WILD WIN: BOZEMAN LOSES HIS COOL 

 ACCUSATION:  CAL COACH ACCUSED OF STRIKING NORTHRIDGE STATE ATHLETIC
OFFICIAL. 

By JOHN AKERS 
Mercury News Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE -- What began as a mundane Sunday-afternoon game turned into a
mystery thriller, with Cal Coach Todd Bozeman standing accused of hitting a
Northridge State athletic official.

This much is known for sure:

Bozeman, embarrassed by his team's first-half play and upset by the
officiating, lost his composure during the second half of the Bears' 76-65
victory over Northridge State.

Bozeman ran so wildly down the side of the court that he nearly slipped and
fell. He exchanged words with Northridge State fans, at least twice acting as
though he would go after them.

But whether Bozeman actually hit or slapped Northridge State athletic-events
manager Howard Garcia is something the game film might have to settle. The
tape was unavailable after the game.

Garcia insisted he was grazed on the left side of the head by Bozeman. Cal
assistant coach Kurtis Townsend, who was restraining Bozeman at the time,
said he saw the entire incident and insisted no contact was made. Bears
forward Tony Gonzalez said, ''I see the whole team holding (Bozeman), and I
see him swing at somebody.''

Bozeman refused to comment on that incident, but he was incredulous when told
of Garcia's claim. ''Yeah, right,'' Bozeman said sarcastically. ''He should
sue me then.''

Northridge State assistant coach James Morris, who stood about 50 feet from
the incident, said he saw Bozeman make contact with Garcia.

''It wasn't really a punch,'' Morris said. ''It was more of a swipe. It hit
him in the back of the head.''

The incident began with about 11 1/2 minutes remaining in the game. The Bears
(9-5), who had lost five of their previous six games, had taken their first
lead of the game four minutes earlier, at 46-45, but they had trailed the
Matadors (4-11) by 14 points during the first half and 41-33 at halftime.

A year ago, Northridge State lost to the Bears by 30 points; this season, the
Matadors lost by 62 points to a Cincinnati team Cal had defeated by 13.
Northridge was ranked 262nd in last week's USA Today power rankings.

That was part of Bozeman's frustration when he began to jump up and down and
then run down the Cal sideline, apparently because he thought forward
Tremaine Fowlkes (0 for 12 from the field) was fouled while shooting. No foul
was called. Bozeman slipped as he reached the baseline and caught himself. He
tore off his jacket. He acted as though he were going to storm onto the
court, but he was restrained by assistant coach Charles Payne.

A few Northridge fans began to harass Bozeman, from bleachers only a few feet
from where the coaches sit. He exchanged words with an adult male sitting
four rows from floor level and feigned that he was headed into the crowd
after him. A young male walked behind the coaches' bench, and Bozeman lunged
toward him but was restrained.

The Cal assistants asked for security, and Garcia showed up. He told Bozeman
to coach the game and that he would handle the security. Townsend said Garcia
used a ''kind of smart'' tone of voice, which apparently incited Bozeman.

Bozeman cocked his arm as if to swing at Garcia, but whether he did take a
swing and whether it landed remain unproved. 

Garcia said Bozeman grazed the left side of his head.

''It's not every day someone takes a swing at you,'' Garcia said. ''We were
trying to restrain him from allowing the situation to get way out of hand. He
was way out of control . . . not out of control, but way heated.''

Garcia said he would meet with his supervisors before deciding whether to
take any action. Garcia did not say whether that meant he might file charges
against Bozeman.

''I'm sure a report will be filed,'' Garcia said.

Said Townsend: ''I think that's a guy trying to take advantage of the
situation. I was holding (Bozeman's) arm. I know he didn't hit him.''

Bozeman refused to comment on the altercation, but he said he apologized to
the team for allowing himself to lose control.

''At the same time, this is not a geek show where people walk up to you and
say anything they want to. I'm not going to take that,'' Bozeman said. ''The
most overused thing in the world is, they say, to show some class. Come on.
(Fans are) yelling out crazy stuff, and you want someone to show some class?
That's ridiculous.''

Bozeman also declined to reveal what was said to provoke him. He also never
specifically addressed the officiating -- he was reprimanded by the Pacific
10 Conference for comments about officiating after a game last season -- but
he hinted that officials had allowed the game to become too physical. There
also were a couple of incidents in which players squared off, but that's as
far as it went.

''You throw (the abusive language) in, along with the fact I definitely
wasn't happy with the way we were playing. We definitely weren't playing with
any emotion,'' Bozeman said. ''You throw that all in there, and that can
cause it to get to that degree. And nothing much is expected from the game,
and to have them outplay us in the first half added to it, too.

''I shouldn't have lost my composure to that degree. I'm going to get upset,
but I shouldn't have got upset to that degree. But I'm human. I'm not a
robot.''