Jason Harris played his first Big Sky Conference game of the season on Saturday against Montana ?” he came off the bench.Not exactly how he planned it.

Picked by several publications to be the conference player of the year, Harris, a senior, has had a couple of missteps this season.

An off-season knee injury affected his play early, and recently an academic suspension that forced him to miss the beginning of the Big Sky schedule.Harris was cleared to play after the completion of his winter intersession class.

Last season’s Big Sky Conference newcomer of the year and first-team all-conference player had been ruled academically ineligible before the Hornets’ first conference game against Portland State.

While Harris was not with the team, the Hornets went 4-1, winning both games they played on the road.

During Saturday’s game against Montana, Harris scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds.

“It was good to get out there,” Harris said. “I love playing with my teammates.”

Head coach Jerome Jenkins said that the Harris will be back in the starting lineup for the next game against conference-leading Northern Arizona.”(Having Harris) will definitely take pressure off our team,” he said.Harris started the season slow, but was starting to hit his groove just as he was suspended.

He averaged just 12.7 points and five rebounds over Sac State’s first nine games, but turned it up to 17.4 points and seven rebounds over the five games before his suspension.

That included a 22-point,10-rebound performance against Denver in the game before his suspension.

Those numbers are more reminiscent of the 17.5 points and 4.6 rebounds he averaged last season, his first for the Hornets.

Saturday, he started out slow, but turned it up in the second half. In the closing minutes he showed glimpses why the Hornets sorely need him.

Down five with 1:38 left, Harris had an assist to Justin Williams. After one made Montana free throw, Harris had a drive in which he got fouled and made both free throws, closing the gap to two. Moments later he tipped in a Haron Hargrave missed flip shot to tie the game, which was eventually won on by Montana on a Kevin Criswell lay-in with seven seconds left.

“I think down the stretch (Harris) was starting to feel it.” Jenkins said.

Robert Alvis an be reached at [email protected]