SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Montana State jumped out to a 35-24 halftime advantage and led the game for all but 58 seconds on the way to a 74-65 victory over Sacramento State in a Big Sky Conference men's basketball game Thursday evening at the Nest.

The Hornets' only lead of the game was at 2-0 when Justin Strings connected on a jumper on the Hornets' first possession of the game. However, Montana State immediately responded with an 8-0 run and never relinquished that lead the remainder of the contest. In fact, the Bobcats pushed their advantage all the way to 14 points (30-16) before settling for the 11-point halftime lead.

In the first half, Sacramento State connected on just .385 (10-26) of its shots from the field, 2-for-10 from the 3-point line and 2-for-6 from the free throw line. The Hornets also turned the ball over nine times in the first half and Montana State was able to score six points off those miscues.

In the second half, an 11-3 Hornet run, capped by a 3-pointer from Strings, drew the Hornets within, 59-54, of the MSU lead with 6:12 remaining, but that was as close as Sacramento State would get. Montana State immediately responded with a 9-1 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Harald Frey at the 5:00 mark, to take a 68-55 lead with 3:22 left. Sacramento State got as close as 70-62 of the MSU lead, but scored just three points the final 1:27.

With the victory, Montana State improved to 8-12 overall and 3-4 in the Big Sky. The Bobcats also improved to 30-18 all-time against Sacramento State, including an 11-12 mark when playing the Hornets in Sacramento. In addition, tonight's win was the first of the season for MSU on the road (1-7).

The Hornets, who were seeking their third straight win after last week's road victories, dropped to 5-12 overall and 2-4 in the Big Sky. Including home losses to Northern Colorado and North Dakota that began the conference season, Sacramento State has now lost three straight home games for the first time since the 2011-12 team dropped its final three home games of the season.

This evening opened a season-long three-game homestand that will see the Hornets take on Montana on Saturday at 7 p.m., followed by a matchup with Portland State next Saturday at 7 p.m.

Tonight continued an alarming trend for the Hornets as the team continues to play poorly at home in the first half of games. Since Big Sky play began, Sacramento State has trailed by at least nine points at halftime in all three of their home games. That includes a 52-31 deficit against North Dakota and a 39-25 deficit vs. Northern Colorado. All told, Sacramento State is being outscored by an average of 14.7 points in the first half of Big Sky home games.

Sacramento State finished the game shooting .426 (23-54) from the field, .381 (8-21) from the 3-point line and .550 (11-20) from the free throw line. The Hornets finished with 15 turnovers, tied for their third largest total of the season. Montana State held advantages in points off turnovers (15-7) and second chance points (19-15). The Bobcats finished the game shooting .455 (25-55) from the field, .400 (8-20) from the 3-point line and .615 (16-26) from the free throw line. MSU converted on five more free throws and two more field goals, and that provided the difference in the game. The Hornets have failed to shoot at least 70 percent from the free throw line in six straight games.

For Sacramento State, juniors Justin Strings and Marcus Graves both scored 19 points. Graves also had six rebounds and six assists in a game-high 39 minutes. Strings' 19 points came with four 3-pointers, eight rebounds and two steals. The two combined to score 38 of the Hornets' 65 points, and 12 of those points for Strings came in the second half. No other Hornet finished with more than seven points.

Nick Hornsby had five points and eight rebounds (four on the offensive glass), Jiday Ugbaja had seven points in 11 minutes, and Joshua Patton had five points and two blocked shots. Eric Stuteville finished with four points and four rebounds, and Trevis Jackson had three points, three rebounds and four assists. Graves (6 assists, 1 turnover) and Trevis Jackson (four assists, zero turnovers) combined for 10 assists and one turnover.

Montana State was led by Harald Frey's career-high 22 points as the freshman shot 7-of-11 from the field, 5-for-7 from the 3-point line and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. The Bobcats also got 17 points in 34 minutes from Tyler Hall, who is currently second in the Big Sky with a scoring average of 23.2 points per game. The Bobcats received seven points apiece from Zach Green, Benson Osayande and Quinton Everett.

On Saturday, the Hornets will play the Grizzlies for the first time this season while Sacramento State lost to the Vikings in Portland earlier this year, 83-76. In that game, the Hornets were trailing by one point with two minutes left prior to falling by seven points.