GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State (1-3) will open the SoCal Challenge on Monday afternoon vs. CSU Bakersfield (2-2). Tip-off is set for noon.
• The Hornets are one of four teams (Tarleton State, Austin Peay are the others) in the Sand Division of the tournament.
• Tarleton State will play Austin Peay on Monday at 2:30 p.m. The winner of that game will face the Hornet-Roadrunner winner on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. The losers of both the first round games will play Wednesday at noon.
• All games will be played at The Pavilion at JSerra in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
• In reality, Monday's game will be the Hornets' first of the season against a like opponent.
• Each of Sacramento State's three losses were guarantee games (Nevada, Stanford, Tulane) and the victory came against Pacific Union of NAIA status.
• The Hornets will be playing the second leg of a season-long stretch of five straight games away from the home floor.
• Monday's game will pit two teams with completely different styles of play. Sacramento State is second in the nation with 35.5 3-point attempts per game, while the Roadrunners rank 333rd in the nation with just 15.0 3-point tries per contest.
• CSU Bakersfield is 2-2, including a one-point win over Southern Utah and a blowout of St Katherine, and a pair of road losses to Pac-12 Conference teams Cal and USC.
• Both the Hornets and Runners will be playing their first neutral court game of the year.
• The Roadrunners' second leading scorer Cameron Wilbon (7.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg) played for Sacramento State each of the last two seasons. He finished the 2022-23 season averaging 8.6 points and 3.8 boards per game for the Hornets.
• The Hornets are 5-20 all-time against Bakersfield, including losses in 13 of the last 15 matchups. The two teams have not played since a 74-66 Roadrunner win in Bakersfield on Nov. 13, 2013.
• In a series which dates back to 1971, the two teams have met on a neutral floor just once, resulting in a 90-89 Bakersfield win in 1988. That was still Sacramento State's Div. II days, as the program joined the Div. I ranks prior to the 1991-92 season.
• 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 third most in program history.
• 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

• Both Monday and Wednesday's games will be streamed on FloSports, which is a subscription based service.
• 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.

Sacramento State's full set of game notes can be found above.