Boise State used a balanced scoring attack to beat the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team 82-71 Feb. 18 at Taco Bell Arena in this year’s ESPN BracketBuster.
The Broncos had six players score double figures, while the Matadors had four players who scored over 10.
“Even though I am never happy with a loss, I did see some good things,” said head coach Bobby Braswell. “We really competed in a tough environment.”
The game started slowly, with no team scoring for the first two minutes until Boise State got two free throws by Tyler Tiedeman. It took CSUN almost four minutes to score until freshman Rob Haynes made a layup.
Over the next three minutes, the Matadors built a lead that grew to five off Haynes’ three-pointer that caused Boise State to call timeout. Out of the timeout, the Broncos’ offense woke up.
Tiedeman made a three-pointer which tied the game at 11 and on the next possession, Seth Robinson made a three which put the Broncos back on top 14-11 with a little under 11 minutes to play in the first half.
Boise State’s lead grew to nine with six minutes left in the first half. CSUN, however, cut the lead to one on two free throws by sophomore Jonathan Heard. But the Broncos got a three with 11 seconds remaining from Eric Lane to push the Boise State lead to 35-29 at the end of the first half.
CSUN shot 42 percent in the first half from the field, including 44 percent from beyond the arc. Boise State shot an impressive 54 percent from the field which included 56 percent from three point land.
Unlike the first half, the second saw both teams scoring early. It took the Broncos eight seconds to score their first points off a dunk by Coby Karl. CSUN got its first point a minute into the second half thanks to a dunk by Heard, which cut the Broncos lead to six.
Over the next three minutes, Boise State would go on the first big run of the game when they went on an 8-0 run that pushed their lead to 43-31, capped off by two free throws by Kareem Lloyd.
Eventually Haynes hit a jumper that cut the lead to 10, but the Broncos went on a 6-0 run which pushed the lead to 18, the biggest lead of the game.
The Matadors tried a variety of defenses and offensive sets to try and get back into the game, but all were unsuccessful. CSUN did cut the lead down to 10, but were not able to cut the lead to single digits.
CSUN shot 43 percent for the game but shot only 32 percent from beyond the arc, including 25 in the second half.
Boise State shot an impressive 55 percent from the field, including 50 percent from beyond the three point line and 80 percent from the free throw line.
The Matadors were led by junior Mike Efevberha’s 15 points on 5-18 shooting in 30 minutes. Junior Calvin Chitwood contributed with 14 points on 6-7 shooting while Haynes chipped in with 12 and Heard with 11.
Lane led the Broncos with 21 points and six assists off the bench. Kenny Wilson added 13 points while going 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Karl had 12 points and a game-high seven assists, while Seth Robinson and Tyler Tiedeman each scored 11.
CSUN, which fell to 10-13 overall, recorded a season-low two steals, snapping a 62-game streak with five or more steals. The Matadors entered the game ranked third in the country in turnovers forced with 20 a game, but managed to force a season-low 13 turnovers.
The Matadors return to Big West play, ending their current five-game road trip with a stop in Stockton on Feb. 22. The Matadors and Pacific tip-off at 7 p.m. at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
CSUN’s next home game will be Feb. 25 at 3 p.m. against Pacific. The game will be televised on Fox Sports West 2.
“This loss was outside of conference but I still hope playing in this kind of environment helps us, especially for Pacific,” Braswell said.
Justin Satzman can be reached at sports_sundial@csun.edu
