Following a disappointing loss against Northern Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 8, the Sacramento State men’s basketball team will look to bounce back against Eastern Washington on Thursday, Feb. 13. The game against the Eagles will tip off at 7:05 p.m. in the Hornets Nest.

Sacramento State comes into the week with an 8-13 overall record and a 2-6 mark in Big Sky Conference games. The Hornets are currently sitting in seventh place in the league, one game behind Northern Arizona for the sixth and final berth into the Big Sky Tournament.

The team is currently in the midst of a two-game losing streak and has dropped its past five games at home. Over the last two games, Sacramento State has struggled from the field, making just 36-of-122 shots.

Eastern Washington is 15-8 overall and 7-2 in league games. The Eagles ended a two-game slide last week by defeating Montana and Montana State. EWU will clinch a postseason bid with a win on Thursday coupled with a Portland State loss.

• Meet the Coaches

Jerome Jenkins returns for his third 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 working at EWU, he 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 21-54 career record.

Eastern Washington is led by Ray Giacoletti. Currently in his third season with the Eagles, Giacoletti has guided EWU to a 49-32 overall record.

A Look at the Hornets

• The Breakdown

Although Sacramento State’s loss to Northern Arizona dropped the team into seventh place in the Big Sky standings, the Hornets’ hopes for making the conference tournament are not over.

Sacramento State is just one game behind NAU for the sixth and final berth. The team is also 1.5 games behind both Montana and Montana State and two games back of Idaho State for third.

Of the Hornets’ six remaining games, four will come at home. NAU will also play four games on the home court, Montana has three left and MSU and ISU play just twice at home.

Weber State (8-0) has already clinched a tournament bid. Eastern Washington can join the Wildcats with a victory over Sacramento State on Thursday and a Portland State loss.

The Big Sky Tournament begins on March 8. The first round games will be held at the site of No. 3 and No. 4 seeds. The third seed takes on No. 6 while the fourth seed hosts No. 5. The winners of those games will join the second seed for the semifinals which will be held at the home of the regular-season champion.

• Cold Front

Over the last two games, Sacramento State has struggled mightily from the field. The Hornets have combined to go 36-of-122 (.295) in games against Montana and Northern Arizona.

Against NAU, the Hornets were 14-of-54 overall, including 6-of-28 in the second half. The team’s .259 field-goal percentage was a season low. The mark was also the lowest produced by Sacramento State since the team shot .250 at Colorado State on Nov. 28, 2000.

The two-game cold streak also marks the first time that the Hornets have shot under .330 in back-to-back games since going 16-for-68 (.235) at Montana State and 18-for-58 (.310) at Weber State on Feb. 4 and Feb. 6, 1999.

• The White Stuff

Jimmy White has been a coach’s dream during the first eight Big Sky games of the season. The senior from Las Vegas has done a little of everything for the team at both ends of the court.

So far, White is averaging 11.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 0.8 steals per league game. Against Weber State, he recorded nine points, nine boards, five blocks and four assists.

White is one of just two players (Derek Lambeth) to start all 21 games for Sacramento State this season. In those games, he is averaging 9.1 points and a team-best 5.8 rebounds. He also paces the team, and is tied for the conference lead, with 28 blocked shots.

With six games still to play, White currently ranks sixth in the school’s Div. I single-season history in blocked shots. Vincent Stewart set the mark with 42 rejections in 1993-94.

• Grand Larceny

In what has become one of the tightest races in the league, DaShawn Freeman retained the crown as the Big Sky’s top thief with the help of three steals against Northern Arizona. Freeman now has 59 steals through 21 games staying ahead of Eastern Washington’s Alvin Snow (59 steals in 23 games).

The pair also rank among the nation’s best. In the most current release, Freeman is tied for 12th and Snow is 21st among all Div. I players.

Freeman is currently on pace to end the season with 76 steals. The school record is 65 set by Pat Wallace during the 1989-90 season.

However, Freeman is not the only thief on the team. Raashad Hooks is currently third in the league with 43 steals. The Hornets also lead the Big Sky with 9.24 steals per game.

Sacramento State has led the conference in steals each season under Jerome Jenkins.

• Milestone Watch

Numerous Sacramento State players are beginning to appear on the Div. I-era single-season top 10 list. Freeman already ranks first in steals and needs five assists to be 10th. Hooks is four assists shy of 10th and Brandon Guyton needs five more threes. Derek Lambeth is currently second with 100 made free throws and 118 free throw attempts.

• Other Notes

Despite shooting 1-of-4 against NAU, Jimmy White is 35-for-60 from the field (.583) over the past eight games...Guyton’s seven three-pointers and Raashad Hooks’ 12 assists at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi were Circle K Court records.

• A Look at the Last Meeting

Brandon Merritt scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds to help lead Eastern Washington to a 75-41 men’s basketball victory over Sacramento State on Jan. 18 at Reese Court.

The win improved the Eagles to 12-6 overall and 4-0 in the Big Sky Conference. The Hornets fell to 7-9 overall and 1-2 in league games.

Eastern Washington led throughout the contest. EWU began the game on a 6-0 run before Sacramento State was able to pull within one, 9-8. From that point the Eagles went on a 12-0 run and led 35-20 at halftime.

EWU continued to pull away at the start of the second half. The Eagles scored the first 11 points of the period with the help of a dunk and three three-pointers. The Hornets ended the run with a free throw from Tony Champion only to have Eastern Washington produce an 8-1 run to make the score 54-22 with 13:30 left in the game.

The Eagles maintained at least a 30-point edge for the remainder of the game.

As a team, EWU shot 55.3 percent (26-47) from the field. The Eagles also made 37.5 percent (6-16) of their three-point attempts and 81.0 (17-21) of their free throws. Eastern Washington also outrebounded the Hornets, 40-26.

Sacramento State was held to a season-low field goal (.296) and three-point (.083) percentage. The Hornets were 16-of-54 overall and just 1-of-12 from behind the arc.

Merritt ended the game 7-of-10 overall and 3-of-6 from three-point range to lead all players. Chris Hester added 12 points and Alvin Snow contributed 10 for EWU.

Raashad Hooks led Sacramento State with nine points. The game marked the first time this season that the Hornets did not have a player score in double figures.

A Look at the Eagles

• Eastern Washington has won eight of its last 10 games, including two straight. This season, the Eagles have had winning streaks of three, four and six games. The team has also had a four-game losing streak.

• The trio of Chris Hester, Alvin Snow and Brendon Merritt lead EWU. Hester averages 14.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting .565. Snow is pouring in 13.5 points per game and was last year’s Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year. Merritt is the team’s long-range specialist, making 34 three-pointers and averaging 11.8 ppg.

• The Series

Eastern Washington has won the past six meetings with the Hornets and leads the all-time series, 14-3.

• Who’s Up Next

Sacramento State concludes its three-game homestand against Portland State on Sat., Feb. 15. The game against the Vikings will tip off at 7:05 p.m. and can be heard on KTKZ 1380 AM.

• Big Sky Notes

Eastern Washington guard Brendon Merritt was named Big Sky Player of the Week for games played Feb. 5-8. Merritt combined to score 46 points in a pair of EWU wins.

Against Montana State, the guard scored a career-high 26 points in a 78-74 win. The junior was 9-of-13 overall, including four threes.

In an 87-72 win over Montana, Merritt scored 17 points and had three assists.

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