GAME PREVIEW
• After playing seven of its first eight games away from home, Sacramento State (2-6) will begin a season-long three game homestand on Saturday.
• The Hornets will host Cal State Fullerton (5-4) at the Nest on Saturday at 2 p.m. Other games during the homestand include UC San Diego (Dec. 18) and Bethesda (Dec. 21).
• Saturday is Kids Day, as kids 12-under will be admitted free and Hornet players will sign autographs on free posters after the game.
• Sacramento State's lone home game was a 128-66 victory over Pacific Union on Nov. 14. By the time Saturday's game tips, the Hornets will have gone 24 straight days without a game inside the Nest.
• Cal State Fullerton, which won at Pepperdine (60-55) on Wednesday, will enter Saturday's game with a 5-4 record. The Titans have won three straight, and Wednesday's victory was their first road win of the season (1-3).
• The Hornets are 9-8 all-time against Cal State Fullerton. The two teams met last season in Fullerton, resulting in a 59-49 Titan victory on Dec. 21. In that game, returners
Akol Mawein had 14 points and seven boards, and
Austin Patterson had six points and two steals.
• In a series littered with close games, three of the last four meetings have been decided by five points or less.
• Of the 17 games between the two teams, four have gone to overtime. The first meeting came in 1960.
• Sacramento State is 5-1 at home vs. the Titans, with the lone Fullerton win in the Nest coming on Dec. 21, 2002. The Hornets have won the last two meetings in the Nest.
• The Hornets' homestand also marks the last three games before Big Sky Conference play begins on Dec. 28 at Idaho.
• Three of the Hornets' last four games have been decided by six points or less. That includes a 69-63 road win in a rivalry game at UC Davis on Nov. 26.
• Sacramento State is the Big Sky Conference's top scoring team at 75.6 points per game, and the Hornets rank 10th in the nation with 10.6 made 3-pointers per contest.
• 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+. Steve McElroy, in his 27th season as the play-by-play voice of the Hornets, will call Saturday's contest.
• 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 the story.
