GAME PREVIEW
• Sacramento State (12-10, 5-4) will play the third leg of its season-long four game homestand on Thursday vs. Eastern Washington (16-7, 10-0). Tip at the Nest is set for 7 p.m.
• Thursday is Green Out as the first 250 students in attendance will receive free t-shirts.
• The Hornets will square off with one of the hottest teams in the nation. Eastern Washington has yet to lose a conference game, and the Eagles' 12-game winning streak is the second longest active streak in the nation (behind Florida Atlantic's 20-game streak).
• In the teams' first meeting on Jan. 7 in Cheney, Sacramento State nearly overcame a 26-point second half deficit. In fact, the Hornets tied things at 75-75 on a
Zach Chappell 3-ball with 15 seconds left, but the Eagles' Steele Venters hit an off-balance 3-pointer with two seconds remaining to provide the victory.
• The Eagles have won three Big Sky games by three points - home vs. the Hornets, road at Montana State, and road at Northern Arizona.
• Sacramento State is coming off a home split with the Montana schools - a 67-48 win over Montana, and a 72-65 loss to Montana State that came down to the final minute.
• The Hornets' four conference losses have come by a combined 16 points. Three of those losses came by four points or fewer. Each came down to the final minute of the game.
• The Hornets had been 8-0 at home until Saturday's loss, only the third team in program history to win its first eight home games. In addition, the Hornets had their 10-game home winning streak (dating back to last season) snapped.
• The Hornets' 12 overall victories have already surpassed their win total from a season ago when the team finished 11-18.
• At the halfway point of the Big Sky season, the Hornets are one win shy of matching their Big Sky win total from last year (6-14).
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David Patrick owns the most wins (12) by a first-year Sacramento State head coach during the program's Div. I era (1991-pres.).
• Sacramento State is tied for fourth in the Big Sky standings with nine league games remaining. The top six teams in the 10-member conference receive a first round bye in the Big Sky Tournament (March 4-8) in Boise, Idaho.
• Eastern Washington leads the Big Sky in numerous categories, including field goal percentage (.481), defensive FG% (.419) and rebounding (+6.0 per game). In addition, the team's effective field goal percentage of .558 is the 15th best mark in the nation.
• Thursday's game will feature two of the top rebounding teams in the country. The Eagles +6.0 per game is 26th in the nation, and the Hornets' +5.7 per game is 31st.
MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS
• Every game the rest of the season will stream on ESPN+.
• All four games during the homestand will broadcast live on ESPN 1320 AM with longtime broadcaster Steve McElroy calling all the action.
• 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.
