That blur was the Cal State Northridge basketball team racing to Thursday night’s 83-60 victory over Hawaii in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
A crowd of 2,603 saw the Matadors, who entered with the nation’s fourth-fastest offense (14.7 seconds per possession), beat the ’Bows down the court and on the boards.
“That wasn’t Hawaii basketball what you saw tonight,” UH captain Ryan Rapp said. “Credit to CSUN. They came out and they punked us. We knew it was going to be a physical game. We said it the whole time during scout leading up to this game and I think we underestimated how physical and tough they were. And that’s what happens when you don’t come out ready to go. It starts at the top with me. I wasn’t ready to go. I picked up two fouls early on. We just have to be better across the board.”
With only three returning players. CSUN coach Andy Newman wanted to add three-level scoring to the quick-strike offense during the offseason. In particular, three players from the transfer portal — Scotty Washington (Cal Baptist), Marcus Adams Jr. (BYU) and PJ Fuller III (Washington) — were recruited for their ability to open the lane with their 3-point shooting and drives. Against UH, one of the Big West’s top defensive and rebounding teams, the Matadors had their way.
Washington scored a game-high 24 points. Adams had 18, and Fuller added 14 on 6-for-11 shooting. Keonte Jones contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds and led the man-to-man defense.
The Matadors would attack without ball screens. Jones, Fuller and Washington would maneuver from side to side at the top of the key, then drive the lane.
“It’s how our offense is built,” Newman said. “We recruit guys with a lot of pop. If we can create a double gap for a guy going in a certain direction, we have guys who have great ability to get into the paint and make plays for each other.”
The Matadors buried eight of 14 3-point shots and made 53.3% of their overall field-goal attempts. Of their 40 rebounds, 14 were grabbed off the offensive glass. UH had 25 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. The Matadors’ tallest player, 6-9 Grady Lewis, was in foul trouble and limited to 12 minutes.
“We have tough guys who have a nose for the ball,” Newman said. “Rebounding is about want-to. Our guys were a little pissed off today coming in with the result we had in Bakersfield (blowing a 23-point lead). I thought we were going to have a great effort. They knew Hawaii was a very good rebounding team. And they took that challenge on, and really met it.”
UH guard Tom Beattie said: “They just came out with more energy than us. They had 14 offensive rebounds. That’s stuff we pride ourselves. I think before the game we were 14th in the country in rebounding, and that was terrible to say the least.”
The Matadors used a quick-sliding defense to complement their high-octane offense. The key defender was the 6-foot-6 Jones, who entered as the league’s top rebounder at 8.9 per game. Jones was shaken up on a missed tip three minutes into the game, and was treated in the trainer’s room. He returned with 14:27 to play, boosting the Matadors’ defensive scheme.
The Matadors’ strategy was to aggressively cover UH’s perimeter shooters with Jones playing, in essence, a free-safety spot in the low post. He either would take on a cutter, harass the center or apply a double team on the wing.
“We’re so long and athletic, and Keonte Jones is such a good player,” Newman said. “He’s got great instincts defensively. We like to let him kind of roam a little bit and make plays on the ball.”
The ’Bows tried several combinations but could not unlock their offense. They were 3-for-20 on 3-point shots. They only had two assists in the second half, one coming on an inbounds pass. Rapp went to the bench after being assessed back-to-back fouls with 17 minutes left in the first half. Center Tanner Christensen, who scored 37 points in the previous two games, picked up his fourth foul with 15:25 remaining in the second half. Christensen finished with four points.
The ’Bows, who entered on a three-game winning streak, fell to 11-6 overall and 3-3 in the Big West. They play host to Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday night.
BIG WEST MEN
Conference Overall
W L Pct. GB W L
UC Irvine 6 0 1.000 — 16 2
UC San Diego 5 1 .833 1 15 3
UCSB 4 2 .667 2 12 5
CS Northridge 4 3 .571 21
⁄2 12 6
UC Davis 4 3 .571 21
⁄2 10 8
Hawaii 3 3 .500 3 11 6
UC Riverside 3 3 .500 3 10 8
CS Bakersfield 3 3 .500 3 9 9
Long Beach St. 3 3 .500 3 7 11
Cal Poly 0 7 .000 61
⁄2 6 13
CS Fullerton 0 7 .000 61
⁄2 5 14
Thursday
Cal State Northridge 83, Hawaii 60
UC Irvine 82, Cal State Fullerton 62
UC Santa Barbara 66, UC Riverside 63
UC San Diego 80, Long Beach State 54
UC Davis 65, Cal Poly 54
Saturday
Cal State Bakersfield at Hawaii, 7 p.m.
UC Davis at UC Santa Barbara
Cal State Fullerton at Long Beach State
UC San Diego at UC Riverside
Cal Poly at UC Irvine
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 83,
HAWAII 60
MATADORS ( 12-6, 4-3 )
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
Jones 33 4-6 3-8 12 2 2 12
Adams 30 8-13 1-2 2 0 2 18
Fofana 30 0-3 2-2 4 1 3 2
Fuller II 24 6-11 1-2 3 2 3 14
Washington 31 9-15 3-3 3 1 2 24
Beard 17 2-2 0-0 3 3 0 6
Barbee 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Lewis 12 2-7 0-0 7 0 5 4
Brinson 7 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1
Ndumanya 5 1-1 0-0 3 0 3 2
Cain 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Thibiant 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Martindale 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
TEAM 3
TOTALS 200 32-60 11-19 40 9 20 83
RAINBOW WARRIORS ( 11-2, 4-2 )
MIN FG-A FT-A R A PF PTS
Nemeiksa 25 4-8 0-0 4 3 1 8
Christensen 21 1-2 2-2 1 0 5 4
Williams 28 2-4 0-0 2 3 1 5
Beattie 29 4-7 0-1 0 0 0 9
Rapp 15 1-7 0-0 2 0 2 2
Jacobs 17 2-7 2-2 4 2 2 6
Palm 10 1-3 1-2 1 0 0 3
Greene 9 0-2 0-0 0 1 0 0
Rouhliadeff 15 2-3 3-4 3 1 1 8
Hunkin-Claytor 20 3-6 4-5 1 1 2 10
Obasohan 9 2-3 1-2 2 0 2 5
Economou 2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 0
TEAM 5
TOTALS 200 22-52 13-18 25 12 16 60
Halftime — Cal State Northridge 38, Hawaii
29.
3-point goals — Cal State Northridge 8-14
(Jones 1-1, Adams 1-2, Fuller 1-4, Washington
3-4, Beard 2-2, Thibiant 0-1). Hawaii 3-20 (Nemeiksa 0-3, Williams 1-2, Beattie 1-2, Rapp
0-4, Jacobs 0-2, Greene 0-2, Rouhliadeff 1-2,
Hunkin-Claytor 0-2, Obasohan 0-1). Steals —
Cal State Northridge 6 (Adams 2, Fuller, Beard
2, Brinson). Hawaii 5 (Nemeiksa, Christensen,
Rouhliadeff, Hunkin-Claytor 2). Blocked shots
— Cal State Northridge 4 (Adams 3, Lewis). Hawaii 3 (Christensen 3). Turnovers — Cal State
Northridge 11 (Jones 2, Adams, Fofana, Fuller,
Beard 2, Lewis 2, Brinson 1, Ndumanya 1). Hawaii 14 (Nemeiksa 2, Williams, Beattie 2,
Rapp, Jacobs 2, Palm, Hunkin-Claytor 2, Obasohan 2, Team).
Technical fouls — none. Officials — Chad
Shepard, Brad Gaston, Ray Ames. Time —
1:56. A — 4,237
