Coming off a 90-75 victory in the team’s home opener Wednesday night against Bethany, the Sacramento State men’s basketball squad (2-2) hops back on the road to play Oregon State in Corvallis Saturday afternoon at 12:05 p.m...the game will mark the fourth time in the team’s first five games the Hornets will play away from home...Sacramento State’s two victories this season already matches the team’s win total from all of last year (2-27)...Saturday will serve as Oregon State’s home opener as the Beavers opened the season in Lubbock, Texas, for the three-game Duel in the Desert...the Beavers lost to both Texas A&M Corpus Christi (67-43) and host Texas Tech (64-60), and defeated South Dakota (62-47)...because of a scheduling conflict, Saturday’s contest will not be aired locally on the radio and will not be available via www.hornetsports.com...live video of the game will be made available online for a fee on CBS College Sports All Access or by clicking here...live stats will be available via GameTracker at www.osubeavers.com or by clicking here...Sacramento State is 0-5 in its all-time series against Oregon State, with the Beavers posting an 86-59 win in the teams’ last meeting on Dec. 28, 2004, in Corvallis...in that game, J.S. Nash (15), Sasa Cuic (14), David Lucas (13) and Marcel Jones (11) combined for 53 of Oregon State’s 86 points. Alex Bausley led Sacramento State with 13 points while DaShawn Freeman had nine points, eight rebounds and five assists.
INEXPERIENCED ROSTER
Of Sacramento State’s 15 players on this year’s roster, only one (senior Justin Eller) has more than one season of experience in a Hornet uniform, and Eller is the only player to not have been recruited by head coach Brian Katz. Although Sacramento State has seven seniors, six of those players have just one year of experience in the Green and Gold. The team has 12 upperclassmen (seven seniors, five juniors), three freshmen and no sophomores. All five juniors are JC transfers and will be making their Div. I debuts at Sacramento State.
437 AND COUNTING
Sacramento State has made at least one three-pointer in 437 straight games, a streak which dates back 16 years. The last time the Hornets did not make a three-pointer came on Nov. 28, 1993, when the team went 0-for-6 in an 85-57 loss at Montana State.
STRUGGLES AGAINST THE PAC-10
Since the program’s first season of basketball in 1948-49, Sacramento State has always had trouble against Pacific-10 Conference opponents. In fact, the Hornets are 1-30 all-time against Pac-10 schools, including an 0-5 mark against Saturday’s opponent Oregon State. The team has played every member of the Pac-10 at least one time except for Arizona. The Hornets’ lone win over a Pac-10 school came on Dec. 17, 1953, when they knocked off Washington State at home, 45-44.
WHO’S OUT?
Junior swingman Walter Jackson (San Joaquin Delta JC) and junior center Alpha N’Diaye (Ohlone JC) are redshirting this season. Duro Bjegovic was ineligible the first two games and David Norris missed the first three games for disciplinary reasons, but both players are back in action and all 13 non-redshirts played against Bethany.
GETTING PRODUCTION FROM THE NEWCOMERS
The top three, and four of the top five leading scorers are newcomers, comprised of freshman John Dickson (1st, 12.3 ppg), junior Sultan Toles-Bey (2nd, 9.8 ppg), senior Domineek Daniel (3rd, 9.5 ppg) and junior David Norris (5th, 9.0 ppg). All four of those players are averaging at least 9.0 points per game (although Norris has played in just one contest), and newcomers have either led or tied for the team lead in scoring in three of the first four games thus far.
IMPROVEMENT ON THE BOARDS
One major weakness last season was the team’s inability to rebound as the Hornets were outrebounded by a Big Sky Conference-worst 6.0 boards per game. With the team’s improved size and athleticism in 2009-10, the Hornets have been outrebounded in just one game thus far and currently hold a +1.6 advantage in the rebounding department over the opposition. Eight different Hornets are averaging at least 3.0 rebounds per game, led by senior Michael Selling’s team-best mark of 5.5 per contest.
ROSTER LOADED WITH JC TRANSFERS
Among the 347 Div. I men’s basketball teams, it is believed that Sacramento State’s 12 junior college transfers are the most of any roster in the nation. Of the 15 players suiting up for the Hornets, 12 are junior college transfers and only three came from the high school ranks. Prior to the 2008-09 season, Sacramento State brought in 12 new players, all of which were junior college transfers. This season, of the team’s eight newcomers, five are JC transfers and three are freshmen. Last year’s version of the Hornet roster was the only Div. I school in the nation that did not feature a single player that came directly from the high school ranks.
