With the Matadors having the youngest roster in Division I basketball, it’s understandable if they have a couple rough outings to start the year, but what happened at Boise State Saturday afternoon was atrocious.
CSUN recorded its third straight loss to open the season after it was demolished 103-61 against the Broncos at Taco Bell Arena. It was Northridge’s tenth-worst defeat in school history.
Redshirt freshman guard Stephan Hicks continued his superb play with a career-high 23 points, topping his 22-point performance against Hawai’i Tuesday night. Besides Hicks and Vinnie McGhee’s 13 points, no other Matador scored in double figures.
Sophomore forward Thomas Bropleh led the way for the Broncos (3-0) with a career-high 20 points, 17 coming in the first half. Igor Hadziomerovic chipped in 18 points and Anthony Drmic added 14.
The Matadors (0-3) opened the game with a 6-0 advantage, but after the Broncos tied the game at 10 it was all downhill for CSUN. Boise State went on a 20-2 run to take a 30-12 lead and went into the locker room up 48-24.
After allowing Hawai’i to hit 10 3-pointers, CSUN gave up 13 basket from behind the arc. The Matadors shot 22 of 51 from the field (43.1 percent), which is their best shooting percentage for a game this year.
Northridge has struggled on offense to start the season. The Matadors were averaging a dismal 28.1 percent shooting percentage entering Saturday’s game. CSUN hasn’t reached 70 points in a game, being held to 67 and 59 points against the Rainbow Warriors and USC respectively.
Sophomore guard Josh Greene, who is expected to be a big scorer for CSUN, had another rough game on offense, going 1-of-6 with three points. Greene is 3 of 25 from the field for the season.
CSUN’s starting point guard Aqeel Quinn still hasn’t seen the hardwood, missing his third game due to injury.
The Matadors were outrebound 27-5 to end the first half and finished the game with only 19 boards compared to the Bronco’s 44.
Boise State leads the all-time series against the Matadors 5-0. The last time the teams faced off was at the Matadome on Dec. 9, 2006 with the Broncos coming out on top, 84-75.
Unlike Northridge, Boise State is off to a perfect start, opening the season with three consecutive victories. The Matadors will be looking for their first win of the year against San Diego Christian Tuesday night in their home opener at the Matadome.
