Smith returns to Stan Sheriff Center

Cal State Northridge guard Kendall Smith took a seat in the Stan Sheriff Center media workroom to speak to a reporter. Smith only got in a couple of sentences when Hawaii coach Eran Ganot walked past the doorway.

Ganot stopped, smiled and said, “Get that guy outta here!”

Smith, the younger brother of departed three-year Hawaii guard Quincy Smith, greeted the UH coach warmly with a hug. Though the Matadors’ ball-handler will try to end the Rainbow Warriors’ four-game head-to-head winning streak today, he still respects what UH did last season. Kendall was on the losing end of UH’s home finale, but he stayed on the court to watch Quincy’s senior ceremonies. Then he traveled with his family to Spokane, Wash., to see UH’s win over Cal in the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s always great to come back,” Smith said. “Obviously Quincy, what he was able to do here and achieve here, it’s kind of like, not really a second home for me, but the familiar faces, you know, I look at everybody as family.”

He keeps in touch with Quincy, now a professional player in Luxembourg. “He’s doing really well over there. The support is still there,” Kendall said, adding that Quincy tries to watch his games despite the nine-hour time difference.

UH (7-9, 1-2 Big West) is coming off an epic 114-107 overtime comeback win over Long Beach State on Saturday. It might be in for a similar shootout today with the Big West’s most prolific team in CSUN (league-best 78.9 points per game, league-worst 82.5 points allowed).

“They are pretty tough players,” said UH freshman forward Zigmars Raimo, coming off a season-best 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting vs. LBSU. “I think they’re better than Long Beach State. … If we make our shots and we do what Coach asks on defense, we have a pretty good chance to win.”

The 6-foot-3 Smith is the engine of Northridge’s up-tempo offense. He is the league’s second-leading scorer (16.5 ppg) and top assist man (4.6). He has scored in double figures in all but one game this season.

Last week he scored 26 in a win at Long Beach State and 21 in a home loss to UC Davis, helping CSUN (7-10, 3-1 Big West) to its best conference start since 2008-09.

Behind Smith, the slashing Matadors want to take it to the rim for either a bucket or a foul.

“He certainly put himself in the conversation for one of the better players in our conference,” Ganot said.

The junior’s been a rare source of stability for CSUN, which self-imposed a postseason ban last year as a result of an academic fraud scandal involving a former team director of operations under coach Reggie Theus. The Matadors are still down a scholarship.

“It’s difficult,” the former Sacramento Kings All-Star and coach said when the subject of NCAA penalties and UH’s sanctions came up. “I feel sorry for no one.” He laughed, pointing out his depleted rosters of the past three years.

“So for me, this is like Year 1,” he said.

Theus has transfers from Washington (Darin Johnson), Connecticut (Rakim Lubin), South Carolina (Reggie Theus Jr.), and Texas A&M (Dylan Johns). Returnees Tavrion Dawson and Aaron Parks are potent scorers. There’s also a 7-foot freshman center, Mahamadou Kaba-Camara.

But CSUN had the Big West’s worst loss of nonconference play, a 100-95 home defeat to Bethesda of the National Christian College Athletic Association on Dec. 16. That was near the end of a stretch of seven losses in eight games.

“That was an eye-opener for us and really showed us at that time we weren’t as good as we thought we were,” Smith said.

They recommitted on defense and rolled out four straight wins until Saturday’s 71-68 home loss to Davis.

Theus took note of UH’s hard play and momentous win over preseason favorite LBSU, in which three players (Noah Allen, Leland Green, Jack Purchase) erupted for career highs of 25 points.

“If you’re not ready to play, if you’re not 100 percent bought in, they can sting you like they stung Long Beach the other night,” Theus said. “I thought they played great down the stretch.”

UH is 4-0 over CSUN at the Sheriff in Big West play.

UH TIPOFF

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE AT HAWAII

Series: UH leads 12-4

WHEN: 7 p.m. today • WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center

Cal State Northridge

Projected starting lineups

Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

G 0 Kendall Smith 6-3 190 Jr.

G 22 Aaron Parks 6-3 210 Sr.

G 3 Darin Johnson 6-5 191 Jr.

F 4 Tavrion Dawson 6-8 202 Jr.

C 5 Mahamadou Kaba-Camara 7-0 273 Fr.

When CSUN has the ball

The Matadors want to play fast, draw fouls and wear teams down at the free-throw line, where they lead the Big West in makes (nearly 20 per game) and attempts (27.8). But they are surprisingly selective from beyond the arc; despite leading the league in 3-point efficiency (37.5 percent), they make fewer than five per game, last in the league.

Hawaii

Projected starting lineups

Pos. No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl.

PG 23 Brocke Stepteau 5-9 160 So.

SG 0 Leland Green 6-2 175 Fr.

SF 32 Noah Allen 6-7 215 Sr.

PF 12 Jack Purchase 6-8 200 So.

PF 21 Gibson Johnson 6-8 220 Jr.

When UH has the ball

Reigning Big West player of the week Noah Allen is expected to make a return to the starting lineup after a five-game stint as a reserve. Allen, whose clutch layup was among his career-high 25 points against Long Beach State, has 181 points on the season — more than twice his three-year UCLA total of 84. Guard Sheriff Drammeh could come off the bench for the first time this season.