M: vs Northern Arizona & Southern Utah

[SDHornet]

M: vs Northern Arizona

The Hornets open up BSC play at home against a scrappy NAU (5-8) team on New Years Day. The Lumberjacks have a couple impressive wins but they struggle to win away from Flagstaff. NAU touts one of the better defenses in the BSC and their scoring is led by senior guards Upshur (13.5 ppg) and Dixon (13.2 ppg). However as a team NAU does not shoot the ball very well.

The Hornets needs to start conference play strong and protect the Nest. If the Hornets continue to play well at home then this should be a win.

NAU Team Info: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/2464/northern-arizona-lumberjacks

HornetHome Comparison: http://hornethome.com/sacramento-state-basketball/compare_stats/northern-arizona

Hornetsports Preview: http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20141230htwapw

 

[josephpoint]

Good luck in the Big Sky opener and stand tall on home court.

Sac State Pride!!

 

[SDHornet]

78-73 Hornet win. Hornets nearly choked away a 13 point lead with 8 minutes to go. Fortunately they grinded it out and held on for the win. McKinney (11 pts, 8 assists) had an off night but Garrity went off for 26 pts. 3 others scored more than 11 as it was a solid offensive night. Hornet defense was pretty pourous, NAU got a lot of easy shots and the Hornets struggled on the boards.

Officiating was horrible. A lot of ticky tack calls and NAU seemed to get a call on every drive to the hoop. Demps fouled out and the tide turned in NAU's favor, fortunately Hornsby fouled out and everything settled down. Hornsby absolutely killed the Hornets tonight and aside from his huge game against UVU a few weeks ago has struggled to get anything going this season.

Huge win and a good start to BSC play, need to get the win against SUU this weekend.

Box Score: http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/boxscores/20150101_mtpa.xml

Hornetsports Recap: http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150102m4t2gb

State Hornet Recap: http://www.statehornet.com/sports/h...cle_e0426540-924b-11e4-9176-afd5815d7b54.html

 

[sacstateman]

Good win for the Hornets. NAU is one of those teams that is hard to play. They are a good defensive team and very pesky. Hard to look good against them. Until the last 37 seconds, when they had to foul, the free throw disparity was 38 to 16....good thing they didn't shoot theirs better but still a 25 to 17 made free throw difference. This was a dangerous team and it's nice to get a win up on them. Now we have to take care of an improved SUU team Saturday.

 

[SDHornet]

vs Southern Utah

Hornets finish off the home tilt with SUU (3-9, 0-1 BSC). The Hornets are better than SUU but SUU should be better than a season ago regardless of their poor start. The T-Birds only lost by 3 against a solid PSU team on Thursday night. SUU typically plays a physical style and they committed an astounding 30 fouls at PSU. Junior guard AJ Hess (12.8 ppg) is their leading scorer and guard McGee (9.7 ppg) is not far behind him, however the scoring numbers drop off significantly after those two.

The Hornets need to win this game. If it turns into a hack-fest, then the Hornets will win if they can hit their freebies. I think the Hornets take care of business in this one.

SUU Info: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/253/southern-utah-thunderbirds

HornetHome Comparison: http://hornethome.com/sacramento-state-basketball/compare_stats/southern-utah

Hornetsports Preview: http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/20150102mrz7vn

 

[sacstateman]

We need to seal the deal tonight. A good start to conference is imperative with the first two games being at home. Hornets need and deserve your support tonight as the students are still not back to school yet. What else you got to do on a Saturday night? Rock the Nest!!!!

 

[SDHornet]

90-75 Hornet win. Hornets were blazing tonight and they had to overcome a scrappy SUU effort and one of the worst officiating crews in the BSC. Good atmosphere in the Nest as well. Hornets dominated every aspect of the game. Great ball movement capped off with excellent shooting. Defense was a little porous at times but they tightened up when SUU got within 10 points. Excellent free throw shooting late sealed it. Great effort by everyone, the Hornets came out hungry and took care of business against an inferior opponent.

PGP what's your thoughts on the Stuteville ejection? I'm going to watch the replay to see if it was indeed an intentional face stomp, but in real time it just looked like poor luck for that SUU player as everyone was falling to the floor.

