With last month’s announcement that the University of Hawaii will join the Big West Conference starting in July 2012, many issues about traveling came up, but CSUN athletics see the addition as a positive to its league. The Warriors will depart from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) – except for football, which will join the Mountain West Conference – and expand the current all-California league to 10 teams. CSUN men’s basketball head coach Bobby Braswell said the move will make… Read more

During the winter break, the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team posted a disappointing 3-7 record, where they questioned the head coach’s game plan at times and gave up multiple second half leads, but have gained some momentum by playing its best defense of the season in the last five games, which have moved them to a fourth place tie in the Big West Conference. Recently, the Matadors (6-13, 3-3 Big West) had one of their best wins of the… Read more

There’s one stat that stood out for Cal State Northridge after losing, 75-68, to Seattle University in a non-conference game at the Matadome. “I just can’t get over that 25 (offensive rebounds) number, which is just staring right at me,” said CSUN head coach Bobby Braswell after the Matadors were out rebound 44-36. “I’m looking at this stat sheet and I’m looking at all the good numbers we had (against Seattle) and 25 offensive rebounds is just unbelievable.” The good… Read more

In the past Bobby Braswell’s teams were known for playing top notch defense, but in the last year and a half Cal State Northridge has been struggling to get stops. After realizing that the Matadors were ranked dead last in point allowed in the Big West Conference, Braswell finally had enough and pounded a defensive first mentality into his players. “We went over our league statistics yesterday and we showed them that we were last in every defensive category, which… Read more

The second half letdowns are starting to wear on CSUN head coach Bobby Braswell. “Same old record, same old thing… one half of basketball and totally fell apart in the second half. We don’t have the instinct in us to finish” said Braswell after Northridge lost to UC Riverside, 70-61, Thursday night at the Matadome in Big West play. Falling apart in the second half is nothing new for the Matadors (4-12, 1-3 Big West), but losing to UC Riverside… Read more

LONG BEACH, Calif — It’s never a good sign when players start questioning the head coach’s system. With four 49ers scoring 15 points or more, Cal State Northridge struggled defensively against Long Beach State’s talented starting five, losing 85-71 Wednesday night at the Walter Pyramid in Big West play. 49er Casper Ware scored a career-high 23 points and converted on five 3-pointers against the Matadors’ (4-10, 1-2 Big West) zone defense. Matador senior Dathan Lyles disagreed with head coach Bobby… Read more

Two days removed from the second half meltdown against Pacific, Cal State Northridge bounced back against UC Davis, as the Matadors were all smiles and laughs in their 87-81 victory over the Aggies at the Matadome Thursday night in Big West play. “I feel like running laps. I’m talking more today,” said a delighted Lenny Daniel, referring to his post-game interview after the Pacific loss, where he didn’t talk much due to frustration. Similar to the game against the Tigers,… Read more

A three-game losing streak, where Cal State Northridge lost at the buzzer to Cal State Bakersfield, got crushed by 20 points at home against Santa Clara, and now a second half collapse to start Big West play has a few Matador seniors frustrated. An often laid-back Rashaun McLemore finally showed emotion and the normally talkative Lenny Daniel was lost for words after CSUN relinquished a second half 10-point lead en route to a 74-64 defeat against Pacific Tuesday night at… Read more