showing their explosive side after intermission.

They tied their first-half point total in the first 8 1/2 minutes with a barrage of three-pointers. Bobby Brown’s three pulled them to within 67-66, but Irvine answered with 10-0 run and withstood the Titans’ school-record-tying 14 three-pointers.

Brown led Fullerton with 24 points. Schraeder had 17 points for Irvine.

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Eric Stephens

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UC Riverside 68, Long Beach State 65 -- Klaus Schille had a career-high 17 points on seven-for-10 shooting as the Highlanders (6-8, 2-3) held off a late rally by the 49ers (2-13, 0-6) to win the Big West game at Riverside.

David Jobe’s basket with 30 seconds left gave Riverside a three-point lead.

Long Beach had a chance to tie, but Jibril Hodges’ three-point shot rolled off the rim as time expired.

UC Santa Barbara 67, UC Davis 62 -- Chrismen Oliver scored seven of his team-high 19 points in the last five minutes to lead the Gauchos (6-8) over the Aggies (6-8) in a nonconference game at Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara led, 56-53, when Oliver scored four points and had three assists in the last three minutes.

The Aggies, a provisional Division I team, are playing a Big West Conference schedule before officially joining the league next year.