GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State (5-9, 1-0) will play twice at home this week, beginning Thursday when the Hornets welcome Idaho (6-9, 1-1) to the Nest for a 7 p.m. tip.
• The Hornets have won a season-high three straight, which includes opening the Big Sky Conference slate of games on Saturday with a 56-53 home win over Portland State.
• Sacramento State is 3-0 on its current five-game homestand, which ends this week with matchups vs. Idaho, and Eastern Washington on Saturday.
• The Hornets, who have nine underclassmen on the roster, have won three straight at home after dropping four of their first five games at the Nest.
• Sacramento State will attempt to start the conference season 2-0 for just the third time in the last 10 seasons (2022-23, 2020-21).
• Idaho opened Big Sky play last week, splitting a pair of tightly contested home games vs. Montana State (W, 69-64) and Montana (L, 73-71). It marked just the third and fourth Vandal games that have been decided by five points or less this season.
• Brandon Laird is currently in his second season as associate head coach at Idaho after spending 11 years on the coaching staff at Sacramento State (2011-22).
• The Hornets are 12-24 all-time vs. Idaho, including a 6-10 record at the Nest.
• Last season, the Vandals won both regular season meetings before the Hornets defeated Idaho, 72-64, in the first round of the Big Sky Tournament in Boise.
• Five of the last eight meetings between the two teams have been decided by three points or less, or went into overtime.
• Overall, Sacramento State has won seven of the last 11 in the series. However, Idaho has won each of the last two meetings in the Nest.
• Idaho is the Big Sky's best 3-point shooting team, leading the conference in both 3-pointers per game (9.4) and 3-point percentage (.364). In fact, the Vandals have shot better than 33 percent from distance in all but five games this season.
• Idaho's leading scorer is sophomore guard Kristian Gonzalez (11.9 ppg, .488 FG%, .371 3FG%), who originally committed to play at Sacramento State.
• The Hornets are 5-0 when holding the opposition to 61 points or less, and 0-9 when the opponent scores 64 points or more.
• After the current homestand ends, Sacramento State will play six of its next eight games on the road.

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• Every game the remainder of the season (home and away) will stream on ESPN+. Steve McElroy, in his 28th season as the team's play-by-play voice, will be on the call.
• For the fourth straight season, all Hornet home games, and games played at a Big Sky Conference venue, will stream on ESPN+. The subscription-based service streams 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.

A LOOK AT THE LAST GAME

• Sacramento State outscored Portland State in the second half, 31-22, and limited the Big Sky Conference's top scoring team to just 53 points on the way to a 56-53 victory over the Vikings on Saturday afternoon.
• The Vikings, who entered the game as the Big Sky's top scoring (83.4 ppg) and shooting (.498) team, were held to a season low in points.
• In fact, that point total was the Vikings fewest in more than two seasons, a span of 67 games. In a contest where neither team led by more than eight points the entire way, Sacramento State flipped the script in the second half after a tough shooting start.
• In fact, the Hornets opened by going 3-for-17 from the field and 0-of-9 from 3-point range, but trailed by just eight points. Sacramento State, which shot just 28% in the first half, trailed at the break by just six points (31-25).
• It was a much different second half where the Hornets shot 50% from the field, opened the second half on a 19-6 run, and led the final 12:37 of the contest.
• A 7-0 spurt gave the Hornets their largest lead of the game at 44-37, and Portland State cut the deficit to a one-possession game on four occasions over the last nine minutes, but could never get over the hump. Leading, 54-51, the Hornets took 20 seconds off the shot clock before EJ Neal whipped a perfect 25-foot pass to Emil Skytta for the dagger layup.

INTERNATIONAL ROSTER

• The Hornets' roster is one of the most international in the nation.
• Sacramento State has players representing six different countries - Australia (5), United States (5), Canada (1), England (1), Finland (1) and South Sudan (1).
• In addition, Sacramento State has players from four of the seven continents - North America, Africa, Europe and Australia.
• The Hornets' head coach, Michael Czepil, is from Melbourne, Australia, and took the team on a trip to Sydney, Gold Coast and Melbourne during the summer.

THE CZEPIL ERA

• Sacramento State is under the guidance of interim head Michael Czepil (Zep-pull). David Patrick, who coached the Hornets the previous two seasons, stepped down on May 22 to become the associate head coach at LSU.
• Czepil spent the previous two seasons on Patrick's staff as the associate head coach.
• A native of Melbourne, Australia, Czepil entered the season with 14 years of collegiate, international and professional coaching experience.
• He arrived at Sacramento State after spending four seasons at UC Riverside (2018-22), including the final two as the team's associate head coach.
• Czepil has had a big influence on all areas of the Hornet program the last two seasons, including recruiting, on-floor coaching, player development and scouting.

YOUNG STARTING LINEUP AND ROTATION

• Sacramento State has used the same starting lineup five straight games, and is 3-2 over that span. That lineup consists of one freshman and two sophomores. In addition, of the team's current nine man rotation, six are underclassmen.
• The current starting lineup features just one senior - freshman Lachlan Brewer, sophomores Bailey Nunn and Emil Skytta, junior Julian Vaughns and senior Jacob Holt.
• Of the four players currently coming off the bench, three are underclassmen in freshman Chudi Dioramma, and sophomores Bowyn Beatty and Michael Wilson.
• Playing young is nothing new to the Hornets. Last season, Sacramento State was one of four Div. I teams in the country to play their freshman over 40 percent of the team's total minutes.
• Sophomore Alex Kovatchev started each of the first four games of the season, but injury has kept him out 10 straight games. True freshman Brewer replaced him in the lineup.

