GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State (6-16, 2-7) will play the third leg of its season-long four game road trip when the Hornets take on Eastern Washington (7-16, 3-7) on Thursday evening. Tip at Reese Court is set for 6 p.m.
• The Hornets are 0-2 on the road trip, which includes a pair of losses to the Montana schools last week: 70-58 at Montana State, and 87-59 at Montana.
• The 28-point margin of defeat to Montana was easily the Hornets' most lopsided score against a Big Sky opponent this season.
• Overall, the Hornets have dropped three straight since beating Idaho State, 75-71, at home. At the midway point of the conference season, Sacramento State is 2-3 at home vs. Big Sky opposition, and 0-4 on the road.
• Sacramento State has a plethora of injuries right now as the team has been playing the last seven games without starting back court Emil Skytta and Alex Kovatchev. The Hornets have also been playing without one of their rotational forwards Bowyn Beatty the last six games. Skytta and Kovatchev are the team's best two defenders.
• In fact, a pair of walk-ons (Michael Wilson, Leo Ricketts) have received good minutes over the last four games. During that four-game stretch, Ricketts and Wilson are both averaging 8.0 ppg, tied for the fourth best mark on the team.
• Sacramento State is 1-9 on the road, with its lone win coming at Air Force on Nov. 27.
• Eastern Washington snapped a five-game losing streak with a 72-49 win at Weber State on Saturday. Prior to that victory, the Eagles had not won since beating Sacramento State at the Nest by a 65-54 score on Jan. 11.
• EWU is 5-4 at home, but just 1-3 vs. Big Sky opposition at Reese Court. The Eagles have not won at home since a 68-63 victory over Montana State on Jan. 4.
• In a series that dates back to 1994, Sacramento State is 17-46 all-time against Eastern Washington. That includes a 4-27 record at Reese Court.
• Since 2015, the Hornets are 3-19 against the Eagles. The lone wins during that time frame came last season in the Big Sky Tournament quarterfinals, and regular season wins in 2022 and 2019. All three of those victories came by six points or fewer.
• That 74-69 Hornet win a season ago at the Big Sky Tournament marked the first time in tourney history a No. 10 seed knocked off the top seed. The Eagles had entered the tournament as the Big Sky's regular season champions.

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. EWU)

• Sacramento State's shooting went ice cold, posting season lows in field goal percentage (28%) and 3-point FG% (12%) in a 65-54 loss to Eastern Washington on Jan. 11 at the Nest.
• While the Hornets went 3-for-26 from the 3-point line, Eastern Washington drained a season-best 14 3-balls and converted on 52% of its long range attempts (14-of-27).
• Sacramento State finished the game 16-for-57 from the field, including 4-of-26 in the first half, catapulting the Eagles to a 35-15 halftime lead.
• The game was never in question in the second half, but Sacramento State did close the final 8:25 on a 29-6 run. After scoring 15 points in the first half, Sacramento State tallied 39 after the break, and outscored the Eagles, 39-30, in the second half.
• Sacramento State forced 20 Eastern Washington turnovers (13 in the second half), and turned those miscues into 21 points. The Hornets also got exactly half of their 54 points from the bench. Sacramento State went to the free throw line 19 more times than the Eagles (19-28, 68%), but EWU's dominance at the 3-point line was too much to overcome.
• Julian Vaughns led the Hornets with 11 points, as he was the only Sacramento State player in double figures. Two days after finishing with a career-best 35 points, leading scorer Jacob Holt was limited to a season-low five points to go with three rebounds and three steals.

INJURY BUG GO AWAY

• Sacramento State has played without three key players each of the last six games.
• Guard Alex Kovatchev, after starting each of the first four games, has missed 18 consecutive games with injury. His status for the rest of the season is in question.
• Guard Emil Skytta, who had started 41 consecutive games dating back to last season, has missed the past seven games.
• 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 six straight games.
• All three players are sophomores and each have big roles with the team. Skytta and Kovatchev are the Hornets' top two defenders. Kovatchev is always in the right place at the right time offensively and defensively, and Skytta is one of the team's best at playing downhill. Beatty started vs. Eastern Wash two days prior to injuring himself in practice.

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 have played well.
• In fact, over the last four games, the two walk-ons are tied for fourth on the team in scoring as both average 8.0 ppg and a combined 13-for-29 (45%) from the 3-point line.
• Rickets, a true freshman, did not play each of the first 16 games. He started to get ample playing time in the home game vs. Idaho State and has remained a key rotational figure. During the four games, he is averaging 8.0 points and 15.7 minutes on 58% (11-19) from both the field and 3PT (7-12). He has buried multiple 3-balls in three of the four games.
• Wilson, in his second season with the Hornets, received 38 minutes at Northern Colorado and has embarked upon a five-game stretch that has seen him average 8.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals while shooting 38% (8-21) 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.
• The team has been using an eight-man rotation of late that includes three freshmen (Dioramma, Ricketts, Brewer) and two sophomores (Nunn, 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 seniors Jacob Holt and EJ Neal, as well as junior Julian 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 0-15. When leading at the 10-minute mark, Sacramento State is 6-1.
• In addition, the team is 5-0 when leading at the five minute mark, but 1-15 when trailing with five minutes to go, and 0-1 when tied at five minutes.

SLOW STARTS

• In five of the team's seven conference losses, Sacramento State fell victim to slow starts it could never quite overcome.
• Against Idaho, the Vandals jumped out to a 22-11 lead.
• 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 continues to rank first in the Big Sky Conference in scoring defense (68.4 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.425).
• That has helped the Hornets stay in games despite an offense that ranks last in the league at 66.1 points per game.
• The defense would be even better if not for the current losses of Emil Skytta and Alex Kovatchev to injury - the top two defenders on the team.

VAUNGHS COOKING

• Junior guard Julian Vaughns has scored 10+ points in four straight, and seven of the last eight games. That includes 17+ in three of the last four games.
• Over the last four games, Vaughns is the team's leading scorer at 17.5 ppg to go with 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 30.5 minutes on 45% FG (23-51), 52% 3FG (12-23) and 80% FT (12-15). That also breaks down to an average of 3.0 made 3-pointers per contest.
• His 12 3-pointers over the last four games are more than 30% of his production from the entire season (37-106). He is now shooting a proficient 40% (19-47) from deep in league.
• The three-game stretch has seen him post a career-high 21 points vs Idaho State, and career-best seven rebounds on two occasions.
 
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 top players in scoring (7th, 15.3 ppg), rebounds (4th, 7.6 rpg) and blocks (3rd, 1.0).
• Holt has led the team in scoring in 14 of the Hornets' 22 games.
• That includes 35 points vs. Idaho, the fifth best output in the program's Div. I era. He went 17-for-21 from the line that game, both marks the best in the team's Div. I history.
• He was Big Sky Player of the Week on Dec. 31, and has four double-doubles. Holt has scored in double figures 17 times, including seven 20-point efforts.
• If the season ended today, his 15.9 ppg scoring average would be the highest for a Hornet since Bryce Fowler averaged 19.0 ppg during the 2021-22 season.
• Holt ranks second in the Big Sky in both free throws made (92) and attempted (130).
 
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 10.6 ppg during the first half against Big Sky opposition. The Hornets have done a nice job of turning the tables in the second half, outscoring their Big Sky competition by 0.4 points after halftime.