Northridge Loses Again and Gropes for Answers

GOLETA — It’s not time for the Cal State Northridge basketball team to panic, but it’s close.

“We’ve got to do something,” point guard Trenton Cross said after the Matadors lost, 94-67, to UC Santa Barbara in a nonconference game Tuesday night before 2,089 at the Thunderdome.

“We just keep doing the same [stuff],” Cross said. “Something’s got to happen, with the team or the coach or something. We just keep beating ourselves.”

The Matadors (2-6) played their worst game of the season. Only a strong effort from the reserves in garbage time prevented their 39% shooting from being more dismal.

The Matadors played poorly, but the Gauchos (3-3) also played well. UCSB shot an impressive 52% from the floor, including 57% in the second half. The Gauchos were also deadly from three-point range, making 13 of 29 from beyond the arc.

Guard Lelan McDougal scored 27 points for the Gauchos.

“No disrespect to them, but they weren’t as good as we made them look,” Cross said. “It was just a lack of hustle and effort. . . . We made them look like North Carolina.”

Northridge played well for about the first seven minutes.

The Matadors were setting up on offense and getting good shots inside with Damion Morbley and Cross leading the way.

Morbley and Josh Willis finished with 14 points apiece.

But it all fell apart quickly. UCSB outscored Northridge, 33-13, during the final 13 minutes of the half, turning a 13-12 lead into a 46-25 halftime margin and all but guaranteeing the Matadors’ eighth consecutive road loss.