DEFENSE CONTINUES TO GET BETTER

• Behind three straight games of limiting the opposition to 53 points or less, Sacramento State has catapulted to first in the conference and 29th in the nation in scoring defense. Opponents are averaging just 64.3 points per game.
• The Hornets are also first in the Big Sky (60th in nation) allowing opponents to shoot just 40% from the field, and second in the Big Sky in 3-point percentage defense (.297). The Hornets are hoping that translates to putting a dent in Idaho's Big Sky-best 3-point shooting prowess. Only one of the Hornets' last five opponents has shot better than 29% from the 3-point stripe.
• In Saturday's 56-53 win over Portland State, that point total was the Vikings fewest in more than two seasons, a span of 67 games. The Vikings entered the game leading the Big Sky with an average of 83.4 points per contest.

3-POINT LAND

• Sacramento State is not afraid to shoot the long ball, as the team is averaging 8.9 made treys per game - third best in the Big Sky and 91st in the nation.
• The team has buried double-figure 3-balls in five games, at least eight 3-balls in 10 games, and has connected on less than five just once (season-low four at Oregon State).
• The Hornets have five players that have connected on at least 18 treys - EJ Neal (26), Bailey Nunn (22), Jacob Holt (20), Julian Vaughns (18) and Lachlan Brewer (18).
• Brewer is shooting 51% (18-35) from the 3PT line, and has been automatic when taking a wide open look. Holt, despite standing 6-foot-10, is shooting 38% (20-53), and Neal is averaging a team-best 1.9 3-ball makes per game.
• The team's 124 makes from distance thus far are 19 more than the opposition has made.

HOLT CONTINUES TO COOK

• Senior forward Jacob Holt has been one of the best players in the Big Sky, ranking fourth in rebounding (6.6 rpg), fifth in field goal percentage (.534), and sixth in scoring (15.9 ppg).
• He is the only player in the Big Sky to rank among the top six players in both scoring and rebounding, and has led the Hornets in scoring in 10 of 14 games.
• Holt was named Big Sky Player of the Week on Dec. 31, and has posted two straight double-doubles, including 10 points and 10 rebounds vs. Portland State.
• He has scored in double figures in 12 of 14 games, including five 20-point efforts. Three of those 20-point efforts have come in the last seven games.
• If the season ended today, his scoring average would be the highest for a Hornet since Bryce Fowler averaged 19.0 ppg during the 2021-22 season.
• Holt is averaging 5.9 free throw attempts per game, and is second in the Big Sky with 60 made free throws. He is shooting 72% (60-83) from the charity stripe.
 
PLENTY OF CLOSE GAMES

• Of the team's 11 games vs. a Div. I opponent, nine have been decided by 10 points or fewer. Though the team is 2-7 in those contests, they have been in games at the end. In fact, the Hornets are 0-7 in games decided by 6-10 points.
• The two outliers were 80-59 loss at Denver, and 82-45 defeat at Oregon State.
• Last season, of the Hornets' 21 games against a Big Sky opponent (including the conference tournament), 16 were decided by single digits, and the Hornets went 5-11 in those games. Eleven of those were decided by five points or less (4-7 in those outcomes).
• In the team's three Big Sky Tournament games, the Hornets posted an eight-point win over Idaho in the first round, five-point win vs. Eastern Washington in the quarters, and a three-point loss to Montana State in the semis.

FINAL SEASON IN THE NEST

• Sacramento State will embark upon its final year in the Nest. Next season, the team will move into the The Well on campus.
• The project is set to convert a portion of The Well, an on-campus fitness facility, into a venue for both the men's and women's basketball teams. The Well sits next to the football field on the south end of campus. Seating capacity will likely be around 3,000.
• Built in 1955, the Nest is currently one of the oldest (and smallest) facilities among all NCAA Div. I institutions with a seating capacity of only 1,012.
• The Hornets have played in the Nest every year since 1955, except four seasons (1996-00) when they played at downtown Memorial Auditorium. Those four seasons were also the team's first four in the Big Sky Conference.

QUICK NOTABLES

• Shooting guard Julian Vaughns, second on the team at 9.6 ppg, has been a little hit and miss. He has scored in double figures six times, averaging 15.0 ppg in those contests. In his seven single digit point games, he is averaging 5.0 ppg.
• Point guard Bailey Nunn, after a rough shooting start to the season, continues to get better. His 3-point perentage is up to a respectable 33% after connecting on 11-of-22 from long range over his last four games. Nunn has scored in double figures in three straight games after doing so just once during the first 11 games of the season. In addition, he has played 30+ minutes in eight of the last nine games, and leads the team with 29.2 mpg.
• EJ Neal was a big factor in the Hornets' win over Portland State, providing energy, 12 points and eight rebounds. That snapped a string of three straight games in single digits. Neal (team-high 1.9 made treys per game) has scored in double digits seven times.
• True freshman wing Lachlan Brewer continues to be the team's best shooter from the outside, connecting on 53% FG (28-53) and 51% 3FG (18-35). When Brewer gets an open look from long range, he seemingly converts every time. The Tasmania, Australia, native has scored in double figures four times, including two of the last three games.
• Dating back to last season, point guard Emil Skytta has started 40 straight games. The durable Skytta is averaging 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 28.1 minutes per game.
• Bowyn Beatty scored a career-high 11 points vs. Bethesda, and nearly missed a double-double with nine rebounds. After going seven straight games without a point, the seven-foot center has combined for 19 points and 17 rebounds over the last three games.