GAME PREVIEW

• Fresh off an 80-77 road win on Thursday at Weber State, the Hornets (7-20, 3-11) are back in action Saturday at Idaho State (12-13, 7-7). Tip at Reed Gym is set for 5 p.m. PT.
• Thursday's win snapped a seven-game losing streak, and was the team's second road win of the season (2-11) - and first against a Big Sky opponent (1-6).
• Of the Hornets' last 10 games, seven have been decided by six points or less. That includes a 75-71 home victory over Idaho State on Jan. 23.
• Each of the team's last three road games have been decided by three points or less. That includes an 83-80 loss at Eastern Washington, and 78-76 defeat at Idaho.
• The Hornets have dealt with a plethora of injuries this season, and that really came to a head last week when the team played without three starting guards (Bailey Nunn, Julian Vaughns, Alex Kovatchev) in both games. In addition, the team is without key rotational forward Bowyn Beatty. It was Beatty who started a game two days before he was injured.
• Nunn came back Thursday at Weber State, matching his season best with seven assists.
• True freshman walk-on guard Leo Ricketts played all 40 minutes in both games last week, but was back down to 13 minutes on Thursday with Nunn back in the lineup.
• Idaho State beat Portland State, 82-74, at home on Thursday, and is 9-3 at home this season (5-2 vs. Big Sky opposition). That includes five wins in its last six home games.
• In a series littered with close games, Sacramento State is 29-34 all-time against Idaho State. Nine of the last 10 meetings have been decided by five points or less.
• That includes the Hornets' 75-71 home win earlier this season, in which the Hornets had a 15-1 early second half run, and went 4-for-4 from the FT line over the final six seconds.
• Sacramento State has won three of the last four, and nine of the last 12 meetings.
• The Hornets are 12-20 when playing on the road at Idaho State, including a rare blowout loss in last year's game (L, 68-40) in Pocatello. In the last 10 meetings between the teams in Pocatello, eight of those have been decided by six points or fewer.
• The Bengals have one of the league's best scorers in sophomore guard Dylan Darling who leads the Big Sky with 22.9 ppg in league play. He shoots 40% from the 3-point line and 82% from the free throw line.
• Led by senior guard Jake O'Neil (13.1 ppg, 9.4 rpg), Idaho State is one of the top rebounding teams in the country with a +9.0 rebound margin per game (8th in the nation). O'Neil's 9.4 boards per contest is tied for second best in the Big Sky.

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. BENGALS)

• Sacramento State used a 15-1 early second half run, and put things away by going 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final six seconds to beat Idaho State, 75-71, on Jan 23.
• In a game the Hornets led for over 33 minutes, including the final 18:22, Sacramento State's defense limited Idaho State to 39% shooting (22-57) while the Hornet offense put up 42 second half points.
• Sacramento State put forth a team effort that saw seven players score at least six points, and four in double figures. The Hornets shot 46% from the field (25-54) and 3-point line (10-22), and overcame Idaho State in the free throw bonus the final 15:21 of the game.
• The Hornets led by as many as 15 points in the second half (58-43 with 10:46 remaining) before Idaho State began chipping away. The Bengals cut the deficit to a one-possession game with 1:28 to play after a pair of free throws made the score 69-66. Idaho State had a chance to take the lead, trailing by two points with six seconds left, but Dylan Darling missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
• The Hornets secured the rebound, and saw Chudi Dioramma bury two clutch free throws with six seconds left to go up four points (73-69). After an ISU bucket, Michael Wilson put things away with two more freebies with a second to play.

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 23 consecutive games with injury. His status for the rest of the season is in question.
• Emil Skytta, who started 41 consecutive games dating back to last season, missed seven straight games until returning two weeks ago. He has played five games since his return.
• 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 11 straight games.
• Guards Bailey Nunn and Julian Vaughns both missed last week's games. While Vaughns has now missed three straight games, Nunn came back Thursday to play at Weber State.
• So, the Hornets played last week's games minus three starters (Nunn, Kovatchev, Vaughns) and a player in Beatty who had just cracked the starting lineup prior to injury.

PROVIDING A SPARK

• Due, in part, to the multitude of injuries, a pair of walk-ons - guards Michael Wilson and Leo Ricketts - are key rotational players and both are receiving good minutes.
• Ricketts, a true freshman walk-on, played all 40 minutes in both games last week and averaged 8.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.0 steals in those games vs. Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado. He has played in 11 straight games after getting a DNP in each of the first 16 games of the season. He received 13 minutes at Weber State on Thursday.
• Wilson, a sophomore in his second year with the Hornets, has played 28+ minutes in five of the last eight games, and has been a fixture in the rotation the last 14 games. In league play, he is averaging 5.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals while shooting 36% from 3PT. That includes career highs in points (14) and 3-pointers (4-for-6) at home vs. Weber State.

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.
• Prior to last week, the team mostly used a nine-man rotation that included three freshmen (Dioramma, Ricketts, Brewer) and three sophomores (Nunn, Skytta, Wilson).
• In Thursday's game at Weber State, the Hornets used an eight-man rotation that included three freshmen, three sophomores and a pair of seniors. The starting lineup had two freshmen and one sophomore.

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 0-18. When leading at the 10-minute mark, Sacramento State is 7-2.
• In addition, the team is 6-0 when leading at the five minute mark, but 1-18 when trailing with five minutes to go, and 0-2 when tied at five minutes.

SLOW STARTS

• In six of the team's 11 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.
• Last week vs. Northern Colorado, the Bears jumped out to a 25-6 lead at the 9:44 mark.

DEFENSIVELY SPEAKING

• Overall, Sacramento State leads the Big Sky in scoring defense (69.8 ppg), and ranks second in field goal percentage defense (.432).
• That has helped the Hornets stay in games despite an offense that ranks last in the league at 67.1 points per game.
• The defense would be even better if not for the Emil Skytta and Alex Kovatchev injuries - the top two defenders on the team. Although Skytta did come back two weeks ago.

BREWER'S HOT STREAK

• Over the last four games, true freshman guard Lachlan Brewer has been impressive, averaging 11.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg and 1.8 spg while shooting 65% FG (17-26) and 69% 3FG (9-13).
• That includes three double-figure point games over that span after doing so four times in his first 22 games of the season.
• Brewer poured in season bests in points (17) and 3-pointers (5-for-6) in the win at Weber State. That came one game after posting a double-double (11 pts, 10 reb) vs. NAU.
• This season, he is shooting a very proficient .478 (33-69) from the 3-point line. If he had enough attempts to qualify, that percentage would rank third in the country.
 
HOLT'S BIG SEASON

• 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 best in rebounding (4th, 8.1 rpg) and blocks (4th, 1.0 bpg), and tied for fifth in scoring at 16.0 ppg. He is the only player in the conference to rank among the top five players in both scoring and rebounding.
• His last two games (both double-doubles) have included 27 pts and 13 reb at Weber State, and 17 pts and 13 reb vs. Northern Arizona. He hit the dagger 3-ball at Weber State. The 13 rebounds set a new career best. In each of those games, he had five offensive boards.
• Holt now has six double-doubles this season, nine 20+ point games, and two 30+ games.
• He also ranks third in the league in both free throws made (113) and attempted (155).
• If the season ended today, his 15.7 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. A name for the facility has yet to be determined.
• 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 8.2 ppg during the first half against Big Sky opposition. The Hornets have done a nice job in the second half, outscoring the opposition by 0.2 points.