GAME PREVIEW
• Sacramento State (2-5) will play its seventh game away from home on Saturday when the Hornets play at Long Beach State (4-4). Tip at Walter Pyramid is set for 4:00 p.m.
• Saturday will mark the end of a stretch that will see the Hornets play seven of their first eight games away from home (5 roads, 2 neutrals). Three were guarantee games.
• After Saturday, the Hornets will begin a season-long three-game homestand.
• The Hornets are coming off a 69-63 road win on Sunday against rival UC Davis. Sacramento State closed the final five minutes on a 13-5 run.
• Each of the Hornets' last three games have been decided by six points or less. That includes a 75-71 loss to CSU Bakersfield, and 74-71 loss to Austin Peay. Both of those games took place at the SoCal Challenge in San Juan Capistrano.
• Sacramento State is the Big Sky Conference's top scoring team at 76.0 points per game, and the Hornets rank seventh in the nation with 11.0 3-pointers made per contest.
• Long Beach State has also seen a lack of home games this year. In fact, Saturday will be the Beach's home opener after five road games and three neutral site contests.
• The Beach began the season with a loss, and has since flip flopped a win with a loss in every game the rest of the way. Their last game was a 75-69 road win at Montana State.
• The Hornets are 7-5 all-time against Long Beach State in a series dominated by the home team. In fact, Sacramento State is 7-0 at home vs. the Beach, including a 76-74 win at the Nest on Dec. 10 of last season.
• In that game, current Hornets
Austin Patterson (14) and
Akol Mawein (8) combined for 22 points. The game was won on a
Zach Chappell driving layup with 0.5 seconds left.
• Sacramento State has never won on the Beach's home floor, going 0-3 in Long Beach, and 0-2 at neutral sites. The Hornets have not played in Long Beach since a 76-55 loss on Dec. 9, 2006.
• The Hornets are in 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 Hornets' 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
• Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+. Every game the rest of the season, except for the Jan. 6 game at St. Thomas, will be streamed on ESPN+.
• This marks 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 above.
