GAME PREVIEW
• With 11 non-league games in the books, Sacramento State (3-8, 0-0) will open Big Sky Conference play Thursday on the road at Idaho (6-6, 0-0). Tip at ICCU Arena is set for 6 p.m.
• The Hornets are coming off a 100-45 home victory over Bethesda last Thursday. That was the conclusion of a three-game homestand as Sacramento State has not played on the road since Dec. 2.
• Despite the homestand, seven of the team's 11 games have still come away from home.
• Sacramento State is 1-4 in true road games, and 0-2 at neutral sites. The one win was a 69-63 victory in a rivalry game at UC Davis.
• The Hornets are 8-19 in their Big Sky openers since joining the league in 1996. Sacramento State won last year's conference opener at home over Portland State (74-63).
• Thursday will mark the first of two Big Sky games this week for the Hornets that includes a Saturday afternoon matchup at Eastern Washington.
• Idaho is 4-2 at home, including a 30-point win over Pacific (83-53) in its last game at ICCU Arena on Dec. 5. The Vandals' two losses at home came by three points or less.
• Brandon Laird is currently in his first season as Idaho's associate head coach. Laird spent 11 years with the Hornets (2011-22), primarily as the team's associate head coach. Laird was the team's interim head coach in 2021-22 after longtime head coach Brian Katz quit just four days before the season opener.
• In a series that dates back to 1968, Idaho was 13-1 against the Hornets at one point, but Sacramento State is 10-9 against Idaho dating back to 2014. Overall, the Vandals are 22-11 against the Hornets.
• Both meetings between the Hornets and Vandals went to overtime a year ago with Sacramento State winning in Moscow (85-83), and Idaho winning at the Nest (82-76).
• Three of the last five meetings between the teams have gone into overtime. And another was decided by three points (57-54) at the 2022 Big Sky Tournament in Boise. The last two meetings in Moscow have both gone to an extra session.
• Sacramento State is 4-14 when playing the Vandals in Moscow, but are 3-4 since 2017.
• 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.
• Idaho was picked last in the Big Sky preseason coaches poll. The Vandals are under the guidance of first-year head coach Alex Pribble, who spent the previous four seasons as the associate head coach at Seattle U.
MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS
• Thursday's game will be streamed on ESPN+. Every game the rest of the season, except for the Jan. 6 road 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 accessed above.
