GAME PREVIEW

• With just seven games remaining in the regular season, Sacramento State (6-18, 2-9) returns to the Nest to host Northern Colorado (18-7, 10-2) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
• The Hornets spent the last two weeks on the road, going 0-4 on their season-long four-game road trip. Last week's games (83-80 loss to EWU; 78-76 loss to Idaho) were gut wrenching as the Hornets held leads in both games with under a minute to play.
• Thursday will mark the first of just four remaining games in the Nest. Sacramento State, which began playing games in the Nest in 1955, will move to the Well next season. The project will convert a portion of The Well, an on-campus fitness facility, into a venue for both men's and women's basketball, and will seat around 3,000 fans.
• The Hornets have lost five straight, but three of those losses have come by six points or less. The team's last victory was a 75-71 home win over Idaho State on Jan. 23.
• Sacramento State is 5-7 at home, and 2-3 vs. Big Sky opposition. That includes a win over third-place Portland State in the conference opener.
• The Hornets have dealt with a plethora of injuries this season, but did welcome back Emil Skytta for both games last week after he missed seven straight contests. Alex Kovatchev has missed 20 straight games, and Bowyn Beatty has missed eight straight. Bailey Nunn went down with 13:31 left at Idaho, and did not return. He is questionable this week.
• Northern Colorado is tied for first with Montana - likely the only two teams with a shot at wining the Big Sky's regular season title. The Bears lost at home to Montana last week.
• The Bears are 6-5 on the road, and an impressive 4-1 in Big Sky play. That includes two straight wins since their lone conference road loss at Idaho (77-76) on Jan. 23.
• The Hornets are 9-25 all-time against Northern Colorado. Sacramento State has dropped four straight, and 10 of the last 12 to the Bears.
• The Bears beat the Hornets, 68-64, in Greeley on Jan. 18. Sacramento State held a one-point lead with under a minute left, but the Bears closed the final 41 seconds on a 7-2 run.
• Sacramento State is 6-10 at home vs. Northern Colorado, with its last win over the Bears coming on Jan. 12, 2023, by a 72-64 score.
• Northern Colorado leads the Big Sky in scoring (81.3 ppg), field goal percentage (.506), assists (16.5 apg) and scoring margin (+7.5 per game). The Bears' field goal percentage is the second best mark in the nation, and will go up against a Hornet defense that ranks second in the Big Sky in scoring defense (69.4 ppg).

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• Every game the remainder of the season (home and away) will stream on ESPN+.
• 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.
• Steve McElroy, in his 28th year as the play-by-play voice, is on the call for 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.

A LOOK AT THE LAST MEETING (HORNETS VS. BEARS)

• Sacramento State held a 62-61 lead with a minute to play, but Northern Colorado closed the final 41 seconds on a 7-2 run to beat the Hornets, 68-64, at Bank of Colorado Arena.
• After trailing by seven points at halftime (43-36), the Hornets, playing without two starters, had a strong second half that saw the team take two late leads at 61-59 with 3:14 to play, and later the 62-61 advantage.
• A 9-1 run turned a six-point deficit to a 61-59 lead, capped by a 3-pointer from Michael Wilson at the 3:14 mark. However, Sacramento State would score just three points the rest of the way, both from Julian Vaughns with a free throw at the 2:22 mark and a layup with 19 seconds to play. That layup had the Hornets trailing just, 65-64.
• Sacramento State immediately fouled, and Northern Colorado's Jaron Rillie split a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left. Trailing by two points (66-64), the Hornets raced down the floor and Vaughns' 3-point attempt missed with nine seconds left.
• Rillie responded with two free throws at the seven-second mark to make things a two possession game, and end the Hornets' chances.
• Sacramento State finished the game shooting 45% (23-51) from the field while Northern Colorado was 42% (19-45). The Hornets were 12-of-15 from the charity stripe while the Bears were 22-for-27. Jacob Holt led all players with 25 points.

INJURY BUG GO AWAY

• Sacramento State has dealt with injuries a good portion of the season to key players.
• Guard Alex Kovatchev, after starting each of the first four games, has missed 20 consecutive games with injury. His status for the rest of the season is in question.
• Emil Skytta, who had started 41 consecutive games dating back to last season, missed seven straight games until coming off the bench in both road games last week.
• Seven-foot forward Bowyn Beatty, a rotational player who appeared in each of the first 16 games (including a start two days before his injury), has missed eight straight games.
• On Saturday at Idaho, guard Bailey Nunn, a starter in all 11 league games, injured himself at the 13:31 mark of the second half and did not return. He is questionable this week.
• All four players are sophomores and each have big roles with the team. Skytta and Kovatchev are the Hornets' top two defenders. Beatty started at home vs. EWU two days prior to injuring himself in practice, and Nunn leads the team in minutes (29.0 mpg).

