GAME PREVIEW
• Sacramento State opens the 2022-23 season at seventh-ranked UCLA on Monday night. Tip-off at Pauley Pavilion will be 8:40 p.m. Monday also marks the Bruins' season opener. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
• The Hornets will be making just their third ever trip to Pauley Pavilion. The iconic building was built in 1965, and renovated from 2010-12.
• Sacramento State played at UCLA in 2005 and 2013, the only times the Hornets and Bruins have faced each other. UCLA scored 86 points in both those contests, which includes an 86-56 win in 2005, and 86-50 in 2013.
• Since joining the Div. I ranks prior to the 1991-92 season, the Hornets have never defeated a nationally ranked team, going 0-16 over that span. That includes a loss to then 17th-ranked Arizona last season.
• Sacramento State has defeated three teams from the Pac-12 since 2009, but is still just 4-43 all-time against the Pac-12's current affiliates. The three recent victories came against Oregon State (2009), Utah (2012) and Arizona State (2015).
• The Hornets did not play an exhibition game this season, opting instead to play a pair of controlled scrimmages.
• UCLA beat Concordia, 93-63, in its lone exhibition game on Wednesday at home.
• Sacramento State will have a fresh look in 2022-23, as the entire coaching staff is brand new, and seven of the roster's 13 players are new to the program.
• Monday will mark the Hornet head coaching debut of
David Patrick, who became Sacramento State's 15th head coach in program history (1948-pres.) when he was named to the position on April 5.
• Patrick, who is 46, is a veteran collegiate and international coach with 17 years of coaching experience. A native of Bermuda who moved to Australia at the age of 10, Patrick came to the United States prior to his senior year of high school. He is a renowned recruiter with worldwide connections and has won at every stop of his coaching career.
• Last year's Hornet squad, under the guidance of interim head coach Brandon Laird, posted an 11-18 overall record and 6-14 mark in the Big Sky Conference. The Hornets have not finished higher than seventh place in the Big Sky each of the last seven seasons.
• Sacramento State was selected sixth in both the Big Sky media and coaches polls.
• The Hornets return just six players from a year ago, including the team's second (
Zach Chappell 11.6 ppg) and fourth (
Cameron Wilbon 9.1 ppg) leading scorers.
• Entering its 32nd season as a Div. I member, the Hornets are 12-19 in season openers since making the jump from Div. II to Div. I prior to the 1991-92 season. However, the team has won eight of the last 11 season openers, including a 66-63 win in Bobby Hurley's head coaching debut at Arizona State in 2015.
• UCLA, currently ranked seventh in the nation in the USA Today Coaches Poll and eighth in the AP poll, was picked first in the Pac-12 preseason poll for the third straight season. The Bruins finished last year with a 27-8 overall record and 15-5 mark in the Pac-12.
• UCLA advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 a year ago before falling to North Carolina by six points. The Bruins are led by seniors Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez Jr., who were both preseason first team all-Pac 12 selections.
MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS
• Monday's game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network, and will be video streamed via pac-12.com/live. Ted Robinson (play-by-play) and Bill Walton (color) will be on the call.
• There will be no radio available for Monday's game.
• For the second straight season, all Hornet home games, and games played at a Big Sky Conference venue, will be streamed on ESPN+. The subscription-based service will stream on watchespn.com and the ESPN App.
• In addition, every home game this year will be broadcast live on ESPN 1320 AM with 26th-year play-by-play man Steve McElroy calling the action.
• Links for all multimedia options, including live stats for every game, can be found next to each game on the men's basketball schedule at hornetsports.com.
The full set of game notes can be accessed in the link towards the top of this story.
