Coming off another tough loss on Saturday, the Sacramento State men's

basketball team continues its three-game homestand when it takes on

Montana State on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. The game, which will be

held at Hornet Gym, will not have local radio coverage.

The Hornets enter the week with a 3-16 overall record and an 0-8 mark

in the Big Sky Conference. The team saw its losing streak stretched

to a season-long nine games when it was edged, 71-67, by Idaho State

on Saturday.

Montana State currently sits at 14-8 overall and 6-3 in Big Sky

games. The Bobcats have alternated wins and losses in their past six

games but have also won eight of their past 11 and 10 of their last

14 games.

Chad Tracy scored with four seconds left to break a 67-67 tie and

lift Idaho State to a 71-67 victory over Sacramento State in front of

a sellout crowd of 1,135 at Hornet Gym Saturday night.

Sacramento State began the game by missing its first 11 shots of the

contest and found itself trailing, 13-0, with 15:36 left in the first

half. From that point, the Hornets outscored ISU, 26-25, and trailed,

38-26, at halftime.

Sacramento State opened the second half with the same pace and was

able to trim its deficit to three, 40-37, in the first four minutes

of the period. The Hornets made the score, 44-43, in favor of ISU,

when freshman Cedric Thompkins made a pair of free throws.

Sacramento State seized its first lead of the game after Arinze

Anoruo made a pair of free throws to make the score 55-54.

With the score tied, 65-65, ISU's Jordie McTavish made a pair of free

throws but Rame Batta answered for Sacramento State with a driving

layup with 39 seconds to play.

On the next possession, Tracy was able to free himself under the

basket with one second left on the shot clock for the easy layup.

Sacramento State attempted to respond but Rickie Glenn's pass sailed

out of bounds and gave the ball back to ISU. The Hornets were forced

to foul Tim Erickson who made both free throws sealing the game.

Idaho State shot 51 percent from the floor as a team and were led by

a balanced scoring attack. In all, four ISU players cracked

double-figures led by D'Marr Suggs' 14 points.

Sacramento State ended the night shooting 36.4 percent. Junior Arinze

Anoruo recorded his fourth double-double with 14 points and a

game-high 12 rebounds. Pablo Gonzales and Rene Jacques matched Anoruo

with 14 points each.

A Look at the Hornets

Although the 2001 Big Sky season is just now at the halfway point,

Hornet fans have promising hopes for next year.

Juniors Arinze Anoruo and Rene Jacques have begun to emerge in the

team's offense in recent weeks. Anoruo posted his team-leading fourth

double-double of the season on Saturday with 14 points and 12

rebounds. The South San Francisco, Calif., native currently ranks

third on the team with 9.3 points per game and leads the squad with

6.7 rebounds per contest. Anoruo has led the team in rebounds in four

of the past six games including a pair in which he recorded

double-figures.

Jacques, who has struggled with his confidence over the past year and

a half, is beginning to regain the form from his freshman season. The

guard began his reemergence with 11 points against Weber State and

followed with nine at Northern Arizona and 11 vs. UC Riverside -

including a three-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime. Saturday,

Jacques tied for the team lead with 14 points off the bench.

While Anoruo and Jacques will serve as the senior leaders next

season, freshman Cedric Thompkins and David Joiner are both making

smooth transitions to the college game this year.

Thompkins, who has been plagued by a hamstring injury all season, has

averaged 5.5 points and 4.5 rebounds over the last two games. The

forward scored six points and grabbed seven rebounds against Idaho

State on Saturday.

Although Joiner has scored only four points over the past seven

games, the swingman has been instrumental in helping break down the

opposing defense. Joiner has above average ball-handling skills for a

6-6 player and has single-handedly broken the opposing press leading

to easy Sacramento State baskets.

The last time the Sacramento State basketball team picked up a Big

Sky win, it came against Montana State. The Hornets defeated the

Bobcats, 70-54, but have since lost 15-straight conference games

dating back to last season.

The streak, however, is nowhere near the conference and school record

of 29-straight losses set from the 1996-97 season through January 27,

1999.

After shooting the ball extremely well from the line over the past

two weeks, the Hornets reverted to early-season form by making just

13-of-22 attempts from the stripe on Saturday. Although the team has

shot under 60 percent from the line in a game on seven occasions this

season, Saturday marked the first time in the last six games.

The 1,135 fans at the Idaho State game marked the first sellout this

season...Pablo Gonzales extended his streak to five-straight games in

double-figures with 14 points on Saturday...he has also led or tied

for the team lead in scoring in four of those five games...Rickie

Glenn's streak of six-consecutive double-figure games came to an end

when he scored five points...the Hornets have been ahead or tied with

less than 10 minutes to play in six of their last seven games.

Rickie Glenn scored 22 points in back-to-back games helping the

Hornets split the season series with Montana State last season. The

two teams played each other in consecutive games with each winning on

its home court.

In the first meeting, three Bobcat scorers ended the game in

double-figures and helped MSU hold on to a three-point win.

Sacramento State bounced back in the second meeting, outscoring

Montana State, 37-26, in the second half en route to a 70-54 win.

Glenn was a combined 17-for-27 in the two games. The 22 points was

his career high until he scored 27 earlier this season at Portland

State.

The Bobcats were led by forward John Lazosky who combined for 32

points. Forward Aaron Rich also grabbed 18 rebounds over the two

games.

A Look at the Bobcats

alternated losses and wins in its past six contests.

MSU's top two scoring threats. Lazosky averages 13.0 points and Brown

12.0 ppg.

and outside the three-point line. Montana State leads the league by

making 50.1 percent of all its field goal attempts. The team is also

shooting a league-best .460 (171-372) from behind the arc.

The Series

holds a hefty 12-2 advantage in the all-time series. The Bobcats had

won 12-straight over the Hornets until the last meeting. MSU is 6-1

all-time in Sacramento.

Who's Up Next

University of Montana on Thursday. The game represents the only time

this season that the Hornets will play back-to-back games.

Big Sky Notes

Week. Silva averaged 12.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in

helping the Bengals to road wins over Northern Arizona and Sacramento

State. The 6-10 center shot 73.0 percent (11-15) in the two games.