GAME PREVIEW
• Fresh off a 66-60 home loss to Mercyhurst on Saturday, the Hornets (2-5) will hit the road to play at Denver (3-6) on Wednesday evening. Tip at Hamilton Gymnasium is 6 p.m. PT.
• Sacramento State was riding high after overcoming a 17-point deficit to win at Air Force, 63-61, before putting forth arguably its most disappointing effort of the season in the loss to Mercyhurst (a brand new Div. I program that resides in the Northeast Conference).
• Saturday's loss began a stretch that will see the Hornets play eight of 10 games at home. In fact, Wednesday's game will mark the first of just two road games over next month and a half (Dec. 17 at Oregon State).
• Sacramento State is 1-3 on the road this season, but each of those three losses were decided between 6-10 points and the Hornets were in the games late in all three.
• Conversely, Denver has not lost at home (3-0), including a 79-78 victory over Big Sky Conference opponent Montana State. The other two wins were against non-Div. I teams.
• The Pioneers are coming off a 101-90 double overtime loss at Portland on Sunday and have dropped four straight. Three of those losses came in Missoula, Mont., as Denver fell to Montana in one of those contests by an 83-73 score.
• Denver is 3-0 at home, and 0-6 away from home (0-4 road, 0-2 neutral).
• Sacramento State is 4-1 all-time vs. Denver, and the last two meetings (both Hornet wins) were decided by four points or less. Both of those meetings came during the 2022-23 season when the teams played a home and home.
• In the last meeting (Dec. 7, 2022), the Hornets won at home in overtime by an 87-85 score. In that game, current first-year Sacramento State assistant coach
Zach Chappell scored with five seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and then later added the game winner with two seconds remaining in the extra session.
• The Hornets have never lost at Denver, including a 73-69 win on Nov. 14, 2022, and a 74-53 victory on Nov. 17, 2006. The Pioneers are seeking their first win in the series since a 72-61 neutral floor victory (Cheney, Wash.) on Nov. 27, 2016.
• This season, the Hornets will play at three of the top six highest elevation Div. I facilities in the nation. Sacramento State already won at Air Force (2nd highest at 7,067 feet), and will now play at Denver (6th at 5,341 feet). They also play at Big Sky foe Northern Arizona later in the season (3rd at 6,880 feet).
• Denver and Sacramento State have played one common opponent with the Hornets falling to CSUN at home, 79-69, despite a 43-32 halftime lead. Denver fell to CSUN in Missoula by an 89-60 score.
MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS
• Wednesday's game will be televised on Altitude (DirecTV channel 681).
• In addition, the game will be streamed on the Summit League Network.
• 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. In fact, after Wednesday's game at Denver, every contest the remainder of the season will stream 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 accessed in link above the story.
