PORTLAND, Ore. -- Despite a game-high 29 points from sophomore Mikey Williams, it was not nearly enough in Sacramento State's 96-69 loss at Portland State on Saturday afternoon at Viking Pavilion.

Playing the final leg of a seven-game road trip, Sacramento State dropped to 4-11 overall and 0-3 in the Big Sky Conference. The Hornets have not played at home since Nov. 25, and finally get back to Hornet Pavilion on Jan. 15 vs. Northern Arizona for their Big Sky home opener. By the time they play that game, the Hornets will have gone 49 straight days without a home game - the third longest streak in the nation among Div. I teams.

Portland State, which opened Big Sky play last week with a pair of overtime road wins, improved to 9-5 overall and 3-0 in league. The Vikings are the lone unbeaten team in Big Sky play.

Williams continued his assault on Big Sky opposition. The dynamic guard finished with 29 points on 9-for-20 shooting from the field and 11-of-14 from the free throw line. He averaged a point per minute after playing 29 minutes in today's game. Williams was fouled 10 times during the contest - six more than any player from either team. 

He scored each of the Hornets' first 12 points of the game and connected on each of his first five field goal attempts. Williams also had 16 of the team's first 19 points on the way to a 21-point first half. At one point during the first half, with Portland State leading by three points (22-19), Williams was 6-for-8 from the field while the rest of the team was 1-for-13.

Williams has scored at least 26 points in all three conference games, and is now averaging a robust 29.7 ppg in Big Sky play on 51% shooting from the field.

Neither team led by more than six points the first 15 minutes of clock before Portland State closed on a 15-5 run to enter halftime with a 46-32 lead. The Vikings never led by anything less than 14 points the entire second half. Portland State controlled the glass with a 47-25 rebounding advantage and connected on 10-for-25 from the 3-point line while the Hornets were 3-of-21 from distance.

The Vikings shot 55% (35-64) from the field while the Hornets were at 36% (22-62). Sacramento State did convert on 22-for-28 from the free throw line as the team had the same amount of free throws made as field goals made. 

Joining Williams in double figures for the Hornets were Taj Glover's career-high 11 points (nine in the second half), and Jayden Teat's 11 points (all in the second half). Teat was 3-for-6 from the 3-point line. Freshman Mark Lavrenov finished with five points and career-best 11 rebounds. Four of those boards were on the offensive glass. Prophet Johnson added six points, five rebounds, two assists and game-high four steals.

The Hornets will play six of their next eight games at home. That begins on Thursday vs. Northern Arizona at 7 p.m., followed by a Saturday matchup with Northern Colorado at 7 p.m. The next month will also include a season-long four-game homestand from Jan. 29-Feb. 7.

NOTABLES
• Forward Jeremiah Cherry (15.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg) missed his ninth straight game with injury. The Hornets are 1-8 without Cherry in the lineup
• After missing the previous four games with injury, freshman guard Romari Robinson played nine minutes in today's game.
• Sacramento State attempted 28 free throws today, and remain the top team in the Big Sky in both free throws made (21.3) and attempted (29.7) per game 
• The Hornets are now 5-24 all-time when playing the Vikings in Portland