GAME PREVIEW
• Sacramento State (6-16, 2-7) will play three times this week, beginning with a home game on Monday vs. Idaho (8-14, 2-7). Tip at the Nest is 6 p.m.
• The Hornets have been locked in a consistent pattern of close games.
• The Hornets have played seven straight games decided by single digits. Of those seven games, four were decided by three points or less.
• At the midway point of the conference season, Sacramento State has played nine Big Sky games thus far, and eight have been decided by single digits.
• The Hornets are coming off another tight game - Saturday's 58-51 loss at Portland State in which the Vikings closed the game on a 28-15 run.
• Sacramento State has dropped five straight single digit outcomes, and are 4-9 this season in games decided by under 10 points.
• Of the team's 22 games thus far, only nine have been played at home (5-4). That includes just four against Big Sky teams. The Hornets are 2-2 in Big Sky home matchups, and three of those four have been decided by three points or less. That includes a 70-67 loss to Montana in their most recent home game when the Griz closed the game on a 10-0 run.
• Idaho posted an impressive 81-75 win at Montana State on Saturday that snapped an eight game losing streak. Of the Vandals' nine league games, five have been decided by six points or fewer.
• That includes a 61-58 win over the Hornets on Dec. 28 in Moscow, in which Quinn Denker banked in a fortuitous 25-footer at the buzzer.
• Idaho is 2-7 on the road, and 1-3 against Big Sky opposition away from home.
• Speaking of close games, each of the last four meetings between the Hornets and Vandals have gone into overtime or been decided by three points or less.
• The Hornets are 11-23 all-time against Idaho, including a 6-9 mark at home. After dropping 13 of the first 14 meetings, the Hornets are 10-10 in the last 20 matchups.
• Brandon Laird is in his first year as associate head coach at Idaho. He spent 11 years with the Hornets as associate head coach (2011-21) and interim head coach (2021-22).
• 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+.
• 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.
• Steve McElroy, in his 27th season as the Voice of the Hornets, calls all home games.
• 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.
