GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State (9-16, 5-8) returns home for the first of two games at Hornet Pavilion this week. The Hornets will host Eastern Washington (9-17, 7-6) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
• With only five games left in the regular season, the Hornets will be playing the first of just three home games remaining (Feb. 21 vs Idaho; Mar. 2 vs Idaho State).
• Sacramento State is coming off a 79-74 loss at Northern Arizona on Saturday in which the Hornets suited just seven healthy players.
• Injuries have been a massive problem as the team was without six players on Saturday, including guard Mikey Williams who is averaging 20.1 ppg in conference play. The Hornets were also without two other starters in forwards Jeremiah Cherry and Brandon Gardner. Cherry has missed the last 19 games while Williams missed both games last week.
• Sacramento State has been very good at home, as the team is 9-2 in Hornet Pavilion. That includes a 5-1 mark vs. Big Sky competition, with the only loss coming to first-place Portland State by a 74-73 score. That loss snapped a seven-game home winning streak.
• Part of the reason for the home success is playing in front of big crowds. Sacramento State's average attendance of 2,728 per game is the third best mark in the Big Sky. The Hornets routinely play in front of crowds that fill the fixed seating portion of the facility.
• With five games left in the regular season, the Big Sky Tournament (March 7-11) is on the horizon. All 10 teams in the Big Sky will play the single-elimination tournament in Boise, Idaho. The top six seeds receive a first round bye.
• If the season ended today, the Hornets would be the No. 8 seed and play No. 7 Idaho in the first round. Sacramento State hosts Idaho on Saturday night.
• Despite the Hornets dropping their last three games, the team's nine overall wins and five conference victories are already more than last season's records of 7-25 and 3-15.
• Eastern Washington has won four straight after beginning the conference season with a 3-6 record. Two weeks ago, the Eagles, impressively, swept the Montanas on the road. Last week, they posted comfortable home wins over Idaho State and Weber State.
• Prior to the sweep of the Montana schools, the Eagles had been 1-13 on the road. Then found a way to sweep arguably the toughest road trip in the Big Sky in the Montanas.
• Eastern Washington defeated the Hornets, 75-67, in Cheney on Jan. 24. The Eagles led between five and 14 points the entire second half in that game.
• The Hornets are 17-48 all-time vs. Eastern Washington, and have lost 12 of the last 14 in the series. Sacramento State is 12-17 at home vs. the Eagles, with the last victory in Sacramento coming on Feb. 26, 2022, via 81-75 score. During the 2024 Big Sky Tournament in Boise, the No. 10 seed Hornets upset No. 1 seed Eastern Washington, 74-69.

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• Thursday's game will stream on ESPN+ with 29th-year play-by-play announcer Steve McElroy and former Hornet assistant coach Ajay Riding on the call.
• 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.

LAST MEETING VS. EASTERN WASHINGTON

• Mark Lavrenov had a season-high tying 26 points, and Prophet Johnson added a double-double (18 points, 11 rebounds), but it was not enough in a 75-67 loss at Eastern Washington on Jan. 24 at Reese Court.
• The Eagles led for nearly 38 minutes of game clock, and used a 12-0 run towards the end of the first half that turned a 25-24 deficit into a 36-25 advantage. Sacramento State closed the first half on an 8-2 run to trail but just five at halftime (38-33), but the Eagles opened the second half on a 5-0 run to claim a 10-point lead (43-33). EWU held an advantage between five and 14 points the rest of the way.
• Sacramento State was never truly out of the game, but the Eagles kept the Hornets from making a big run by holding large advantages in points off turnovers (21-12) and second chance points (20-9). The Hornets finished 24-for-28 (86%) from the free throw line.
• Lavrenov went 14-of-15 from the free throw line. The 14 made free throws tie for the third best mark in Sacramento State's Div. I single-game era (1991-pres.). He scored 20 points in the second half.
• Johnson, who snagged his 500th career Div. I rebound in the first half, secured his seventh double-double of the season. The 11 rebounds were nine more than any other Hornet in the contest, and four more than any player from Eastern Washington.