SACRAMENTO STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS: SATURDAY MORNING MEN'S BASKETBALL - HORNETS HOST IDAHO AT 10:30 AM

By Press release submission

Dec 6, 2020

Sacramento State University Athletics issued the following announcement on Dec 4.

GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State (2-0, 1-0) will host Big Sky Conference foe Idaho (0-1, 0-1) for the second time in three days when the two teams play at the Nest on Saturday at 10:35 a.m.

• The early start time allows Idaho to get back home on the same day of the game.

• In the teams' first matchup on Thursday, Sacramento State used a huge second half (42-19) to beat the Vandals, 77-55, in the Nest.

• Like all home games for the foreseeable future, no fans will be allowed to attend games due to COVID-19 restrictions.

• The 22-point margin of victory on Thursday night was Sacramento State's largest in a Big Sky opener since joining the league in 1996.

• The Hornets are off to a 2-0 overall start for the third consecutive season.

• A win on Saturday would allow Sacramento State to start the conference season with a 2-0 record for just the third time since joining the Big Sky - the 2005-06 and 2014-15 Hornet teams are the only to do so.

• Thursday's game marked the season opener for Idaho as the Vandals had three games canceled last week at a tournament hosted by Portland. Both Sacramento State and Idaho did not play an exhibition game this year.

• In a season that is sure to include twists and turns for every team in the nation, the 25-game Sacramento State schedule is the smallest number of regular season contests the Hornets will play since the 1973-74 team played 23 games.

• Sacramento State is 7-20 all-time against Idaho, including a 4-9 record at home. The Hornets have won four of the last six games against the Vandals in the Nest.

• Last year, the Hornets and Vandals split the season series with each team winning on the road by double figures.

• Current Idaho head coach Zac Claus was a well-respected assistant coach at Sacramento State for three years (2002-05).

• The Hornets played Thursday's game without four players because of injury - Rick Barros III, Zach Chappell, Jalen Townsell and Brandon Davis.

• Sacramento State is coming off a 2019-20 season in which the team went 16-14 overall and 8-12 in the Big Sky Conference. The 16 wins were the second most in the program's Div. I era, and marked just the second time the team has finished with an overall record above the .500 mark since joining the Div. I ranks.

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• All Sacramento State home games, and road games played against a Big Sky Conference team, will be video streamed free on Pluto.TV. Those broadcasts can be watched online at Pluto.TV (home games on channel 1052) or by downloading the app for your mobile device.

• Every home game this year will be broadcast live on ESPN 1320 AM with 24th-year play-by-play man Steve McElroy calling all the action.

• 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 www.hornetsports.com.

Original source can be found here.