GAME PREVIEW
• Sacramento State (3-10) will compete in the inaugural Big Sky-Summit Challenge this week. The Hornets will play two games as part of the event, beginning with a home matchup vs. Kansas City (6-9) on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
• The event takes place on Jan. 3 and 6, and each program in the Big Sky will play one home game and one away game against teams from the Summit League.
• The Hornets complete the Big Sky-Summit Challenge on Saturday when they travel to Minnesota to take on St. Thomas.
• Sacramento State will take a one-week hiatus from Big Sky play, as the conference season opened last week. The Hornets played twice on the road, falling to Idaho (61-58) and Eastern Washington (87-61).
• The Idaho loss was not kind. An
Akol Mawein 3-pointer tied the game, 58-58, with three seconds to play. However, Idaho threw a 65-foot baseball pass that wound up in the hands of Quinn Denker who banked in an off-balance 25-footer at the buzzer. The play wound up at No. 1 on ESPN SportsCenter's Top Plays that evening.
• The Hornets have played just four times at home this season. The team defeated a pair of non-Div. I opponents, and lost to Cal State Fullerton and UC San Diego.
• Kansas City (formerly UMKC) is 6-9 overall, including a 1-6 record on the road. The Roos' one road win came at Lindenwood (72-67) on Dec. 9.
• Kansas City is led by second-year head coach Marvin Menzies, who is familiar with Sacramento. Menzies was a Sacramento State assistant coach under Don Newman during the 1996-97 season. At thet time, the Hornets played their home games at the downtown Memorial Auditorium.
• Sacramento State and Kansas City have never played each other. The Hornets have been playing basketball since 1948 while the Roos have been playing in 1969. Kansas City was an NAIA school from 1969-86, prior to making the jump to NCAA Div. I status in 1986.
• The Roos were selected to finish eighth among nine teams in the Summit League preseason poll.
• 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 this year's Big Sky preseason coaches poll.
MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS
• Wednesday's game will be streamed on ESPN+. Every game the rest of the season, except for Saturday's 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.
