McKINNEY NAMED BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR A SECOND TIME

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- For the second time this month, Sacramento State junior shooting guard Mikh McKinney has been named the Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week after helping the Hornets to home wins over North Dakota and Northern Colorado.

McKinney finished the week with averages of 24.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The Union City, Calif., native led the Hornets in scoring in both games while shooting .484 (15-31) from the field and .842 (16-19) from the free throw line.

McKinney was also named the Big Sky Player of the Week on Feb. 3. He becomes just the fifth player in school history to receive Big Sky Player of the Week honors twice in one season, and the first since 2006.

In Saturday's win over Northern Colorado, he finished four assists shy of the program's first triple-double in school history after posting 29 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals in 38 minutes. The 29 points were one shy of his career high, the 11 rebounds were a career best, and the six assists gives him at least five dimes in five straight games.

On Thursday against North Dakota, McKinney had 19 points, four rebounds, six assists and one steal while shooting .538 (7-13) from the floor. He provided perhaps the biggest bucket of the game on a jumper with 3:11 to play which put an end to UND's 10-0 run.

Sacramento State has won seven of its last eight games (tied for the best eight-game run in the program's Div. I era) and McKinney has been a major reason for that run. Over that eight-game span, he is averaging 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting .522 from the field, .440 from the 3-point line and .860 from the free throw line.

McKinney has led the Hornets in scoring in nine consecutive games and now sits tied for fifth in the Big Sky in scoring against conference opposition with 17.3 points per contest.

The Hornets (13-12, 9-7) have four games remaining on the regular season schedule, including road games this week at Weber State on Thursday and Idaho State on Saturday. Sacramento State is currently in a three-way tie for third place in the Big Sky standings. The top seven teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the Big Sky Tournament.