Following a tough overtime loss to UC Riverside last week, the

Sacramento State men's basketball team will return to Big Sky

Conference action this week with a pair of league games on the road.

The Hornets open the trip on Wednesday night when they face Eastern

Washington at Reese Court. The game will start at 7 p.m. and will be

broadcast on KTKZ 1380 AM with Steve McElroy calling the action.

The Hornets enter the week with a 3-12 overall record and are riding

a five-game losing streak. Last week, the team suffered a 90-88

overtime loss to UC Riverside in its final non-conference game of the

season.

The Eagles are currently 9-7 overall and 4-2 in Big Sky games. EWU

knocked off Northern Arizona and Cal State Northridge on the road

last week and have won four of its last five.

After eight seasons as an assistant coach, including one with

Sacramento State, Jerome Jenkins takes over as head coach this year.

Jenkins became the 12th coach in the 52-year history of Hornet

basketball when he was named to the position on March 14, 2000.

The 33-year old coach served as the team's top assistant last season

and was credited with designing the squad's much improved defense.

Jenkins came to Sacramento State after serving 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, Jenkins led the team in assists and steals and was named

all-conference following both seasons.

Jenkins picked up his first career victory on Nov. 17 when the

Hornets topped Bethany College, 103-48. He currently has a 3-12

career record.

Eastern Washington is coached by Ray Giacoletti. In his first season

with the Eagles, Giacoletti has a 9-7 overall record.

Trenell Eddings scored with two second left in overtime to lift UC

Riverside to a 90-88 victory Friday night at Hornet Gym.

With the score tied, 88-88, Eddings drove to the free throw line,

pumped once, and buried a 15-foot floater.

Sacramento State was led by a career-high 27 points from Pablo

Gonzales. Senior Rickie Glenn also crossed the 20-point plateau with

23 and juniors Arinze Anoruo (11 rebounds) and Rene Jacques each

added 11.

Three of Jacques' 11 points came at the end of regulation when he hit

a 22-foot fade-away from the left elbow to send the game into

overtime. The basket gave the Hornets their first tie since

relinquishing the lead with 13:03 left in the game.

Sacramento State entered halftime with a 42-35 advantage but UCR

opened the second half on a 30-16 run and led by seven midway through

the period. The Hornets were able to pull as close as one point on

four occasions before Jacques tied the game.

Once in overtime, Sacramento State made 1-of-2 free throws on its

first two trips to the line and led 83-81. The Highlanders took their

first lead of the extra period when Ted Bell made a layup with 3:23

on the clock. Gonzales returned the lead to the Hornets with a pair

of free throws before Viliamu Morton scored on a dunk. Eddings

extended the lead to 88-85 with a jumper but Gonzales answered with a

three with 17 seconds left.

Morton paced UC Riverside with a career-high 21 points. The freshman

was 10-of-10 from the floor including a handful of dunks.

A Look at the Hornets

The Hornets pulled off a rare trifecta on Friday, tallying two

20-point scorers and a double-double. Seniors Pablo Gonzales and

Rickie Glenn each scored over 20 points and junior Arinze Anouro

recorded his team-leading third double-double of the year in the loss

to UC Riverside.

Gonzales set a new career high with 27 points despite going 5-of-10

from the floor. The Folsom, Calif., native made 4-of-5 attempts from

long range and shattered his previous career high of four free throw

attempts by going 13-of-14 from the free throw line.

Glenn scored over 20 for the fifth time this season when he recorded

23 points. The Sacramento, Calif., resident was also only one rebound

away from a double-double.

Anoruo continued his hot play with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Anoruo

shot 5-of-8 from the floor to raise is team-leading field goal

percentage to .548.

Since recovering from injuries to both of his thumbs, Arinze Anoruo

has nearly been unstoppable. The South San Francisco, Calif., native

did not play against Menlo College and was held scoreless against

Northern Arizona on Jan. 4. Since then, Anoruo is averaging 11.0

points and 9.0 rebounds per game. He scored a season-high 17 points

and grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds against Cal State Northridge to

start the streak and has had no less than eight points and six

rebounds in any of the games. He has also shot 60.6 percent

(20-for-33) from the floor in those games and led the team in

rebounding in three of the four contests.

Over the past four games the Sacramento State bench has been

outscored, 113-70, by the opposition. It was never more apparent than

on Friday when UCR's nonstarters posted 36 points compared to just 14

by the Hornets.

Junior Rene Jacques is the only player keeping Sacramento State

competitive. The guard scored 11 of the 14 on Friday and has

accounted for 38 of the team's 70 points during the span.

It really is simple - when the Hornets rebound, they win, when they

don't, they lose. This season, Sacramento State is 3-0 when

outrebounding opponents. On the other side, the team is 0-12 when

getting beat on the glass. The team is also undefeated when leading

at the half but winless when trailing at the break.

On Friday, the team held a one rebound advantage at halftime and led,

42-35. However, UCR outrebounded the Hornets, 19-10, in the second

half and overtime to walk away with the win.

The Hornets are still looking for their first Big Sky road win in

school history. The team currently has lost 33-straight conference

games away from home...Friday's game was the first overtime contest

played by Sacramento State since Feb. 3, 2000 at Montana...the team's

25 made free throws and 36 free throw attempts against UC Riverside

were season highs...the nine made three-pointers also tied the mark

set against Menlo and Cal State Northridge earlier this year.

A Look at the Eagles

wins at Northern Arizona and Cal State Northridge last week. The

Eagles have now won four of their past five.

loss to Gonzaga. It has since defeated Evergreen State, San Jose

State, Cascade College and Portland State at home.

is second with 12.1 points and leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per

game. The pair are both averaging over 16 points in Big Sky games.

The Series

The two teams, however, have split the season series in each of the

past two seasons. The Eagles own a 6-0 lead when playing at home.

Who's Up Next

against Portland State. The game will be televised on Fox Sports

Northwest as the Big Sky Game of the Week. Sacramento State has never

won in Portland, Ore.

Big Sky Notes

Sky Players of the Week. White averaged 21.5 points and 11.0 rebounds

while Olson contributed 23.5 points and 2.5 assists.