GETTING OFF THE SCHNEID....SORT OF
Sacramento State’s 70-60 victory over Houston Baptist last Saturday was a big sigh of relief for the program as it marked the team’s first win away from home since a 74-70 win over Northern Colorado on Dec. 30, 2006. Unfortunately, the victory against Houston Baptist came on a neutral-site floor (Rice’s home court) and the team’s road losing streak still looms. That amounts to 39 straight losses on an opponent’s home floor, which ranks as the longest active streak in Div. I.
DIAPER DANDY
The original plan was to redshirt true freshman John Dickson this year, but the swingman was so good in preseason practices that head coach Brian Katz decided to scrap that idea and let the long and athletic Dickson play right away. And play he has. Dickson has started all four games and has arguably been the team’s best player. The Fairfield High School product was the team’s lone representative on the Rice Challenge’s all-tournament team. He is currently averaging team highs in points (12.3 ppg), blocked shots (1.8 bpg) and free throw percentage (1.000, 7-for-7). Dickson is shooting 57.6 percent (19-33) from the field and 40.0 percent (4-10) from the three-point line. He is the only Hornet to score in double figures in all four games, tallying 14, 10, 10 and 15 against Rice, Houston Baptist, South Alabama and Bethany, respectively. The only knock on Dickson thus far has been his knack for getting into foul trouble. He has already been whistled for 15 fouls this year, or one foul every 6.3 minutes of playing time.
THIEVERY
Last season, Sacramento State had trouble forcing teams into miscues, averaging just 4.5 steals per game. One of the goals for the Hornets’ coaching staff during offseason recruiting was to improve the team’s athleticism. That improved athleticism is a big reason why the Hornets already have 34 steals (8.5 per game) and have forced the opposition into 71 turnovers (17.8 miscues per game). In fact, Fresno City College transfer Sultan Toles-Bey already has 12 steals (3.0 per game) while Jared Stigall is averaging 1.3 per game, and Domineek Daniel 1.0 per game.
SELLING COMPLETELY HEALTHY, AND IT SHOWS
In his first season at Sacramento State last season, Michael Selling averaged just 2.3 points and 1.5 rebounds in 19 games. He missed the first 10 games of the season with a foot injury, and never really played at 100 percent. With the foot now completely healed and Selling back in basketball shape, the local product from Folsom, Calif., has been a much more effective player in 2009-10. The senior is currently the team’s fourth leading scorer at 9.3 points per game and the leading rebounder at 5.5 per contest. That included last week’s game against Houston Baptist where he had career highs in both points (17) and rebounds (6) while shooting 8-of-9 from the field. Selling is shooting a team-best 58.1 percent (18-31) from the field, and has led or tied for the team lead in rebounding in three of four games.
STAT SHEET STUFFING SULTAN
In his first season with the Hornets after transferring from Fresno City College, junior point guard Sultan Toles Bey has been the team’s biggest stat sheet stuffer so far. The Compton, Calif., native is averaging 9.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 3.0 steals and 0.5 blocked shots per game. His assist-to-turnover ratio (15 assists, 9 turnovers, +1.7) is impressive, and he is shooting 80.0 percent from the free throw line (8-of-10). He got off to a rough start with his jumper, missing 17 of his first 21 field goal attempts. However, over the last two games, he is 10-for-19 from the floor (.526).
WORTH THE WAIT
Senior shooting guard Domineek Daniel transferred to Sacramento State from Barstow Junior College prior to last season, but was ineligible and could only practice with the team. Because Daniel already used a redshirt year in 2006-07 while he was at Santa Clara, last year was a lost season for Daniel. One of the most athletic players on the team, Daniel was often among the best Hornets in practice last year and has gotten off to a nice start in his first season in uniform in 2009-10. Daniel is averaging 9.5 points (third on the team), 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 43.8 percent (14-32) from the field. He has scored at least six points in all four games, including 15 against Houston Baptist and 10 against South Alabama.
HORNET NOTABLES
Senior center Justin Eller, who is the team’s most decorated returner, is averaging 6.3 free throw attempts per game, and is converting on 72.0 percent (18-25) of those opportunities. He has taken almost one-third of the team’s free throw attempts thus far...after missing the first three games, junior David Norris, who can play four positions (both guard and forward spots), showed off an impressive mid-range jumper (4-of-5 from the field) while scoring nine points against Bethany in his first game in a Hornet uniform.
GAME PREVIEW
