Winners of two straight and five of its last seven games, the Sacramento State men''s basketball team (12-13, 6-6 Big Sky) begins its final road trip of the regular season this Wednesday, Feb. 25, at Montana. Tipoff against the Grizzlies is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. PST at the Adams Center. The game will mark the first time all season the Hornets have played on a Wednesday. The contest can be heard live on KTKZ 1380-AM with Steve McElroy handling the play-by-play. For those outside the greater Sacramento area, the broadcast can be accessed on www.hornetsports.com.

The Hornets are currently tied for second place in the Big Sky standings with Northern Arizona. It marks the highest Sacramento State has ever been ranked in the conference standings this late in the season. The Hornets'' 12 wins ties the team''s Div. I record (1991-pres.) for most victories in a season (set last year) and the six Big Sky wins are already the most the team has recorded since joining the league in 1996. In addition, Sacramento State will attempt to reach the Big Sky Tournament (March 6-10) for the second-consecutive season after failing to reach the postseason each of the program''s first six years in the league.

The top six squads in the eight-team Big Sky Conference reach the tournament. With the exception of Eastern Washington (11-1), the rest of the conference finds itself in a logjam. After Sacramento State and Northern Arizona (6-6), the remaining five teams are each 5-7 with two games left on the regular-season schedule for each team.

The Hornets are coming off a week in which they beat Weber State for the first time in school history (1-18) and knocked off Idaho State for just the second time since joining the Big Sky. The team is just 2-10 on the road this season with its only Big Sky road win coming at Northern Arizona on Feb. 7. Sacramento State will be seeking its third-consecutive victory over Montana, including a 76-67 home win earlier this season and an 88-75 victory in last year''s Big Sky Tournament.

Besides Eastern Washington, Montana (9-16, 5-7) is the Big Sky''s hottest team, having won four-straight, including a 67-58 home win against Montana State last week. Montana, which had lost six in a row prior to the four-game winning streak, is 6-6 at home this year and 2-3 against conference teams. The Griz hold a commanding 17-3 advantage in the all-time series with the Hornets.

A Look at the Latest Action

Joseth Dawson scored a game-high 23 points and the Hornets knocked down a school-record 17 three-pointers on the way to an 84-70 victory over Idaho State on Feb. 21.

In a game that featured a 48-minute power delay at the 5:16 mark of the second half, the Hornets went 17-of-39 (43.6 percent) from beyond the three-point arc, breaking the old school record of 14, set against USC in 1991. The 39 attempts also broke the previous school record of 35, set against Southern Utah last season.

Dawson went 7-of-15 from the field, while knocking down a season-high six three-pointers. Brandon Guyton added to the Hornets’ three-point barrage with five as he scored 15 points. Joel Jones added 12 points, eight rebounds and a career-high eight assists. Cedric Thompkins added 10 rebounds for his seventh double-digit rebound game of the season, while Jameel Pugh tallied nine points, five rebounds and a team-high three steals.

Idaho State, which shot 45.1 percent (23-51) from the field, could have made the game closer but shot just 52.6 percent (20-38) from the free-throw line. The Bengals hit four three-pointers, and were outrebounded by Sacramento State, 47-35. ISU was led by Marquis Poole’s 21 points and eight rebounds. Scott Henry added 15 points, five rebounds, four blocked shots and four steals.

Idaho State jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead (16:29) before Sacramento State reeled off a 24-3 run to take a first-half high 15-point lead (27-12) with 9:39 to play. During the run which lasted almost seven minutes, the Hornets received three-pointers from Chris Lange, Dawson, James Payne and Guyton (three times). Sacramento State eventually went into the break with a 39-30 lead as Guyton already had four three-pointers at the half.

The Hornets began the second half on a 29-10 run to increase their lead to a game-high 28 points with 13:19 remaining. The only drama left in the game was the campus-wide power outage that struck just after Jones grabbed a rebound on a missed jumper from Idaho State’s Jesse Smith with 5:16 left. Much of the crowd remained in the stands before power was restored 48 minutes later.

A Look at the Hornets

Bench Bomber

If there was a sixth-man award in the NCAA Div. I ranks, one would think that senior shooting guard Joseth Dawson would have a very good shot at winning the honor.

The Fontana, Calif., native has led or tied for the team lead in scoring in five-consecutive games and is averaging 24.2 points over that span. Dawson, who started his first game of the season on Saturday because it was Senior Night, is leading the team in scoring (14.5 ppg overall and 17.0 ppg against Big Sky competition).

He was just named Big Sky Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks after combining for 55 points (27.5 per game) and 11 three-pointers last week.

In his second season with the Hornets, the shooting guard has shown an incredible knack for getting to the free-throw line during his career. This season is no different as he leads the Big Sky with 125 free throws while ranking third in free-throw percentage (.850). Earlier this season, he knocked down 22-straight free throws (spanning three games), including a 14-of-14 performance at Northern Arizona. Despite playing less than two seasons, his 225 career free throws rank third in program history.

Dawson tied his career high with 30 points in the Hornets'' win at Northern Arizona (Feb. 7), and topped that with a career-best 32 last Thursday against Weber State. The 32 points were exactly half of the Hornets'' output (64) in the game. The shooting guard''s 17.0 ppg average against Big Sky competition is the league''s fourth-best mark. Although Dawson''s season field-goal percentage of .364 is nothing to brag about, he has made up for it by getting to the free-throw line an average of 5.9 times per game.

Final Five Minutes Don''t Mean Much

So far this season, Sacramento State is a perfect 12-0 when leading a game with five minutes remaining in the second half. That includes Thursday''s game against Weber State in which Sacramento State held a 54-52 advantage with five minutes left. However, the Hornets are 0-13 when trailing with five minutes left in a game.

