GAME PREVIEW
• With just five games left in the regular season - three at home - Sacramento State (6-20, 2-11) will play its second game in three days at the Nest when it hosts Northern Colorado (15-10, 8-4) on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
• The Hornets are coming off a 73-58 loss to Northern Arizona on Thursday in which NAU used a 22-6 second half run to break open what had been a one-point game.
• Sacramento State has dropped nine consecutive games, the program's longest losing streak since the 2017-18 team also dropped nine straight. The Hornets will look to avoid their first 10-game losing streak since the 2008-09 squad dropped 14 straight.
• Of those nine losses, six have come by single digits. In fact, of the Hornets' 13 Big Sky Conference games, nine have been decided by single digits. That includes five that were decided by three points or less.
• Sacramento State is 5-6 at home this season, including a 2-4 mark against Big Sky foes. The Hornets' 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 in two of the last three games, and four freshmen and a sophomore are routinely in the team's nine-man rotation. Freshman
Alex Kovatchev missed Thursday's game (sick), otherwise the team would have started three freshmen in three straight games.
• Northern Colorado currently sits in second place in the Big Sky standings, and is coming off an 82-72 overtime road loss to Portland State on Thursday. The Bears are 4-7 on the road (2-3 vs Big Sky). Each of the team's three Big Sky road losses came by single digits or went into overtime.
• The Hornets and Bears played in Greeley on Jan. 18, resulting in a 77-75 Northern Colorado win. In a game where neither team led by more than five points the final 9:40,
Zee Hamoda had a potential game-winning 3-point shot blocked at the buzzer.
• The Hornets are 9-23 all-time vs. Northern Colorado, including a 6-9 mark at home. The Hornets have dropped eight of the last 11 games in the series. The two teams split the season series a year ago with each team winning at home.
• 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.
Full set of game notes can be found in link above.
