GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State opens the 2023-24 season on the road at Nevada on Tuesday night. Tip-off at Lawlor Events Center is 7 p.m. Both teams will be playing their season opener. The Wolf Pack did have an exhibition game on Nov. 1 vs. Stanislaus State.
• The Hornets open 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.
• Tuesday will mark the first meeting between Sacramento State and Nevada since an 82-74 Wolf Pack win in Reno on Nov. 19, 2005.
• Overall, Sacramento State is 19-39 in the all-time series with Nevada.
• Since joining the Div. I ranks prior to the 1991-92 season, Sacramento State has played Nevada just three times. The Hornets are 2-1 in those matchups.
• The other 55 meetings came between 1950 and 1988 during the Hornets' Div. II era.
• Tuesday's game will mark the first of a stretch that will see the Hornets play seven of their first eight games of the season away from home.
• The Hornets did not play an exhibition game this season, opting instead to play a pair of controlled scrimmages against Cal Poly and Pacific.
• 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.
• Nevada, under the guidance of fifth-year head coach Steve Alford, won 22 games a season ago and made a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Wolf Pack were selected fourth in the Mountain West Conference preseason coaches poll.
• Nevada is the first of two straight guarantee games the Hornets play to begin the season. That includes a matchup at Stanford on Nov. 10. Sacramento State Athletics has won each of the last two head-to-head matchups at Stanford, with the Hornet baseball (April 18) and Hornet football (Sept. 16) teams recently winning road games against the Cardinal.

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• Tuesday's game will stream live on the Mountain West Network, and will be televised on Nevada Sports Net, a station that covers northern Nevada.
• For 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.

SEASON OPENERS

• Entering its 33rd season as a Div. I member, the Hornets are 12-20 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 12 season openers.
• Since its first season of men's hoops in 1948-49, Sacramento State is 26-49 all-time in season openers.

NEW FACES ADDED TO FOUR RETURNERS

• The Hornets' roster is comprised of 15 players, 11 of which are brand new to the program. Of those 11 new players, six are transfers and five are true freshmen.
• Five of the six transfers are from Div. I programs, including guards Brandon Betson (Tulsa), Zee Hamoda (Utah State) and Emil Skytta (Central Michigan), and forwards Jacob Holt (Santa Clara) and Duncan Powell (North Carolina A&T).
• The other transfer is Julian Vaughns, who played at the University of Alberta.
• Of the four Hornet returners, three started a good amount of games last season in guard Austin Patterson (32 starts, 7.4 ppg, 55 3PT), as well as forwards Akol Mawein (16 starts, 9.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and Kiir Kiir Chol Deng (9 starts, 0.6 ppg, 0.9 rpg).
• Guard Quadry Adams (1 start) also saw the starting lineup a year ago.
• Those four players combine to make up just 31% of the team's scoring (646 points) from last season's total (2,114 points).

PLENTY OF SIZE

• Sacramento State has plenty of size this season, and could be among the tallest teams on the West Coast.
• Five players stand 6-foot-9 or taller. The tallest player on the team is seven-foot center Bowyn Beatty.
• The Hornets also have a pair of 6-10 forwards in Chudi Dioramma and Jacob Holt. Two players check in at 6-9 in forwards Kiir Kiir Chol Deng and Akol Mawein.
• All five of those players will be in the rotation, and two will likely be starters.

INTERNATIONAL ROSTER

• The Hornets' roster is one of the most international in the nation.
• Sacramento State has players representing seven different countries - United States (6), Australia (4), Bahrain (1), Canada (1), England (1), Finland (1) and South Sudan (1).
• That is tied for fourth most in the nation with UCLA. Three teams - Arizona, Hawai'i and Portland - have players representing eight countries.
• In addition, Sacramento State has players from five of the seven continents - North America, Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia.

COACH PATRICK ENTERS 2ND SEASON AT THE HELM

• David Patrick, entering his second season as head coach, led the Hornets to 14 wins a season ago after the program had failed to reach that mark the previous two seasons.
• That marked the most victories (14) by a first-year head coach during Sacramento State's Div. I era (1991-pres.). In addition, it was the third best mark for a first-year head coach in program history (1948-pres.).
• Sacramento State was the No. 6 seed at last season's Big Sky Tournament, and received a first round bye at the postseason event for the first time since joining the league in 1996.
• The 47-year old Patrick has been a winner at every stop of his collegiate coaching career, and most recently, spent parts of July and August as an assistant coach with the Australian National Team at the World Cup in Okinawa.

RETURNING THE ENTIRE STAFF

• Not only does Coach Patrick return for a second season, his entire staff is back as well.
• That includes associate head coach Michael Czepil, assistants Loren Leath, Hays Myers and Tyson Batiste, and director of operations Elijah Roth.
• Every member of the staff enters their second season along with Patrick.

