GAME PREVIEW
• Sacramento State (2-6) will play its second and final game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge on Saturday when the Hornets host Omaha (3-7) at the Nest at 1 p.m.
• In its second year of existence, the Big Sky-Summit Challenge consists of Big Sky teams playing Summit League teams on Wednesday and Saturday of this week. Teams gets one game at home, and one on the road.
• The Hornets opened the event with an 80-59 road loss to Denver on Wednesday.
• Wednesday saw the Summit League post a 5-4 record against Big Sky schools. The Summit League has nine teams, so Portland State was the one team that did not play a Summit League squad on Wednesday. Idaho will not play a Summit opponent on Saturday.
• After playing five of its first eight games on the road, the Hornets will get some home cooking beginning with Saturday's tilt with Omaha.
• Between Saturday and Jan. 11, the Hornets will play seven of their next eight games at home. That includes a season-long five-game homestand that lasts Dec. 22-Jan. 11.
• Sacramento State's first five losses all came between six and 10 points, and each of those losses went down to the wire. However, the Hornets had plenty of trouble on Wednesday against a Denver team that began the game 13-of-16 from the field, and 7-for-9 from 3PT.
• The Hornets are 1-2 at home, which includes a 106-44 home win over non-Div. I Cal Maritime, and losses to CSUN (79-69) and Mercyhurst (66-60).
• Omaha opened the Big Sky-Summit Challenge with a 76-65 home loss to Montana State. The Mavericks have lost seven of the last eight after beginning the season with two wins.
• Omaha is 1-4 on the road. After winning its first road game of the season at Stetson (79-76) the Mavericks have dropped four straight games on an opponent's home floor.
• Sacramento State and Omaha have never played each other. In fact, Omaha is one of three opponents on this year's schedule the Hornets had never played. That list also included Air Force and Mercyhurst.
• Both the Hornets and Mavericks have one clear cut leading scorer, and both players are senior forwards. Omaha relies heavily on Marquel Sutton who is averaging 16.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Sacramento State relies on
Jacob Holt who is averaging 15.9 points and 6.3 boards. The second leading scorer for both squads averages just 11.4 ppg.
• Omaha averages 70.6 ppg on .432 FG, .344 3FG and .730 FT while being outscored by 4.9 ppg. Conversely, Sacramento State is averaging 68.1 ppg while shooting .441 FG, .352 3FG and .649 FT. The Hornets are outscoring their opposition by 0.5 points per contest.
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. In fact, every game the remainder of the season (home and away) will air on ESPN+.
• All home games are called by 26th-year play-by-play announcer Steve McElroy.
• 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.
