LONG BEACH, Calif. — Instead of taking the moral victory against the top team in the Big West Conference, CSUN was thinking of what could have been. With the game tied at 54-54 and a little over nine minutes left in regulation Saturday night at the Walter Pyramid, the young Matadors had the first-place 49ers on the ropes. CSUN was the underdog trying to record only its third league win while Long Beach State had its Big-West regular season and home… Read more

Redshirt freshman Stephan Hicks has had a huge load to carry on offense for the Matadors. But in the last two games, his teammates have made his job easier. CSUN put arguably its best scoring effort of the season during last week’s split against Cal State Fullerton at home Thursday and Saturday on the road against Cal State Bakersfield. In the two games combined, the Matadors shot more than 50 percent from the field, a big improvement over their season… Read more

After having one of their best offensive performance in a two-point loss to Cal State Fullerton Thursday, the Matadors picked up right were they left of as they shot a blazing 61 percent from the field en route to a 76-68 non-conference victory over Cal State Bakersfield Saturday night at the Icardo Center. High-scoring redshirt freshman, Stephan Hicks, dropped a career-high 26 points to lead a Matadors (6-13, 2-6 Big West) team that had four players in double-figures, including 16… Read more

Two years ago, the Matadors had an overall record of 11-21, their worst season under Bobby Braswell’s 16 years as head coach. Throughout that 2009-10 season, Braswell lost patience with the lack of leadership and chemistry the team displayed. With 17 games gone by, this year’s Matadors, who have a record of 5-12, are on pace to finish with more than 21 losses. To make matters worse, CSUN lost by 46 points to Cal Poly Saturday and allowed the Mustangs… Read more

CSUN head coach Bobby Braswell has always preached to his team that if you play defense, the offense will come later, but with 17 games gone by, the Matadors’ offense has yet to be seen. “You just keep preaching it, you keep doing it,” said Braswell after his team’s poor offensive performance paved the way to yet another loss at UC Santa Barbara Thursday. “You have to have some resistance and keep playing with heart. Keep fighting and keep believing… Read more

SANTA BARBARA, Calif — CSUN held the two-time Big West Conference Tournament champion UC Santa Barbara under 70 points, and if you take Orlando Johnson out of the equation, the rest of the Gauchos only managed 48 points. Despite the Matadors exceptional defense, they still found a way to drop their fourth game in Big West play. In what has become a problem all season, CSUN’s horrendous offense paved the way for a 69-61 loss against UCSB Thursday night at… Read more

How does a team shut down an opponent for five minutes and go on a 16-0 run to erase an 11-point deficit? CSUN head coach Bobby Braswell had the perfect strategy. He went with the “5 to 1” defense. With a new defensive system, CSUN pulled out a much-needed Big West Conference victory over UC Davis, 84-80, Saturday night at the Matadome. After a blow-out loss to Pacific at home Thursday night, Braswell, who missed that game due to being… Read more

After starting the Big West Conference season 3-0, the Matadors dropped their first league game, losing a close one to UC Davis, 55-53, Thursday night on the road. With the Aggies (10-6, 2-2) missing numerous free throws down the stretch, CSUN (8-8, 3-1), which is off to its best start in league play since the 2004-05 season, had plenty of chances to steal the game and improve to 4-0. However, Northridge could not come up with the game-tying or go-ahead… Read more