Box Score: http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400586007

 

[sacstateman]

Absolutely no intentional stomp by Eric, in fact he tried to pull the weight off the foot in question when he felt it contact Kennedy. Kennedy didn't even have a red mark on his face afterwards. If Eric had stomped his 260 lbs on his face there would have been some serious damage or markings or both. Hornets played their most complete game of the year. Only 3 turnovers is hard to believe. SUU is not a bad team and they will make some noise in the BSC this year. Next year and the year after that they will be a force in this league. McKinney is unstoppable when he wants to score. Garrity lost at least 4 pts when the refs called a foul just before he shot and made hoops. Hornsby played very good tonight as well, good D and some good offensive moves. Demps has become one of the most reliable free throw shooters around which makes it real hard for any team to make up ground on the Hornets by fouling late in a game. We have three of the best ball-handling, free throw shooters for late game tactics. McKinney, Garrity, and Demps can close a game out as well as anyone in this league. Now we HAVE to go out on the road and steal some wins. Next week is extremely important. I would take a split right now but I'm definitely hoping for a sweep. Don't think it's out of the question either............GO HORNETS!!!!!!!!!

 

[SDHornet]

Absolutely no intentional stomp by Eric, in fact he tried to pull the weight off the foot in question when he felt it contact Kennedy. Kennedy didn't even have a red mark on his face afterwards. If Eric had stomped his 260 lbs on his face there would have been some serious damage or markings or both. Hornets played their most complete game of the year. Only 3 turnovers is hard to believe. SUU is not a bad team and they will make some noise in the BSC this year. Next year and the year after that they will be a force in this league. McKinney is unstoppable when he wants to score. Garrity lost at least 4 pts when the refs called a foul just before he shot and made hoops. Hornsby played very good tonight as well, good D and some good offensive moves. Demps has become one of the most reliable free throw shooters around which makes it real hard for any team to make up ground on the Hornets by fouling late in a game. We have three of the best ball-handling, free throw shooters for late game tactics. McKinney, Garrity, and Demps can close a game out as well as anyone in this league. Now we HAVE to go out on the road and steal some wins. Next week is extremely important. I would take a split right now but I'm definitely hoping for a sweep. Don't think it's out of the question either............GO HORNETS!!!!!!!!!

Exactly. I just watched the replay, Stuteville's left foot (the stomp foot) get's caught on Kennedy's foot/leg as he is trying to step over him (Kennedy had just landed on the floor a split second sooner) while Stuteville was falling forward. Stuteville's foot just grazed Kennedy's face otherwise he is on the bench with an ice pack on his nose. I think the refs left it as a flagrant because Stueville was looking for a place to step as he was falling to the ground so they probably interpreted it as an intentional move. Next time Stuteville should just land on whoever is on the ground instead of trying to step over anyone.

I do like how the Hornets responded to that ill fated circumstance. They buckled up and kept going right at SUU. I also like how the crowd rallied around the Hornets and rode the refs hard the rest of the game. My top WTF moments by the refs:
-That blatant travel by an SSU player. How the refs can miss a call by a player that stops his dribble and jumps for a shot, but doesn't shoot and lands still maintaining possession and then pivots to make a pass is mind boggling. :lol:
-SUUs coach comes onto the court (maybe 3-5 feet or so) to yell at a ref for a "missed" foul and bumps the ref and is not T'ed up. :dunce:

Stuteville was unstoppable last night, he would have had a double double with blocks if he is not ejected. Hornsby could not be guarded by Hess, I wish Katz would have ran iso with him a few more times, Hess did have 2 fouls in the 1st half so another quick foul in the 2nd half would have put him on the bench. Tiffin played great with Stuteville out and the Hornets dominated the boards. Mills had a solid game. McKinney absolutely took over in the 2nd half when things got a little tight, a total game changer and of course Garrity did his thing too. Great game all around, let's hope that they take that show on the road.

Hornetsports Recap: http://www.hornetsports.com/sports/mbkb/2014-15/releases/201501044z7nnp

State Hornet Recap: http://www.statehornet.com/sports/m...cle_137397fe-93dc-11e4-a7cf-0315905eec86.html

 

[sacstateman]

I know my voice is real raspy today. Now I remember why......I completely agree on Eric's play, he has really stepped up the last two games. He could be the piece of the puzzle we need to win on the road. He has been taking the ball much stronger to the hoop and not pump faking as much...one pump fake is enough; two pump fakes allow the defense to have time to surround him and swat balls out of his hands. Now if Davis can beat UNC in Greeley, the Hornets can beat UNC in Greeley. End of discussion.