It makes you wonder what really goes on in the locker room at halftime, because it has been a tale of two teams for the Sacramento State men’s basketball.

The Hornets (7-11 overall, 1-4 in Big Sky Conference) were outscored 41-22 in the first half against Idaho State (9-8, 2-2) on Thursday, but made an impressive second-half comeback to lose by just five, 67-62. On Saturday against Weber State (14-5, 4-0), the Hornets trailed 33-32 at the half, but lost by 12, 65-53.

“You’ve just got to come out and mentally prepare to know that you’ve got to go to war when the game starts,” said guard Brandon Guyton of the team’s first-half play against Idaho State. “We come out kind of tentative at times.”

Sac State shot 26.9 percent in the opening half, including 1-of-8 from 3-point range.

“We saw them warming up. They were looking at us, laughing, as if we couldn’t play,” Idaho State guard Marquis Poole said. “So that kind of got us upset. We wanted to come out, smash them in their own house and take the crowd out of it early, and once we did that, we were just off and running.”

Trailing 53-26 with 17:27 remaining in the second half, the Hornets used a 34-8 run, capped by a Brandon Guyton 3-pointer, to cut the deficit to one point, 61-60, with 2:17 remaining. The run was keyed by Hornet forward Jimmy White, who grabbed 12 rebounds and scored 10 points in the 15-minute span.

“You look at the score; you’re at home getting blown out,” Guyton said. “That’s embarrassing. But it shouldn’t take that for us to start playing hard.”

Idaho State made 6-of-8 free throws, including three from Jeremy Brown, over the final two minutes to cool off the Hornets’ run and put the game away. Brown finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Schroeder poured in a team-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point land.

White finished with a game-high 16 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots. The Hornets shot 32.8 percent from the field and were outrebounded 49-37.

“We’re just immature right now — very immature,” Hornet head coach Jerome Jenkins said.

The Hornets continued their inconsistent play on Saturday against Weber State. Sac State used a 15-3 run to close the halftime score to one, but were outscored 32-21 over the final 20 minutes.

Ohio State transfer Slobodan Ocokoljic, a 6-foot-8 forward, led the Wildcats with 26 points and 17 rebounds.

The conference’s leading scorer, shooting guard Jermaine Boyette, poured in 20 for Weber.

Senior forward Derek Lambeth led the Hornets with 19 points, while White finished with nine points, nine rebounds and five blocks. Freshman point guard DaShawn Freeman had 13 points, six assists and four steals.

Saturday’s game also featured a different look, as Guyton and center Tony Champion, who had started the team’s first 17 games, instead came off the bench. Guyton went scoreless while Champion scored four points.

Champion, a junior, saw his playing time begin to diminish against Idaho State, when he played only 12 minutes and scored two points.

“If (Champion) shows up, then he’ll play,” said Jenkins after Thursday’s loss. “If he doesn’t, then he’ll have to sit right now. I’m really not happy with Tony Champion’s play right now.”

The Hornets will next open up a road trip to Montana with a Thursday night game at Montana State.

Game time is set for 6:05 pm Pacific Standard Time.