Idaho St. Lines Up to Down CSUN

POCATELLO, Idaho — Coach Bobby Braswell wasn’t about to use the obvious excuse--the officials--for Cal State Northridge’s 91-84 Big Sky Conference loss to Idaho State on Friday night.

Not directly anyway.

“We got people in foul trouble and we stopped playing defense,” Braswell said after Northridge blew a 12-point lead in the final 16 minutes, allowing Idaho State to make 76% of its shots in the second half.

Northridge was called for 36 fouls, Idaho State 22. Northridge made 13 of 23 free throws, Idaho State 39 of 56. The Bengals scored 25 of their 57 second-half points from the line.

“The officials weren’t the problem,” said Northridge center Tom Samson, “it was our defense.”

Added forward Keith Higgins: “Our defense was just horrible at the end. We just got lackadaisical and gave up. It was ridiculous.”

Northridge led for most of the first half and held a lead of at least seven points until about 15 minutes to go in the game, when the Matadors’ foul troubles piled up and the defense got softer and softer.

The offense was slowed by Idaho State’s press, which forced several turnovers on the way to tying the game, 60-60, with 9:03 to play.

The teams traded baskets for a while until Idaho State finally started to pull away at the 5:37 mark, when Rod Stinson of Northridge was called for a technical foul for reaching over the baseline on an inbounds pass. Ron Harwell made both free throws to give the Bengals a 74-71 lead. The margin bulged to 83-75 with 2:50 to play.

A pair of Northridge baskets surrounded by a steal pulled the Matadors to within 83-79 with 2:11 to play, but they could get no closer. Idaho State (9-6, 5-2) made its free throws and took care of the ball, while the Matadors committed some more of their 20 turnovers.

By losing, the Matadors (8-9, 4-3 in conference) failed in their third try this season to get over .500 for the first time in seven Division I seasons. They also couldn’t capitalize on the chance to truly establish themselves by winning their first Big Sky road game.

“I think this is the most disappointing game of the season,” Higgins said. “We let ourselves down, let our coaches down, let our fans down.”

Derrick Higgins and Lucky Grundy each scored 15 points to lead the Matadors, which made 50.7% of its shots.

If the 4,011 fans in the Holt Arena stands or the 30-degree temperature outside didn’t remind the Matadors they were on the road, the officials reinforced the point.

Northridge was called for the first six fouls of the game. At halftime, the Matadors had been called for 18 fouls, the Bengals only eight. Idaho State shot 22 free throws in the half to six for Northridge.