Brian Katz said one of his goals coming into the 2009-10 men’s basketball season at Sacramento State was to win more games. While it is a broad goal, the Hornet head coach has already accomplished that feat.

The team has a 4-7 record and lost its only Big Sky Conference game Dec. 5 to Weber State University. By comparison, Sac State won two games during the 2008-09 season, defeating UC Davis and Idaho State University.

“You’re never happy unless you win every game, so you’re not going to be happy,” Katz said. “We’ve certainly showed some improvement – we’ve doubled our win total … from last year and obviously beating a Pac-10 school (Oregon State University) and beating our archrival (UC Davis), you have to feel like you’ve shown some improvement.”

And improved the team has.

The Hornets are better in almost every statistical category, compared to the end of last season, including scoring margin: from -15.1 to -8; turnover margin: from -2.76 to +0.18; and steals per game: from 4.5 to 7.7. The 7.7 mark is good for second place in the Big Sky.

Junior point guard Sultan Toles-Bey and senior guard Domineek Daniel lead the way with 2 and 1.4 steals per game, respectively.

The Hornets have the fourth-best scoring defense in the conference this season, allowing 68.2 points per game. Some highlights include holding UC Davis to 57 points on its home floor on Dec. 2 and limiting the USC Trojans to 51 points on Dec. 8.

However, the scoring offense has been a problem – ranking ninth out of nine Big Sky teams at 60.2 points per game. Sac State scored a season-low 36 points against USC, while it scored 90 points against Bethany College – a season high.

There are not many returning players from the 2008-09 team.

Senior center Justin Eller is a returning player from the 2-27 season and can see a difference.

“I think we’re really starting to jell as a team,” Eller said. “We’re working really hard on both sides of the ball.”

Eller said the team is at its best when it is not selfish.

“(When) we don’t take quick shots, we’re really good on the offensive end,” Eller said. “The flip side of that is sometimes if we’re putting up too many quick shots or bad shots, that it can hurt us.”

Senior point guard Jared Stigall, another team veteran, said this team is different from last year’s squad.

“The new guys are doing really well and some of the old guys are blending together. So far, it’s a good mix,” Stigall said. “It looks like we’re going to do a lot of good things … We want to win. We come out prepared for every game. It’s a lot better.”

Toles-Bey, a transfer from Fresno City College, leads the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game and assists per game at 3.2 per contest.

Toles-Bey said as a point guard, there is a specific area he needs to improve.

“I just try to be aggressive,” Toles-Bey said. “My shooting percentage is down right now, so I have to try to take less shots and get more assists.”

Katz singled out two areas of improvement.

“Turnovers and shot selection,” he said. “I think our defense is good enough now, but turnovers and shot selection have been pretty erratic.”

Katz said he expects to use the remainder of the season to evaluate his team’s development.

“We’ve clearly shown we’re better,” Katz said. “How much better? The rest of the season will show.”