A Tall Order Awaits Giddy Northridge

DAYTON, Ohio — Cal State Northridge will be a small fish in a big pond tonight when the Matadors play Kansas in a Midwest Regional opener of the NCAA tournament.

Will the Matadors sink or swim?

Never has unheralded Northridge (22-9), making its first tournament appearance, found itself in such a fishbowl. And how the No. 13 Matadors cope with bright lights and a media blitz could be an intangible in their first meeting against seasoned No. 4 Kansas.

Even guard Carl Holmes admits feeling jittery about playing the Jayhawks.

"A little bit," Holmes said. "We're excited. I walked out [on the court] and it was a circus out there. It's a great honor to play on this basketball team and be a part of history."

Northridge held its final practice Thursday at Dayton Arena in preparation for tonight's 4:30 p.m. PST tipoff. Despite a whirlwind season that has carried them into uncharted territory, the Matadors appear loose.

During a media session, Coach Bobby Braswell poked his head through a curtain and made faces at Brian Heinle while cameras were trained on the 6-foot-9 Northridge center.

"I told our guys to enjoy this," Braswell said. "Just to experience things. We're excited about being here, of course. But when the ball is tossed up in the air, you can be sure our guys are going to be ready."

The tournament already has produced upsets: No. 12 Utah State over No. 5 Ohio State, No. 11 Georgia State over No. 6 Wisconsin. Improbable outcomes become reality every year.

"There are always upsets in the tournament," guard Markus Carr of Northridge said. "Some teams come in ready to play, some teams come in not so ready to play. It's going to be a battle."

But Northridge over Kansas? A team with a 1,600-seat arena taking on a storied program making its 12th consecutive tournament appearance?

"Just watch the game," Braswell said.

Kansas (24-6), eliminated in the second round each of the last two seasons, can ill-afford to overlook Northridge. The Jayhawks hold a significant size advantage, but depth is a question mark.

Kansas has only seven scholarship players. The roster is depleted by the late-season departure of forward Luke Axtell, who quit the team because of a lingering back injury.

"They're a good team," Kansas center Eric Chenowith said. "I hope we're peaking at the right time."