GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State (1-3) plays its lone game of the week on Sunday at California (4-1). Tip at Haas Pavilion is 1 p.m., and the game will stream on ESPN+.
• The Hornets have not played since a 79-69 home loss to CSUN on Nov. 16 in which the Matadors closed the final 3:46 on a 15-2 run. The Hornets led for over 30 minutes of clock.
• Sacramento State will now turn its attention to a Cal squad that is off to its best start in six years with a 4-1 record. The Bears, under the guidance of second-year head coach Mark Madsen, also have a 3-0 home record, including Thursday's 78-69 win over Air Force.
• The Hornets and Bears have not played an 89-65 Cal win at the Oakland Coliseum Arena on Dec. 1, 1992.
• That game also happened to be the first in the collegiate career of NBA Hall of Famer Jason Kidd. In typical fashion, Kidd, who started as a true freshman, finished with a double-double (11 points and 10 assists in 28 minutes).
• Also playing in his first collegiate game was Hornet Hall of Famer Damond Edwards, who finished his career with 1,197 points.
• The Hornets' Robert Morris had game highs in points (26) and rebounds (11), while four Cal players scored in double figures.
• Surprisingly, despite just 77 miles separating the two schools, the Hornets and Bears have played just twice. Cal won both games by double figures, with the first being played in Berkeley and the second in Oakland. That includes a 49-39 victory on Dec. 1, 1950.
• Sacramento State is in the midst of a stretch that will see the team play four of its first six games on the road. That includes a date at Air Force on Nov. 27.
• After that Air Force game, the Hornets begin a stretch (Nov. 30-Jan. 11) where the team will play eight of 10 at home.
• Sacramento State's defense has been solid, holding opponents to just 35% shooting, the 18th best mark in the nation. That includes 25% from long range, the 19th best mark in the country.
• However, the Hornet offense is averaging just 60.0 ppg vs. its three Div. I opponents.
• The Hornets will be seeking their first win against a Div. I opponent this season.
• Sacramento State finished 10-24 a year ago, and is under the guidance of first-year head coach Michael Czepil (pronounced Zep-pull). It was Czepil who picked up his first collegiate win as a head coach in the win over Maritime.
• That win kicked off the Czepil era, who was named interim head coach on May 22. David Patrick had been the head coach each of the last two years, but resigned to become the associate head coach at LSU.
• Czepil had been on Patrick's staff at Sacramento State both seasons as the associate head coach, and is a native of Melbourne, Australia.
• Sacramento State returns nine players from last season's team. However, the squad lost its top four, and five of the top six scorers from a year ago. The team's highest returning scorer is forward Jacob Holt who averaged 6.7 points per contest.
• The Hornets did not play an exhibition game this season, opting instead to play a pair of closed-door scrimmages against UC Santa Barbara and San Jose State.

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• For the fourth 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.
• That includes Sunday's game which will air on ESPN+.
• 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 found in the link above the story.