* CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (9-8, 1-4) at...

By STEVE HENSON

Jan. 17, 1999 12 AM PT

* CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (9-8, 1-4) at MONTANA (8-7, 1-3), noon--Northridge is seeking to end a Big Sky Conference tailspin that inexplicably has followed a promising nonconference showing. The Matadors dropped their third game in a row Friday, losing at Montana State, 87-82. Poor defense and an inability to work the ball for open shots plague Northridge. Oh, and free throws don’t go down either: The Matadors are 24 for 50 in their last two games. Center Brian Heinle continued to slump, missing all seven of his shots against Montana State. Guard Greg Minor made four of seven three-point shots, but Montana State countered by making 12 of 24. Montana was defeated Wednesday at home by Northern Arizona, the conference leader. Matt Williams, a 6-foot-7 junior from Santa Barbara, leads the Grizzlies with averages of 14.4 points and 9.4 rebounds.

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Steve Henson

Steve Henson is a breaking news and enterprise reporter at the Los Angeles Times. He previously served as an editor and reporter in the Sports department. Henson was a leader in digital-only newsrooms from 2007-19 as a senior editor and columnist at Yahoo Sports and as senior editor at the USA Today Sports Media Group. This is his second stint at The Times, having covered the Dodgers and UCLA as well as doing enterprise, investigative and features writing from 1985-2007. Henson was awarded first place in sports features in 2023 and in 2021 by the L.A. Press Club. He has been honored several times by APSE — most recently in 2023 and 2021 — and also by the California News Publishers Assn., the Football Writers Assn. of America and U.S. Basketball Writers Assn.