Weber State used to own Sacramento State basketball. Now they just rent them out for the playoffs.

The Hornets (12-15, 8-6) are looking to change history this time around, however, as Weber State (12-15, 7-7) visits the Hornets Nest for the second-straight year in the Big Sky Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

The Hornets finally solved its 18-game winless streak against Weber with a home win last season and earned a second program victory against the Wildcats at home again this season. But in the playoffs, beating Weber hasn’t been so easy.

The Wildcats have knocked the Hornets out of the program’s first two Big Sky Conference Tournaments the past two seasons. Last year, the Wildcats beat the Hornets 68-62 in Sac State’s first-ever tournament home game.

The season before that, in Sac State’s first tournament appearance, Weber State beat the Hornets in Utah in the semi finals, after the Hornets won at Montana in the first round. That year, the Wildcats would become Big Sky champions, advancing to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 12 seed, ultimately falling 81-74 in the first round to the No. 5 seed, University of Wisconsin.

“They are our nemesis,” said Sac State head coach Jerome Jenkins. “It’s only right that we have to go through them.”

This season, the rivals have split in conference play, with both teams winning its home game. Weber State’s victory came through a controversial call on a last-second layup that resulted in the suspension of Jenkins and reports that freshman Randy Adams was challenging spectators to fight him on the floor and senior E.J. Harris made inappropriate gestures at Weber State fans.

“I think there is an intense amount of animosity and emotional ties against Weber State,” said senior guard Jameel Pugh. “Our team is going to come out like a pack of wild dogs ready to rip them apart.

“They’re not ready to take on the amount of intensity we’re going to bring to the floor with our crowd, on our court.”

The home game will be the last for both Pugh and E.J. Harris, the team’s only seniors. Pugh averaged 17.6 points in conference and led the Hornets in scoring in its last four conference games, averaging 24.8 points in that span.

“This is going to be an emotional game for me,” Pugh said. “Obviously I want to extend my career and leave my last game knowing I won in the playoffs. E.J. and I want to go out on high note.”

Former Hornets guard Joseth Dawson said he still dwells on last season’s tournament loss to Weber State — his last game with the Hornets.

“It was disappointing,” said Dawson, who led the Hornets in scoring and was named to the all-Big Sky first team last season. “We could have made more history, but we just couldn’t pull it out.

“I put my legacy down already; it’s time to pass the torch.”

Now it’s up to Pugh and the rest of the new generation of Hornets to take the program to the next level.

“I understand the program is happy to be in the playoffs, but we’ve been here for three years in a row,” Jenkins said. “We want to win the Big Sky.”