GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State (2-9) will host Stanislaus State (4-5) on Sunday at the Nest. Tip is 1 p.m., and there will be a postgame autograph session with the Hornet players.
• Sunday's game begins a season-long five game homestand for Sacramento State which runs through Jan. 11. The final three games are the first in the Big Sky Conference season.
• The Hornets have dropped five straight, and are seeking their first win season beating Air Force on the road on Nov. 27.
• Sacramento State is 1-4 at home, which included a win in the season opener.
• Sunday will be the second of back-to-back games for Stanislaus State as the Warriors travel to Cal State Monterey Bay for a Saturday afternoon game.
• The Warriors are an NCAA Div. II team from Turlock, Calif., that resides in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
• The Hornets will be the third Div. I team Stanislaus State has faced this year. The Warriors count each of those Div. I games as exhibition. That includes a 68-52 loss at San Francisco on Dec. 11, and a 78-38 loss at Saint Mary's on Nov. 20.
• The Warriors are currently 4-5 overall, and 1-2 on the road. That does not count their exhibitions at San Francisco and Saint Mary's. The Warriors have dropped four of their last five games, including, most recently, a 67-57 defeat at Cal State Dominguez Hills (Dec 7).
• Since joining the Div. I ranks prior to the 1991-92 season, the Hornets have played Stanislaus State just once - a 72-51 home win on Dec. 28, 2022. The Hornets trailed by eight points at halftime in that game, before outscoring the Warriors, 53-24, in the second half.
• Sacramento State leads the all-time series, 22-14, including an 11-7 home record. The majority of those meetings came between 1971 and 1988 when the two teams were both part of the Far Western Conference, and later the Northern California Athletic Conference. The Hornets were a Div. II member from their first year of basketball in 1948 until 1991.
• The Hornets have won four straight in the series, and have not lost to Stanislaus since a 68-67 defeat in Turlock on Jan. 10, 1986.
• Should the Hornets win on Sunday, it would mark their largest-ever winning streak (five games) vs. Stanislaus State.
• Of the Hornets' nine losses, seven have come by 10 points or fewer. In fact, the team is 0-7 in games decided between six and 10 points.

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• Every game the remainder of the season (home and away) will stream on ESPN+. Steve McElroy, in his 28th season as the team's play-by-play voice, will be on the call.
• 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 streams 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.

A LOOK AT THE LAST GAME

• Oregon State used a big second half run to break open what had been a close game on the way to an 82-45 victory over Sacramento State on Tuesday evening at Gill Coliseum.
• Sacramento State, which trailed, 30-20, at halftime, used a 14-4 run during the second half to draw within, 41-36, at the 13:59 mark.
• However, Oregon State immediately responded with a 17-1 run over the next four minutes to take a 58-37 lead. The Hornets would get no closer than within 18 points of that lead the rest of the way.
• Oregon State, who is ranked No. 42 in the NCAA NET rankings (one spot ahead of Saint Mary's), won its fourth straight while improving to 8-2.
• Oregon State shot 54% (29-54) from the field and 39% (10-26) from deep. That includes 60% shooting in the second half. The Beavers also went 14-for-16 from the free throw line while the Hornets were 5-of-11. Sacramento State's 45 points were a season low.
• For the first time all season, Sacramento State did not have a player score in double figures. Jacob Holt, who had scored in double digits eight straight games, finished with nine points and five rebounds. Bailey Nunn had eight points (3-5 FG, 2-3 3FG), and Emil Skytta seven points, five rebounds and two steals.
• Julian Vaughns had seven points, EJ Neal and Chudi Dioramma both had five points, and Lachlan Brewer four points and five boards.

INTERNATIONAL ROSTER

• The Hornets' roster is one of the most international in the nation.
• Sacramento State has players representing six different countries - Australia (5), United States (5), Canada (1), England (1), Finland (1) and South Sudan (1).
• In addition, Sacramento State has players from four of the seven continents - North America, Africa, Europe and Australia.
• The Hornets' head coach, Michael Czepil, is from Melbourne, Australia, and took the team on a trip to Sydney, Gold Coast and Melbourne during the summer.

THE CZEPIL ERA HAS BEGUN

• Sacramento State is under the guidance of interim head Michael Czepil (Zep-pull). David Patrick, who coached the Hornets the previous two seasons, stepped down on May 22 to become the associate head coach at LSU.
• Czepil spent the previous two seasons on Patrick's staff as the associate head coach.
• A native of Melbourne, Australia, Czepil entered the season with 14 years of collegiate, international and professional coaching experience.
• He arrived at Sacramento State after spending four seasons at UC Riverside (2018-22), including the final two as the team's associate head coach.
• Czepil has had a big influence on all areas of the Hornet program the last two seasons, including recruiting, on-floor coaching, player development and scouting.

EFFECTS OF THE KOVATCHEV INJURY

• After starting the first four games of the season, sophomore guard Alex Kovatchev has missed seven straight games with a leg injury, and is out indefinitely.
• Although Kovatchev's numbers are not eye popping, he was a big part of what the Hornets do. A very good defender, Kovatchev's strength was always being in the right place at the right time, both offensively and defensively.
• During the four games with Kovatchev in the lineup, the Hornets were outscoring their opponents by 8.7 ppg (71.5-62.8) while shooting 47% FG and 36% 3FG. Without him, they are being outscored by 12.1 ppg (60.9-73.0) while shooting 39% FG and 31% 3FG.

