HORNETS AT THE BIG SKY TOURNAMENT

• Sacramento State will make its 15th appearance at the Big Sky Conference Tournament since joining the league prior to the 1996-97 season.
• As the No. 10 seed, the Hornets (8-23, 4-14) will play in the first round of the tournament on Saturday vs. No. 9 seed Idaho (11-20, 5-13) at 4:30 p.m. PT.
• The winner of that game will play top seed and Big Sky regular season champion Eastern Washington (21-10, 15-3) on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. PT in the quarterfinals.
• Last year, the Hornets were the No. 6 seed and received a first round bye.
• Prior to the 2015-16 season, only the top six or seven teams qualified for the league's postseason event. This season marks the ninth straight year the tournament will be played on a neutral floor, and fifth straight at the Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho.
• All 10 Big Sky teams qualify for the league's postseason event and the top six teams receive a first round bye.
• The quarterfinal rounds will be played on Sunday and Monday, the semifinals on Tuesday, and the championship game Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
• Every game of the tournament will stream on ESPN+. Both semis and the championship will be televised. One semi is on ESPN2, and the other is on ESPNU.
• The Hornets have qualified for the semis three times (2003, 2006, 2015), and have never qualified for a Big Sky Tournament championship game since joining the league in 1996.
• The Hornets have won their first game of the tournament six times in the last nine years, and five of those victories came as the No. 7, 8, or 9 seed. Sacramento State won its first game in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2022, but did not advance further each time.
• Sacramento State is 8-13 all-time in tournament play. That includes an 0-2 record at home, 2-2 on the road, and 6-9 on a neutral floor. The Hornets hosted quarterfinal games in 2004 and 2005 as the No. 4 seed, but lost to No. 5 Weber State on both those occasions.

GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State will enter Saturday's game as winners of two of the last three games, which includes a 91-88 home loss in Monday's regular season finale to Eastern Washington in which the Eagles closed the game on a 7-0 run.
• Idaho has dropped three straight and has lost those games by an average of 17.3 points.
• Dating back to 2022, the Hornets have lost seven straight neutral floor games.
• The Hornets lost both meetings to the Vandals this season, including a 61-58 road loss on Dec. 28 (on a buzzer beating banked-in prayer), and a 61-45 home loss on Feb. 5.
• Sacramento State averaged just 51.5 points in those two games on 37% FG (33-90) and 43% (13-30) 3FG. Scoring had been a problem for Sacramento State, but the Hornets finished the regular season by averaging 72.6 points over their final five games.
• Sophomore forward Duncan Powell is averaging 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds vs. Idaho this season, both team highs. Powell missed the final two regular season games with injury, and is questionable to play in the Big Sky Tournament.
• The Hornets are 11-24 all-time against Idaho, including three straight losses.
• Sacramento State and Idaho have met on a neutral floor just once - a 57-54 Hornet win at the 2022 Big Sky Tournament. In that game, the Hornets were led by then interim head coach Brandon Laird, who is currently the associate head coach at Idaho.
• That marks the only postseason meeting between the two teams.

BIG SKY TOURNAMENT FORMAT

• This year's tournament features all 10 teams playing in a five-day, single-elimination
event that takes place at Boise's Idaho Central Arena from March 9-13.
• The top six seeds - #1 Eastern Washington, #2 Northern Colorado, #3 Montana, #4 Weber State, #5 Montana State, #6 Portland State - each receive a first round bye.
• On Saturday, there will be two first round games - No. 9 Idaho vs. No. 10 Sacramento State at 4:30 p.m. PST, and No. 7 Northern Arizona vs. No. 8 Idaho State at 7 p.m. PST.
• On Sunday, Eastern Washington will play the SAC/Idaho winner at 4:30 p.m., and Northern Colorado will take on the NAU/ISU winner at 7 p.m.
• On Monday, Weber State and Montana State will play at 4:30 p.m. PT, prior to Montana vs. Portland State at 7 p.m. PT.
• The semifinals will take place on Tuesday - 5:30 p.m. on ESPNU, and 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
• The championship game will air on ESPN2 on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. PT.
• Every game of the tournament will stream live on ESPN+.

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• The entire tournament will be streamed on ESPN+ with Tony Parks (play-by-play) and Joe Cravens (analyst) calling the action.
• Both semifinals and the championship game will be televised. The 5:30 pm PST semifinal on Tuesday will air on ESPNU, while the second semifinal will air on ESPN2.
• Wednesday's championship game will air on ESPN2.
• Live stats for every game will be made available. Links for all Sacramento State multimedia options can be found on the men's hoops schedule at hornetsports.com.

Full set of game notes in link above the story.