In the Hornets'' losses, the team has trailed by at least three points with five minutes to play in each of the 13 defeats. In the 12 victories, the Hornets have been leading by an average of 12.9 points while trailing by an average of 10.3 ppg in the losses. The Hornets had been 0-12 when trailing at the half until beating Weber State (Sacramento State trailed by four at the break). Conversely, the team is 11-1 when tied or leading at the break.

The Second Wave

Arguably the deepest squad in the Big Sky Conference, Sacramento State has done nothing to dispel that theory as the team''s bench (nonstarters) combined for 71 points in the Hornets'' 110-97 victory at Northern Arizona. The 71 bench points are the most by any team in the nation against a Div. I opponent this season. Only Boise State''s bench (75 points against NAIA opponent Eastern Oregon) has recorded more points in a game from its nonstarters.

The Hornets'' bench is now averaging 34.1 points per game after scoring 28 against Idaho State on Saturday. The bench''s lowest production this year was 21 points at Stanford.

Head coach Jerome Jenkins has used 11 different players this season to the tune of at least 10 minutes per game. Jenkins has used eight different starting lineups (see page 7) and all but three players (James Payne, Djibril Diop and Nick Gooding) have started at least one game. In fact, Jenkins has used a different starting lineup each of the last three games.

The point and shooting guard positions are the two deepest on the team. Sacramento State goes three deep at the point (DaShawn Freeman, E.J. Harris and Payne) and four players have appeared at shooting guard for the Hornets (Joseth Dawson, Brandon Guyton, Joel Jones and Jameel Pugh) during the year.

Pugh Becoming A Factor

When Sacramento native Jameel Pugh transferred to Sacramento State from UMass prior to last season, anticipation was high to see what type of impact the guard/forward could have on the program. A gifted athlete who had a reputation for leaping ability, Pugh was ranked by Slam Magazine as the World''s Best Dunker in 2000.

Through the first 18 games of the season, Pugh was averaging 7.7 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting just .386 from the field. After starting the first seven games of the season, head coach Jerome Jenkins not only stripped Pugh of his starting role, he drastically reduced his minutes, including a season-low six against Long Beach State.

However, over the last seven games, Pugh has shown glimpses of what made him a McDonald''s All-America candidate out of Sacramento''s Grant High School. Over the seven-game stretch, Pugh is averaging 11.8 points, 6.3 rebounds (including 2.9 offensive rebounds), 1.9 steals and 4.1 free-throw attempts per game while shooting 50.9 percent (28-55) from the field.

Those numbers include a career-high tying 22 points at Northern Arizona (Pugh dropped in 22 against Fordham when he was playing for UMass). Jenkins inserted Pugh back into the starting lineup against Weber State and he responded with nine points, 11 rebounds (five on the offensive glass) and two steals.

After being nonexistent among Big Sky leaders for much of the season, Pugh now ranks among the conference''s top 15 players in rebounding, field-goal percentage, steals and offensive rebounds.

Hornet Notables

Senior Joel Jones narrowly missed a triple-double against Idaho State, tallying 12 points, eight rebounds, a career-high eight assists, two blocked shots and two steals. However, Jones, who is the team''s second-leading scorer (12.0 ppg), has struggled over the last four games, shooting just 25.0 percent (10-40) from the field while averaging 8.8 points over that span. Against Weber State on Thursday, the swingman was held scoreless for just the third time of his career...in a season-high 21 minutes against Idaho State, junior James Payne responded with five points, four assists and one rebound. Payne has played in seven-consecutive games (averaging 12.7 minutes) after appearing just seven times during the first 18 games of the season...senior Brandon Guyton buried a season-high tying five three-pointers against Idaho State and now leads the Big Sky in three-pointers per game (2.88)...the Hornets are 5-2 when Cedric Thompkins tallies double digits in rebounds.

A Look At The Last Meeting

Joel Jones scored a team-high 22 points while Jameel Pugh and Joseth Dawson each added 11 to lead the Hornets to a 76-67 victory over Montana earlier this year in Sacramento.

Sacramento State, which led for all but one minute and 36 seconds during the contest, shot 45.5 percent (25-55) from the field, the team’s fifth-best mark of the season. The Hornets, who won the game despite shooting 55.9 percent (19-34) from the free-throw line, buried seven three-pointers, including two each from Jones, Dawson and Brandon Guyton.

Jones’ 22 points came on 8-of-13 shooting and were three points shy of his season high (25 at New Mexico). Pugh shot 5-of-7 and combined with Jones for four dunks during the game. The Hornets committed a season-low tying eight turnovers while forcing Montana into 17 miscues. The Grizzlies, who used a 26-11 run over parts of the first and second halves to erase a 14-point first-half deficit, shot 41.8 percent (23-55) from the field and 26.7 percent (4-15) from the three-point arc.

After Montana took its first and only lead of the game at 49-48 with 10:45 left in the contest, the Hornets responded with an 11-3 run to take a 59-52 lead with 5:55 left in the game. Back-to-back dunks from Pugh and Jones highlighted the run as Montana would get no closer than four points of the Hornet lead the rest of the way.

The Grizzlies had four players finish in double figures, led by Kamarr Davis’ team-high 24 points and six rebounds. Hornet freshman Alex Bausley chipped in nine points and a team-best six rebounds and three steals.

A Look At Montana

• Junior Kamarr Davis is the only Montana player to rank among the Big Sky''s top 10 in scoring, rebounding and field-goal percentage. The Milwaukee, Wis., native is currently first in field-goal percentage (.560), seventh in rebounding (5.6 per game) and tied for 10th in scoring (13.3 per game). The Grizzlies have endured losing streaks of six and eight games this season.