MEN'S HOOPS LOOKS FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN THURSDAY VS. MONTANA STATE

2/8/2012

Junior forward John Dickson is averaging a team-high 12.8 ppg and has five 20-point games this year

GAME PREVIEW

Sacramento State (8-14, 3-8) seeks its fourth straight win on Thursday when the team hosts Montana State (11-11, 6-5) at the Nest at 7:05 p.m…last week, the Hornets defeated both Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington on the road, giving the team their first Big Sky road sweep since the 2005-06 season…after going 0-8 during the first half of league play, Sacramento State and Montana are the lone squads in the conference to be 3-0 during the second half of Big Sky play…the Hornets will seek their first four-game winning streak since the team won five in a row from Dec. 29, 2005 - Jan. 14, 2006…what seemed nearly impossible two weeks ago after the Hornets dropped to 0-8 in the conference, the Hornets now have life as far as challenging for a Big Sky Tournament berth…the top six teams in the nine-member league qualify for the league’s postseason event, and Sacramento State is two games back of both Portland State (5-6) and Eastern Washington (5-6), who are tied for fifth place…however, only five games remain on the Hornets’ conference schedule, but three of those games are at home…during the three-game winning streak, Sacramento State is outscoring the opposition by an average of 16.3 points per game…Montana State currently sits in a tie for third in the Big Sky standings, but has dropped three games in a row, including a pair last week at home against Idaho State and Montana…the Bobcats defeated the Hornets in Bozeman earlier this year (72-65) in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated…Montana State leads the all-time series against the Hornets, 25-13, and has won seven of the last eight meetings between the two teams…Thursday’s game can be heard on the internet at www.hornetsports.com with 15th year play-by-play announcer Steve McElroy calling all the action…like every game played in a Big Sky venue, a free live video stream is available at www.bigskytv.org…live stats of the game can be found at www.hornetsports.com.

Sacramento State's complete set of game notes can be accessed by clicking on the link above the story.