PROVIDING A SPARK

• Due, in part, to the multitude of injuries, a pair of walk-ons have been inserted into the rotation - guards Michael Wilson and Leo Ricketts - and both are receiving good minutes.
• In fact, over the last six games, Wilson (6.2 ppg) and Ricketts (6.0 ppg) are combining to average 12.2 points on 40% shooting (14-35) from the 3-point line.
• Rickets, a true freshman, did not play each of the first 16 games. He started to get playing time in the home game vs. Idaho State and has remained a rotational piece. During the six games, he is averaging 6.0 points and 14.9 minutes on 50% (13-26) from the field and 44% from the 3PT line (7-16). He has buried multiple 3-balls in three of six games.
• Wilson, in his second season with the Hornets, received 38 minutes at Northern Colorado and has embarked upon a seven-game stretch that has seen him average 6.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals while shooting 39% (9-23) from the 3-point arc and 92% (11-12) from the free throw line.

INTERNATIONAL ROSTER

• 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 two as associate head coach.

GOING YOUNG

• Sacramento State has a 14-man roster, and nine of those players are underclassmen (six sophomores, three freshmen) with just two seniors.
• In both games last week, the team used a nine-man rotation that included three freshmen (Dioramma, Ricketts, Brewer) and three sophomores (Nunn, Skytta, Wilson).
• As is the case with most youngsters, they are still learning on the fly. The Hornets' top three scorers, not surprisingly, are upperclassmen in Holt, Neal and Vaughns.

10 MINUTE MARK TELLS THE TALE

• The 10 minute mark of the second half is a great indicator of whether or not the Hornets will win or lose. When trailing with 10 minutes to play, the team is 0-16. When leading at the 10-minute mark, Sacramento State is 6-2.
• In addition, the team is 5-0 when leading at the five minute mark, but 1-16 when trailing with five minutes to go, and 0-2 when tied at five minutes.

SLOW STARTS

• In five of the team's nine conference losses, Sacramento State fell victim to extremely slow starts it could never quite overcome.
• At home against Idaho, the Vandals jumped out to a 22-11 lead.
• At home, Eastern Washington had a 27-10 lead as the Hornets did not score their fourth point until the 11:25 mark of the first half.
• Northern Arizona jumped out to a 25-7 lead as Sacramento State did not score its fourth point until the 12:29 mark of the first half.
• Weber State got off to an 18-7 lead in the Nest.
• Montana jumped out to a 25-11 lead last weekend in Missoula.

DEFENSIVELY SPEAKING

• Overall, Sacramento State ranks first in the Big Sky Conference in field goal percentage defense (.427) and second in scoring defense (69.4 ppg).
• That has helped the Hornets stay in games despite an offense that ranks last in the league at 67.1 points per game. Although the team is averaging 78.0 points over last two games.
• The defense would be even better if not for the losses of Emil Skytta and Alex Kovatchev to injury - the top two defenders on the team. Although Skytta did come back last week.

VAUGHNS' HOT STREAK

• Junior guard Julian Vaughns is averaging a team-best 15.5 points over the last eight games. That includes five games with 17+ points, and 19 on Saturday at Idaho.
• During the stretch, he is shooting 45% (18-40) from the 3-point line, and has gotten to the free throw line 28 times (51 free throw attempts all season).
• He had 18 points at Northern Arizona, 21 vs. Idaho State, 17 vs. Weber State, 19 at Montana State, and 19 more at Idaho.
• In conference play, he is shooting a proficient 41% (22-54) from beyond the 3-point arc.
 
HOLT'S BIG SEASON HAS SLOWED OF LATE

• Senior forward Jacob Holt has established himself as one of the top players in the Big Sky. In league play, he ranks among the conference's top players in scoring (7th, 15.8 ppg), rebounding (4th, 7.2 rpg) and blocks (5th, 0.9).
• He has scored in double digits in all but six games this season. However, three of those single digit efforts have come in the last four games.
• He went 9 points at Montana Sate, 9 points at Montana, 32 points at Eastern Washington, and most recently a season-low four points at Idaho on Saturday.
• He's had two 30-point games, including 35 points at home vs. Idaho on Jan. 9.
• He was Big Sky Player of the Week on Dec. 31, and has four double-doubles. Holt has scored in double figures 18 times, including eight 20-point efforts.
• If the season ended today, his 16.1 ppg scoring average (overall) would be the highest for a Hornet since Bryce Fowler averaged 19.0 ppg during the 2021-22 season.
 
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 will 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.

TALE OF TWO HALVES

• Sacramento State is being outscored by 8.0 ppg during the first half against Big Sky opposition. The Hornets have done a nice job in the second half, being outscored by just 0.7 points after halftime.