Coming off its biggest win of the season, the Sacramento State men’s basketball team will look to continue its push to qualify for the Big Sky Conference Tournament this Saturday, Feb. 15, against Portland State. The game against the Vikings will tip off at 7:05 p.m. in the Hornets Nest.

The contest can be heard on KTKZ 1380 AM with Steve McElroy providing the play-by-play. For those outside the greater Sacramento area, the game will also be broadcast via the internet at www.hornetsports.com.

Sacramento State improved its record 9-13 overall and 3-6 in Big Sky games with a 77-71 win over Eastern Washington Thursday night at home. The win totals tie the school Div. I-era marks for most total victories and most Big Sky wins in a season.

Portland State currently sits at 4-19 overall and 2-8 in Big Sky play following a 75-64 loss at Northern Arizona on Thursday. One of the Vikings’ league wins, however, came against Sacramento State (63-52) on Jan. 7 at the Stott Center.

• 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 22-54 career record.

Portland State is led by Heath Schroyer. Currently in his first season with the Vikings, Schroyer previously worked as an assistant coach at Wyoming.

A Look at the Hornets

• The Breakdown

With Sacramento State’s win over Eastern Washington on Thursday, the Big Sky playoff picture became a little more muddled. The Hornets are currently in sixth place, 1/2 game behind Montana for the sixth and final berth into the Big Sky Tournament

The tournament begins on March 8 with first round games to 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.

• Hook-in It Up

Raashad Hooks became the first Sacramento State player to score over 20 points in a game this season when he poured in 23 against Eastern Washington. The senior’s previous career high was 19 points set earlier this season at Northern Arizona.

For the night, Hooks was 6-of-11 from the field and 9-of-9 at the charity stripe. His six field goals also established a new career mark while his nine made free throws tied his career high.

He also added three rebounds, four assists and just one turnover in 31 minutes of work.

This season, Hooks ranks second on the team with an average of 9.7 points per game. He also paces the squad with 92 assists, is second with 43 steals and is tied for third with 83 rebounds. In Big Sky play, he is averaging 11.0 ppg.

Hooks is also ranked among conference leaders where he is third in steals, fourth in assists, fifth in assist-to-turnover ration (+1.28) and sixth in free-throw percentage (.789).

• Career Night

Chris Lange and Brandon Guyton joined Hooks as players who recorded career highs against Eastern Washington. The two first-year players, who are arguably the two most competitive players on the team, set marks for points and rebounding respectively.

Ironically, Lange who is noted more for his rebounding prowess scored 14 points while Guyton, regarded for his scoring ability, grabbed seven boards. Lange’s previous high was 11 points while Guyton had never had more than five rebounds.

• Leaders of the Pack

Freshman DaShawn Freeman and Jimmy White maintained their lead atop the Big Sky Conference after their performances against the Eagles. Freeman swiped a steal while White rejected two shots in the win.

Not only did Freeman add to his conference leading total, the Hornets were able to prevent Eastern Washington’s Alvin Snow from gaining any ground. Freeman now has 60 steals this season (2.73 per game) while Snow is second with 2.46 per game.

Freeman, who also is tied for 12th among all Div. I players, is currently on pace to end the season with 74 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 8.95 steals per game.

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

White established himself as the Big Sky’s top shot blocker last week. The Las Vegas native leads the league with 1.36 swats per game, edging Portland State’s Seth Scott (1.27).

This year, White has 30 blocked shots which ranks as the sixth best total in the school’s Div. I history. The record of 42 was set by Vincent Stewart in 1993-94.

• A New Hornet

Junior center Djibril Diop and his wife, Aline, are the proud new parents of a son, Ismail Babacar Diop, who was born on Feb. 2.

• Other Notes

Jerome Jenkins used his fourth different starting lineup of the season against EWU. Jenkins gave Cedric Thompkins his first start and reinserted Brandon Guyton. Freshmen Chris Lange and DaShawn Freeman came of the bench...by making 1-of-3 shots against the Eagles, Jimmy White is 36-for-63 from the field (.571) over the past nine 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

Portland State guards Kevin Briggs and Jeb Ivey poured in a combined 26 second-half points as the Vikings downed Sacramento State, 65-52, on Jan. 7 at the Stott Center in the Big Sky Conference opener.

Sacramento State, which shot a season high 54.7 percent from the field in its previous game against Lipscomb, never found its touch and finished the game connecting on just 34 percent (18-of-53) of its shots.

Portland State jumped out to the early lead thanks in part to the inside play of forward Seth Scott. A 6-foot-10 junior from Orem, Utah, Scott poured in 12 of his 16 points in the first 10:35 of the game to give Portland State an early 22-9 lead.

Sacramento turned up the defense at that point, holding the Vikings scoreless for the final 6:03 of the half to climb to within three (22-19).

After the Vikings increased the lead back to eight (27-19) in the first three minutes of the second half, the Hornets took control of the game, outscoring PSU, 15-3, over the next 3:40 to take their biggest lead of the night (36-30).

The Vikings backcourt tandem of Briggs and Ivey stepped up, scoring 23 of the team’s next 28 points to help Portland State retake the lead for good with seven minutes to play in the game.

Briggs led all scorers with 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from three points. Ivey finished the night with 16 points and a game-high seven assists.

Derek Lambeth led the Hornets with 15 points. Jimmy White and Chris Lange finished the game with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Junior center Tony Champion was plagued by foul trouble most of the night and finished the game with just two points.

A Look at the Vikings

• Since defeating the Hornets on Jan. 7, Portland State has lost nine of its last 10 games, including six in a row. The Vikings have had losing streaks this season of three, four and six (twice) games.

• PSU’s starters account for 45.4 points per game while the reserves are contributing just 12.6. The starters are paced by Jeb Ivey (15.0 ppg) and Seth Scott (12.6).

• Portland State is playing without the services of Seamus Boxley and Marshall Hartman who were injured at the start of the year.

• The Series

Portland State leads the all-time series, 11-4, including a 65-52 come-from-behind victory earlier this season in Portland, Ore.

• Who’s Up Next

The Hornets will make their final road trip of the regular season when they travel to Weber State and Idaho State. The team meets WSU on Feb. 20 and ISU on Feb. 22.

• 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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