GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State (0-2) will play its home opener on Tuesday vs. Pacific Union (0-3). Tip-off at the Nest is set for 6:30 p.m.
• Not only is Tuesday the home opener, it also marks the lone home game during the first month of the season. The Hornets play seven of their first eight games away from home.
• The Hornets opened the season with a pair of road guarantee games. That includes losses to Nevada (77-63) and Stanford (91-73).
• In the Nevada game, the Hornets trailed by six points with 3:30 left, but the Wolf Pack closed on a 10-2 run.
• In the Stanford game, the Cardinal closed the final two minutes on a 7-0 run to make the score a little more lopsided than how the game had played out.
• Sacramento State will be playing Pacific Union for just the second time. The first matchup resulted in a 78-49 Hornet win in the Nest on Dec. 28, 2015. In that game, Eric Stuteville had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Justin Strings added 12 points and seven boards.
• Pacific Union is an NAIA institution that resides in Angwin, Calif., and the Cal Pac Conference. The Pioneers are seeking their first win, with their most recent outcome being a 95-83 home loss to Menlo last Wednesday.
• Sacramento State has used the same starting five in both games thus far, and that unit is made up entirely of newcomers to the program. That includes Zee Hamoda, Brandon Betson and Alex Kovatchev at guard, and Jacob Holt and Duncan Powell at forward.
• After Tuesday's game, the Hornets do not return to the Nest until a Dec. 9 home matchup with Cal State Fullerton. Also, Friday's game at Tulane begins a season-long stretch of five straight games away from home (three road, two neutral).
• The Hornets are beginning the second season of the David Patrick era. Last year's squad finished 14-18 overall and 7-11 in the Big Sky Conference. The 14 wins were the most by a first-year head coach during the Div. I era (1991-pres.), and the third most in program history.
• Sacramento State did not play an exhibition game this season, opting instead to play a pair of controlled scrimmages against Cal Poly and Pacific. The Hornets won both of those games by double figures.
• Despite fielding a roster that consists of just four returners and 11 newcomers, Sacramento State was selected to finish fourth in the Big Sky preseason coaches poll.
• The fourth place prediction in the coaches poll is the highest showing for the program since the 2014-15 team was also selected fourth. In addition, it ties for the second highest prediction since the Hornets joined the Big Sky in 1996 - the 2005-06 team was third.

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• Tuesday's game will stream on ESPN+ with 27th-year play-by-play voice Steve McElroy calling all the action.
• This will mark the third straight season all Hornet home games, and games played at a Big Sky Conference venue, will stream on ESPN+. The subscription-based service will stream on watchespn.com and the ESPN App.
• 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.

Full set of game notes can be found in link above the story.