CONTROLLING THE GLASS

• Head coach David Patrick puts heavy emphasis on rebounds, and Sacramento State responded by controlling the glass a year ago. Expect that to happen again 2023-24.
• The Hornets finished last year ranked 18th in the nation (among 352 Div. I teams) with an average of +6.0 boards per game. That included an average of 10.9 offensive rebounds per contest.
• Sacramento State outrebounded all but seven opponents a year ago, and improved its average to +7.1 per game against Big Sky opposition. Overall, the team also averaged 10.8 second chance points per contest.

SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN

• This year's Hornet schedule features 31 games - 14 at home, 15 on the road, and two neutrals. The regular season begins with a pair of money games at Nevada on Nov. 7, and Stanford on Nov. 10.
• The team will play seven of its first eight games away from home. In fact, the Hornets play just once at home during the first month of the season - Nov. 14 vs. Pacific Union.
• The majority of the Hornets' weekday home games will be 6 p.m. starts. In seasons past, Sacramento State played nearly all its weekday home games at 7 p.m.
• The annual basketball version of the Causeway Classic against UC Davis is being moved back to campus. Each of the last five meetings between the rivals had been played at the downtown Golden1 Center.
• This year's game will be played at Davis, and next season's game will be played at The Nest.

HORNETS LOVE CLOSE GAMES

• If you love close games, then Sacramento State is a good team to watch.
• A year ago, of the Hornets' 19 games vs. a conference opponent (including the Big Sky Tournament), 14 of those games were decided by eight points or less.
• That included each of the last six games being decided by six points or fewer.
• Sacramento State went 5-9 in those close Big Sky game outcomes.
• Of the Hornets' 10 games away from home against Big Sky opposition, eight were decided by six points or fewer.
• Overall, the Hornets were 9-11 in games decided by eight points or fewer.

THREADS

• Sacramento State has three uniform sets - home white, road green and neutral black.
• For the first time in recent memory, the last names of each player will be displayed on the back of the white and black jerseys. The greens will not feature a last name.

FEELING THE HOME COURT

• Last year's squad became just the third team in program history (1948-pres.) to win its first eight home games. The Hornets finished the year 9-4 at home.
• The program is now a combined 96-50 (.657 win%) in the Nest dating back to 2012.
• The home of the Hornets - The Nest - received another big upgrade. Prior to last season, the venue got a paint job and new lighting. In July, the facility received a brand new video board and scoreboard.
• The video board is much larger than its predecessor, and is nearly as wide as the basketball court. Also making its debut will be brand new press tables with LED video display.

BRAND NEW STARTING LINEUP?

• In both preseason scrimmages, the Hornets used starting lineups featuring zero returners from a year ago. If that carries into the regular season, the Hornets would have to be one of the few teams in the nation to not have one returner in the starting lineup.
• A year ago, shooting guard Austin Patterson started all 32 games while averaging a team-high 32.0 minutes per contest. In the scrimmages, he played the role of sixth man.
• Forward Akol Mawein started 16 games a year ago, but is just now returning to health after an injury setback. Mawein was the Hornets' third leading scorer (9.7 ppg) and second leading rebounder (5.9 rpg) a year ago.
• Forward Kiir Kiir Chol Deng (9 starts) is coming back from offseason surgery.
• Quadry Adams (1 start) is also coming back from offseason surgery.

QUICK NOTABLES

• The Hornets opened last season's schedule against seventh-ranked UCLA. On Tuesday, the team will face a Nevada squad ranked 10th in SBNation's mid-major poll.
• Of all the non-freshmen, point guard Brandon Betson and forward Akol Mawein are the leading returning collegiate scorers on the Hornets' roster. Mawein averaged 9.7 points for the Hornets last season, and Betson averaged 9.7 points for Tulsa a year ago.
• Forward Duncan Powell, a transfer North Carolina A&T, is the highest rated high school recruit in Sacramento State history. He was rated No. 84 overall by ESPN in the 2021 class. Over his final five games last season for the Aggies, he had two double-doubles while averaging 16.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 33.8 minutes per game.
• Guard Zee Hamoda, a transfer from Utah State, helped Bahrain to a FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying championship in August. The team went 5-0 at the tournament, and Hamoda averaged 17.6 points and 6.6 rebounds on 48% FG (27-57) and 46% 3FG (11-24).
• Point guard Bailey Nunn also won a championship in August, helping the Knox Raiders to an Australian NBL1 national championship. He averaged 22.0 ppg during the event.
• Freshman forward Chudi Dioramma posted some ridiculous numbers at his London high school, averaging 26.8 points, 22.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game as a senior.
• Forward Jacob Holt comes to the Hornets after playing in a combined 50 games over two years for a Santa Clara squad that went 21-10 in the WCC during his two seasons.
• Guard Julian Vaughns, a transfer from the University of Alberta, will redshirt this season.
• Seven-foot center Bowyn Beatty becomes the second Hornet to have played for the NBA Global Academy in Australia. Current Hornet teammate Kiir Kiir Chol Deng also played.