The University of North Dakota found out why Sacramento State head coach Brian Katz believes Nick Hornsby is the maturest freshman in the country.

Hornsby scored a career-high 15 points, helping the Hornets to a 71-65 win Thursday night at The Nest.

“My teammates have been telling me to keep being confident,” Hornsby said. “My coaches are starting to trust me more.”

Hornsby credits his maturity to his high school playing career and transferring high schools from Beckman to Tustin after his freshman season.

“When I was a sophomore in high school I wasn’t getting much playing time. It was then I just started working harder,” Hornsby said.

During his junior and senior years at Tustin High School in Tustin, Calif., he averaged 14.4 points and 8.1 rebounds per contest to help his school win 54 games over that span.

At Sac State, Hornsby has seen his minutes improve since the beginning of the season and has averaged seven points and four rebounds in his last four games.

Hornsby entered the game with 10:34 remaining in the first half and hit a 3-pointer from the wing to further a Sac State 15-2 run.

The Hornets extended their lead to as much as 14 points on four separate occasions in the last five minutes of the half before entering halftime ahead, 37-22.

Hornsby finished the half with seven points on 2-3 shooing and a pair of free throws.

Although Hornsby stands at 6 feet 7 inches and plays both the guard and forward positions, he said he entered camp believing he had the same playing style as the NBA’s Kevin Durant because he is tall and lanky.

Katz changed Hornsby’s perception to focus on team basketball.

“Coach said I was more like a Magic Johnson because I am a great passer and I can see the floor pretty well,” Hornsby said. “I just needed to work on my shot.”

In the second half, North Dakota cut their deficit down to eight points before junior point guard Dylan Garrity snapped a six-minute scoring drought.

Because Garrity only scored five points and two assists, Katz was pleased with the production from his role players like front court players Jordan Salley, Eric Stuteville and Zach Mills.

North Dakota made one final run, but Sac State held its ground and never let the lead drop below five points.

“We weren’t defending,” Katz said. “We weren’t stopping their penetration and we weren’t getting them off the boards.”

The Hornets improved their record to 12-12 and moved into a five-way tie for third place in the Big Sky Conference.

But junior guard Mikh McKinney said his team is not looking at the conference standings just yet.

“It’s motivation to see the standings and see that every game is important,” said McKinney, who finished with a team-high 19 points. “We are really determined to get into that (Big Sky Conference) Tournament.”

Sac State returns to The Nest Saturday as they face the University of Northern Colorado who sits one game out of first place with an 10-5 conference record.

“This is going to be a stiff test. These guys are really good,” Katz said. “I think they are the most talented team in the league.”

Tipoff is at 7:05 p.m.

 

Ryan can be reached on Twitter at @rskuhn