SLOW STARTS

• In five of the last six games, Sacramento State found itself trailing by at least eight points during the opening minutes of the contest.
• That includes a 9-0 deficit at Air Force, 8-0 vs. Mercyhurst, 18-9 at Denver, 12-4 vs. Omaha, and 19-7 at Oregon State. Sacramento State used three different starting lineups during those five games, but it has not changed the rough starts.
• The one time the Hornets got off to a nice start during that six-game stretch - the team  jumped out to a 15-3 lead in the opening stages of the game vs. UC Davis.

YOUNG ROSTER

• Last season, Sacramento State was one of four Div. I teams in the nation to play their freshmen over 40 percent of the team's total minutes.
• Each of those freshmen are back this season and are now sophomores - Emil Skytta, Alex Kovatchev, Bowyn Beatty, Bailey Nunn and Michael Wilson.
• Of the team's nine returners this season, six are sophomores and one is a redshirt freshman. Of the team's 14 total players, only five are upperclassmen (two seniors, three juniors). Kiir Kiir Chol Deng is the other sophomore, but is working his way back from injury.

HOLT OFF TO A VERY GOOD START

• Senior forward Jacob Holt has been very good thus far, leading the Hornets in multiple categories, including scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg). He has paced the team in scoring in five straight, and eight games overall this year.
• He is 46-for-63 (73%) from the charity stripe, and averaging 5.7 attempts per game.
• Holt has three 20-point games, has scored in double figures in all but two contests, and his 15.3 ppg average ranks seventh in the Big Sky.
• Holt had a career-high 25 points at Cal, 24 at Denver, and 20 vs. CSUN.
• In his second year with the Hornets, the transfer from Santa Clara averaged just 6.7 points and 4.6 rebounds a year ago as he often dealt with foul trouble.
3-POINT LAND

• Through the first seven games of the season, the Hornets were averaging 10.0 made 3-balls per contest while shooting 37% (70-191) from distance.
• However, those numbers have dipped dramatically over the last four contests.
• During that four-game stretch, the Hornets are averaging 5.8 3-pointers per game while shooting just 25% (23-91) from long range.
• The only player shooting better than 28% from 3PT during the last four games is EJ Neal who is connecting on 37% (7-19) over that stretch.

PLENTY OF CLOSE GAMES

• Of the team's 10 games vs. a Div. I opponent, eight have been decided by 10 points or fewer. Though the team is 1-7 in those contests, they have been in games at the end. In fact, the Hornets are now 0-7 in games decided by 6-10 points.
• The two outliers were 80-59 loss at Denver, and 82-45 defeat at Oregon State.
• Last season, of the Hornets' 21 games against a Big Sky opponent (including the conference tournament), 16 were decided by single digits, and the Hornets went 5-11 in those games. Eleven of those were decided by five points or less (4-7 in those outcomes).
• In the team's three Big Sky Tournament games, the Hornets posted an eight-point win over Idaho in the first round, five-point win vs. Eastern Washington in the quarters, and a three-point loss to Montana State in the semis.

FINAL SEASON IN THE NEST

• Sacramento State will embark upon its final year in the Nest. Next season, the team will move into the The Well on campus.
• The project is set to convert a portion of The Well, an on-campus fitness facility, into a venue for both the men's and women's basketball teams. The Well sits next to the football field on the south end of campus. Seating capacity will likely be around 3,000.
• Built in 1955, the Nest is currently one of the oldest facilities among all NCAA Div. I institutions with a seating capacity of only 1,012.
• The Hornets have played in the Nest every year since 1955, except four seasons (1996-00) when they played at downtown Memorial Auditorium. Those four seasons were also the team's first four in the Big Sky Conference.

LATE GAME

• Sacramento State saw late-game opponent runs hurt their chances to win games against Fresno State and CSUN.
• Against CSUN, the Hornets held an 11-point halftime lead, and held an advantage for over 30 minutes of game clock. However, the Matadors closed the final 3:46 on an 15-2 run to win by a 79-69 margin.
• In the loss at Fresno State, the Hornets held a seven-point halftime lead. A back and forth second half ended with the Bulldogs going on a 6-0 run over the final 1:37 to win, 64-57.

QUICK NOTABLES

• Shooting guard Julian Vaughns, second on the team at 10.8 ppg, has been a little hit and miss. He has scored in double figures six times, averaging 15.0 ppg in those contests. In his three single digit games, he is averaging 4.5 ppg.
• Shooting guard EJ Neal has scored at least nine points seven times (six double figure efforts), and also has two games where he scored zero points (UC San Diego, Mercyhurst).
• Point guard Bailey Nunn has seen a dramatic increase in playing time over the last six games, averaging a team-best 34.5 minutes to go with 7.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He averaged just 20.6 minutes during the first five games.
• After playing a combined 16 minutes during the first eight games of the year, Michael Wilson is averaging 17.6 minutes over the last three games, including 24 vs. Omaha.
• Dating back to last season, guard Emil Skytta has started 37 straight games - the longest active streak on the team.
• Seven-footer Bowyn Beatty has gotten off to a surprisingly slow start after a nice finish a year ago. In last season's three-game Big Sky Tourney run, he averaged 7.7 points and 7.7 rebounds and seemed primed to carry that over to this year. However, through the first 11 games, he is averaging 1.0 points and 2.5 rebounds.