GAME PREVIEW
• Sacramento State (6-18, 2-9) will play its third game in six days when it travels to Ogden for a Saturday evening matchup at Weber State (15-9, 6-5). Tip at the Dee Events Center is set for 6 p.m. PT.
• After playing a slew of close games, Sacramento State has not fared well over its last two contests. The Hornets have dropped their last two games by an average of 22.0 points. That includes a 61-45 home loss to Idaho on Monday, followed by a 68-40 road loss at Idaho State on Thursday.
• What makes the two-game slide so puzzling is Sacramento State had played seven straight games decided by single digits leading into Monday's game vs. Idaho.
• In fact, of the Hornets' 11 Big Sky Conference games, eight have still been decided by single digits. Of those 11 games, five were decided by three points or less.
• Sacramento State has gone decidedly young of late. In Thursday's loss to Idaho State, the Hornets used five freshmen and a sophomore in their 10-man rotation.
• In addition, for the first time all season, Sacramento State started three freshmen (guards
Emil Skytta and
Alex Kovatchev, and center
Bowyn Beatty) in the Idaho State game.
• The Hornets have scored their two lowest point totals of the season in the last two games (45 vs. Idaho; 40 at Idaho State), and Sacramento State did not have a player score in double figures in either of those contests.
• One of the Hornets' close games was a 71-69 home victory against Weber State on Jan. 11. Sacramento State led for nearly 36 minutes of game clock, and did not trail the final 37:34.
Zee Hamoda scored four points in the final 17 seconds to help put the game away.
• That win snapped the Wildcats' six-game winning streak. That game also started a slide in which Weber State lost five of six games. However, the Wildcats have appeared to right the ship, winning three straight contests.
• That includes an 84-72 home win against Portland State on Thursday night.
• The Hornets are 11-49 all-time against Weber State, and the win on Jan. 11 snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Wildcats.
• The Hornets are 2-26 when playing in Ogden, and have lost six in a row on Weber's home floor. The last Hornet win at the Dee Events Center came on Jan. 24, 2015 (78-71 victory).
• 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.
• 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 above.
