After losing Big Sky road games at Idaho State and Weber State last weekend, the Sacramento State men’s basketball team returns home to face Northern Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 19. The game, which will tip off at 7:05 p.m. in Hornet Gym, can be heard on KTKZ 1380 AM and via the internet at www.hornetsports.com. Steve McElroy will handle the play-by-play.

The Hornets come into the game with a 6-10 overall record and an 0-2 mark in league games. Sacramento State entered last week with a two-game winning streak but fell at ISU on Friday, 87-79, before losing at WSU, 86-83, on Saturday.

The Lumberjacks are currently 7-8 overall and 0-2 in the Big Sky. Like Sacramento State, NAU opened league play with a pair of losses last weekend. The team fell at Weber State, 78-66, and at Idaho State, 77-64.

• Meet the Coaches

Jerome Jenkins returns for his second season as head coach at Sacramento State. Jenkins became the 12th coach in the 53-year history of Hornet basketball when he was named to the position on March 14, 2000.

The 34-year old coach came to Sacramento State prior to the 1999-2000 season and served as the team’s top assistant coach. Jenkins previously had worked two seasons as an assistant at Eastern Washington. Prior to work at EWU, Jenkins spent four seasons at Diablo Valley College.

A native of Los Angeles, Jenkins was an all-conference point guard at L.A. City College as a freshman before playing his sophomore season at Southwestern Oregon C.C. He then transferred to Regis University in Denver, Colo., where he played his final two seasons. While with the Rangers, he led the team in assists and steals and was twice named all-conference.

Jenkins picked up his first career victory on Nov. 17 when the Hornets topped Bethany College, 103-49. He currently has a 10-32 career record.

Northern Arizona is led by Mike Adras. In his three seasons as head coach of the Lumberjacks, Adras owns a 42-33 overall record. He has guided the team to the Big Sky Tournament each of the last two years and a berth in the 1999-2000 NCAA Tournament.

A Look at the Hornets

• Double Trouble

It did not take long for juniors Joe Dawson and Joel Jones to adjust to Big Sky Conference play. The pair of junior college transfers had tremendous games against Idaho State and Weber State.

Dawson scored 20 points at Idaho State and then posted 18 at Weber State. Jones tallied a career-high 25 on Friday against the Bengals before registering 12 against the Wildcats.

Jones torched ISU for 19 points in the second half and has made 14 of the 23 shots (.609) he has attempted in league games. He is also shooting 50.0 percent (6-of-12) from three and 75.0 (3-of-4) from the line.

• What a Half

After shooting just .333 in the first half at Weber State, Sacramento State responded in the second period by making an amazing 71.4 percent of its field goal attempts. As a team, the Hornets were 20-of-28 in the period and ended the game with a season-best .551 field-goal percentage.

Helping the hot shooting was a strong start in which Sacramento State made its first three attempts of the half. The team then ended the game by making 13 of its final 16 shots (.813). One of the misses came on the final possession in which Jacques hoisted a three from 21 feet.

• Out of the Blocks

Entering last week, Ronnie Walton had scored just 54 points in his first 14 games with the Hornets. The senior, however, found his shooting touch on the recent road trip, scoring 21 points.

Most of Walton’s scoring came in the opening minutes. Against Idaho State, the Sacramento native buried a three-pointer to score the team’s first points. At Weber State, Walton tallied the Hornets’ first nine points en route to a career-high 14 points.

Walton has also had recent success from long range. After making just one of his first seven threes this season, he has drained his last three attempts.

• Bench Barrage

Nearly 50 percent of the team’s scoring in the last two games has come from nonstarters. Sacramento State has scored 162 total points with the reserves accounting for 77. Leading the way was Joel Jones who was scored 37. Rashaad Hooks also added 18.

On the other side, the opponents’ bench has been relatively silent. The ISU and WSU nonstarters combined for 32 points while the starters scored 141 points.

• Walk-on This Way

Joe Dawson is easily the biggest surprise to the Sacramento State team this season. He might be the biggest surprise is the Big Sky Conference.

Dawson enters the week ranked fourth in the Big Sky with 15.1 points per game. He is also second in the conference in three-pointers per game and fourth in three-point percentage. Dawson, who walked on to the team in the fall, has scored at least 10 points in 11 games this season, including the last seven. He recently matched his career high with 20 points against Idaho, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and at ISU.

Against the Vandals, the Long Beach, Calif., native scored all 20 of his points in the first half. He was also just shy of the school record (seven) as he connected on 6-of-8 treys.

For the year, Dawson has made 37-of-76 three-point attempts and 58-of-119 total field goals. The numbers give him a .487 shooting percentage from both overall and from behind the arc.

• Connections

There are no direct connections between Sacramento State and Northern Arizona. There are only three NAU players from California.

• Other Notes

Sacramento State has had at least nine players score in every game this season...Jay Richardson, who missed the first 12 games of the year due to academics, started against Weber State and was 4-for-4 from the field...Rene Jacques has not scored in four of the last five games.

A Look at the Lumberjacks

• Northern Arizona is 3-7 on the road this year. Two of the losses, however, have come at Pittsburgh and Oregon — both of whom have been ranked in the top 25 this year.

• NAU and Sacramento State have played four common opponents this year. Both teams have defeated Cal State Fullerton and Lipscomb and lost at Weber State and Idaho State.

• The Lumberjacks are led by Brian McHugh and Ryan McDade. McHugh leads the team in scoring and is second in rebounding. McDade leads in rebounding and is second in scoring.

The Series

• Northern Arizona holds a 12-4 lead in the all-time series. The Lumberjacks have won the past three decisions. Sacramento State last beat NAU on Jan. 4, 2000, 65-62.

Who’s Up Next

• The Hornets welcome Montana State on Friday, Jan. 25. The team will then host Montana on Saturday, Jan. 26.

Big Sky Notes

• Montana State’s Casey Reynolds and Idaho State’s D’Marr Suggs shared Big Sky Player of the Week honors.

Reynolds averaged 16.0 points in MSU’s wins over Eastern Washington and Portland State.

Suggs, who earned the same award last week, averaged 24.0 points in helping Idaho State to wins over Sacramento State and Northern Arizona.