CSUN Came to Dance, but BYU Got to Lead

PROVO, Utah —  Cal State Northridge set the tempo early for a slam dance Saturday night, but Brigham Young did not miss a step and kept a keen eye on the basket through the contact.

Pursuing a second consecutive tournament championship with all the finesse of an artillery tank, Northridge misfired too often and lost, 84-78, to the Cougars before 7,157 at the Marriott Center.

Northridge (6-3), which won the PowerBar Invitational at Hawaii last week, had a five-game winning streak snapped.

The loss did not come without a fight, a statement dangerously close to becoming literal.

The Matadors committed 30 fouls, and their constant haranguing on defense caused BYU’s best players, guard Mark Bigelow and center Bret Jepsen, to lose composure and effectiveness.

Bigelow, a freshman averaging 17.3 points, made only four of 13 shots and committed a technical foul. Jepsen, a 6-11 center, had 10 points and five rebounds before fouling out with 1:38 to play.

“That wasn’t a normal press we faced,” Coach Steve Cleveland of BYU said.

But for all the opportunities the defense provided, the Matadors gave it away on the offensive end, shooting 36.6% and making only 16 of 33 free throws.

“We shot too quickly, taking the easy way out instead of working the ball around, and it gave them opportunities,” Coach Bobby Braswell said.

Forward Rico Harris sat out a third game in a row with a hip pointer, and his 6-foot-9, 250-pound body was missed. Jeff Parris took over in the low post and made five of nine shots, but hit only seven of 16 free throws.

Center Brian Heinle was the Matadors’ leading scorer for the fourth consecutive game with 18 points, but he made only six of 15 shots.

Northridge stormed to a 17-7 lead, but guard Derrick Higgins, the Matadors’ best defender, picked up his second foul and sat out the last 13 minutes of the half while BYU seized a 35-32 lead.

A short-lived Northridge advantage early in the second half was lost during a three-minute stretch when five missed Matador shots enabled the Cougars (4-5) to jump ahead, 53-46.

The deficit grew to 12 points and even a late rally keyed by Parris and Carl Holmes could get Northridge no closer than five in the last two minutes. Nathan Cooper and Todd Christensen picked up the slack for Bigelow and Jepsen, making 13 of 21 shots between them.

“Our effort was there, everybody was focused,” Northridge guard Markus Carr said. “The shots just didn’t drop.”

Matador Notes

Brian Heinle, who had 41 points and 23 rebounds in two games, made the all-tournament team. The sophomore center was most valuable player of the PowerBar Invitational at Hawaii last week. . . . Daniel Bobik of Newbury Park High, The Times’ Ventura County player of the year in 1997-98, accepted a scholarship to BYU but left during the summer on a two-year mission for the Mormon Church. The 6-6 guard will not begin his freshman season until the 2000-01 season. . . . Jermar Welch of Northridge, a 6-6 forward from Canyon Springs High in Moreno Valley, will be eligible to play Saturday against UCLA provided he passes his finals this week. Welch was signed as a Prop. 48 player before the 1997-98 season and also was academically ineligible this semester.