Cal State Northridge hopes so as to add to a historic males’s basketball season when it travels to Northern California to tackle Stanford within the opening spherical of the NIT on Tuesday evening.
The Matadors (22-10) tied a faculty report for wins — set 24 years in the past — once they beat Hawaii 82-73 within the Large West Convention regular-season finale on March 8.
Northridge had an opportunity to set the all-time mark within the quarterfinal of the Large West match however fell 78-72 to UC Santa Barbara final Thursday.
“I am actually happy with our guys… what they’ve finished for the varsity, to this program and to themselves,” Northridge coach Andy Newman gushed after the Santa Barbara loss. “Setting faculty data says quite a bit; that is large.”
“The trouble, the tenacity, the main focus and the sacrifice it takes to do one thing like that’s large.”
Historical past signifies the Matadors might have their arms full with the Cardinal (20-13), who earned a postseason berth of their first season within the Atlantic Coast Convention. Stanford received the NIT championship in 1991, 2012 and 2015, and has by no means misplaced to Northridge (6-0).
The Cardinal, which completed in seventh place within the ACC earlier than beating California 78-73 and shedding to No. 13 Louisville 75-73 within the ACC match, was chosen as a “host” faculty for the match’s first two rounds. With a win Tuesday, Stanford would keep house to face both St. Bonaventure or Kent State within the second spherical of the 32-team occasion.
Thanks largely to the play of star middle Maxime Raynaud, who leads Stanford in each scoring (20.1 factors per sport) and rebounding (10.6), the Cardinal earned a postseason reward after having been virtually universally picked close to the underside of the ACC standings in preseason projections.
“We did not actually pay a lot consideration to it; we simply talked in regards to the course of and simply (doing) your greatest on a regular basis,” first-year Stanford coach Kyle Smith famous. “They did a very good job of staying current and making an attempt to enhance.”
The tall process of getting to take care of Raynaud is anticipated to fall upon Northridge senior Keonte Jones, who will quit greater than six inches within the matchup. An All-Large West first-team choice, Jones led the Matadors with 9.2 rebounds per sport this season.
–Subject Stage Media
