A Look at the Games
The California State University, Sacramento men’s basketball team (8-11
overall and 2-6 in the Big Sky) finally returns to Memorial Auditorium
after playing the past three games on the road.
The Hornets have lost their last five games including a pair of
heart-wrenching defeats against Montana and Montana State last week.
Montana State is currently 12-10 overall and 4-5 in the Big Sky
Conference. Last week, the Bobcats downed Sacramento State, 64-61, on
Friday, before being topped by Montana, 73-48, on Saturday.
Weber State (14-7 overall, 6-4 in the Big Sky) split a pair of games in
the Pacific Northwest last week. The Wildcats began the week with a
92-79 victory at Portland State on Thursday. The team then fell to
first-place Eastern Washington, 95-83, on Saturday.
A Look at the Coaches
Head coach Tom Abatemarco, in his third season with Sacramento State,
has posted a 12-59 record in his time with the Hornets. Prior to coming
to CSUS, Abatemarco served as head coach at Lamar and Drake. He has also
served as an assistant coach at St. John’s, Maryland, Virginia Tech,
North Carolina State, Colorado and Rutgers. While at N.C. State, he was
a member of the Wolfpack staff that defeated Houston to win the NCAA
Tournament.
Montana State is coached by Mick Durham who is in his 10th season at
MSU. During that time, Durham has posted a 141-139 overall record.
Weber State is guided by Joe Cravens who is in his first season at the
helm of the Wildcats but his fifth as a head coach. Including this
season, Cravens owns a 69-59 overall record.
A Look at Last Week
Sacramento State’s losing streak was stretched to five games afterlosses at Montana and Montana State. Thursday, the Hornets rallied back
from a halftime deficit to force the game into overtime before falling,
59-47. Friday, Montana State hung on to a three-point halftime advantage
to win, 64-61.
Thursday, Montana’s Matt Williams banked in a three-pointer with threeseconds on the shot clock to force the game into overtime. From that
point, the Grizzlies outscored the Hornets, 12-0, in the extra period to
walk away with a 59-47 win.
Montana led 17-16 with 9:57 to play in the first half and added to its
advantage with a 16-4 run to close out the first half. The Grizzlies
opened the second half on a 7-4 run to take a 40-24 lead with 14:34
left. From that point, Sacramento State held UM to just two points (both
free throws) until 2:34 remained on the clock.
The Hornets claimed a one-point lead with 3:04 left when Ricky Glenn
converted a layup. Pablo Gonzales stretched the lead to three with 55
seconds remaining before Williams hit the three.
Senior Anthony Flood led Sacramento State with 11 points and 13
rebounds. Glenn added seven points and eight boards.
Friday, the Hornets played the second half of their only back-to-backgames of the season. Sacramento State squandered a late run and fell at
Montana State, 64-61. Montana State led 27-24 at the half and quickly
extended the lead to 46-35 with 12:30 to play. The Hornets responded
with a 20-2 run over the next 8:30 to lead 60-51 with just under five
minutes left.
Montana State cut the Hornet lead to 61-59 with 1:42 left before Justin
Brown put MSU back on top to stay with his third three-pointer of the
game.
Glenn led all players with 22 points. Gonzales and Flood also broke
double-figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
A Look at the Hornets
Believe It or Not
With the victory over Eastern Washington on Jan. 20, Sacramento Stateset a new school record for wins at the Division I level. The previous
mark of seven victories was held by the 1995-96 team which finished
7-20. The Hornets are also closing in on the school record for Big Sky
wins set last season (3-13). The team is currently 2-6 with eight games
to play.
Road Woes
Simply stated, Sacramento State has never won a Big Sky road game.With the loss at Montana State on Friday, the Hornets have now dropped
28-straight games. During that stretch, Sacramento State has been
outscored, 79.5-55.4.
The Hornets have lost 12 games by less than 15 points and 11 by more
than 30. The closest the team has come to a win came in the 1997-98
season where it fell 52-50 at Montana and 75-73 in overtime at Eastern
Washington.
Ricky Don’t Lose These Numbers
After a relatively slow start, junior Ricky Glenn is starting to findhis role in the Hornet offense. Glenn, who started his first game at
Sacramento State on Jan. 29, has averaged 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds
in the last three games. In eight Big Sky games, Glenn trails only Flood
and Gonzales with 9.6 points per game. The Sacramento, Calif., native
also ranks second on the team with 4.8 boards in conference games.
Playoff Picture
With eight games left on the Sacramento State Big Sky schedule, therace for the six playoff spots is beginning to heat up. Currently,
Eastern Washington holds a one-game lead on the top spot and would host
the tournament. Cal State Northridge and Montana and tied for the second
spot and Weber State is just a half game behind the pair in fourth.
Northern Arizona sits in fifth while Portland State and Montana State
are tied for sixth at 4-5. The Hornets, who are attempting to make their
first Big Sky Tournament appearance, are currently one and a half games
behind MSU and PSU but play both teams over the next two weeks. After
this week, Sacramento State will still have games against every Big Sky
school except Montana State and Weber State.
In the Rankings
As a team, Sacramento State continues to lead the Big Sky in scoringdefense (65.0 ppg), defensive field goal percentage (.407) and turnover
margin (+3.05). On the other side, the Hornets rank last in scoring
offense (60.6 ppg), field goal percentage (.388), assists (11.74) and
three pointers per game (5.47).
Individually, Flood is second in blocked shots (1.68 pg) and rebounding
with 7.8 per game and 15th in the Big Sky with 13.7 ppg. Pablo Gonzales
is third in steals (1.84) and Rame Batta is fourth in steals with 1.63
per game and 10th in free throw percentage (.796).
News and Notes
Anthony Flood recorded his fifth double-double of the season with 11points and 13 rebounds at Montana...Pablo Gonzales’ four points at Idaho
State and nine at Montana marked the first time that he had two-straight
games under 10 points since Dec. 3-4...Eastern Washington’s Deon
Williams was named Big Sky Player of the Week after leading the Eagles
to decisive wins over Weber State and Portland State.
A Look at the Opponents
Weber State, the defending conference champion, is just 2-3 in itslast five games. The Wildcats are led by Harold Arceneaux and Eddie
Gill. Arceneaux leads the league with 21.8 ppg. Gill ranks third in
scoring (16.9 ppg) and leads the BSC with an amazing 3.38 steals per
game.
Weber State leads the all-time series, 8-0, including an 82-62 victoryin Ogden, Utah earlier this season.
MSU is just 2-4 in its last six games but defeated the Hornets lastweek. Montana State leads the conference with 79.2 ppg but were held to
64 points against the Hornets and just 48 vs. Montana.
The Bobcats own a commanding 12-1 lead in the all-time series and are7-0 in Big Sky Conference games against the Hornets.
