Matadors’ Improvement Clear to Gauchos

Cal State Northridge continued to bask in the glow of its new-found prosperity Monday night, but first-year Coach Bobby Braswell made it clear he hasn’t let success go to his head.

“Let’s not forget who we are,� Braswell said. “We’re not talking about us being UCLA.�

No, but the Matadors haven’t been playing much like a typical Northridge team either. Just ask UC Santa Barbara. Northridge, which lost by 27 points to the Gauchos last season, again showed it has come a long way with a 75-58 nonconference victory before 593 at Northridge.

Winning three games in a row for the first time since 1993, the Matadors (4-5) harassed Santa Barbara (4-4) into 19 turnovers and 42% shooting with an aggressive man-to-man defense and had four players score in double figures. Suddenly, Sunday’s game at Iowa doesn’t seem like such a mismatch.

“At one point in the year, I wasn’t looking forward to that trip,� Braswell said. “We have nothing to lose because no one expects us to win.�

Point guard Lucky Grundy led the Matadors with 13 points and six assists.

Northridge built an 11-point halftime lead, extended it to 18 midway through the second half and led by as many as 20 down the stretch.

Northridge shot 54% (27 of 50) and had a season-low 13 turnovers.

Raymond Tutt led Santa Barbara with 13 points.