GAME PREVIEW
• With just six games remaining in the regular season - four at home - Sacramento State is back in The Nest this week for a Thursday matchup vs. Northern Arizona (11-14, 4-7). Tip is set for 6 p.m., and is the first of two home games over a three-day span.
• The Hornets are coming off a 58-53 road loss at Weber State on Saturday.
• Sacramento State has dropped eight consecutive games, the program's longest losing streak since the 2017-18 team dropped nine straight.
• Of those eight losses, six have come by single digits. In fact, of the Hornets' 12 Big Sky Conference games, nine have been decided by single digits. That includes five that were decided by three points or fewer.
• Sacramento State is 5-5 at home this season, including a 2-3 mark against Big Sky foes. The Hornets' lone two wins in league play came at home against Weber State and Idaho State. Both of those victories were two-point outcomes.
• Sacramento State has gone decidedly young of late. The Hornets have started three freshmen each of the last two games, and four freshmen and a sophomore are routinely in the team's nine-man rotation.
• Northern Arizona beat Montana State at home on Saturday (76-71), snapping a four-game losing streak. The Lumberjacks are 4-10 on the road, 1-4 in league play.
• The two teams played on Jan. 20 in Flagstaff, resulting in a 70-61 Lumberjack victory. NAU finished the game on a 14-9 run. In that game, Sacramento State missed 20 layups - most of them highly contested - but shots the Hornets usually make at a high percentage.
• The Hornets are 18-44 all-time vs. NAU, including an 11-18 record at home. One of those home wins was a 59-56 victory last season at the Nest.
• The teams split the season series a year ago, with each team winning at home. Overall, Northern Arizona has won five of the last six meetings.
• Three of the last five games between the teams have been decided by five pts or less.
• 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.
• Sacramento State is currently wearing black patches on the left shoulder of their home white jerseys in honor of Robert "Money" Martin who passed away in late November. Martin played for the Hornets from 1985-89, and remains the program's all-time leading scorer with 1,774 career points. That includes a program-record 294 made 3-pointers.
MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS
• Every game the remainder of the year will stream on ESPN+.
• All home games are announced by 27th-year play-by-play voice Steve McElroy.
• 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.
