The Sacramento State men’s basketball team is looking to put last season’s 7-21 record behind it and win its first Big Sky Conference title.

The Hornets are the only team in the Big Sky to not win a conference title, and fourth-year head coach Brian Katz said he is hoping his team can change that.

“It’s a long season-a long grind over a four-month period,” Katz said. “The teams that are the most successful are those that are most consistent day in and day out and we are looking to be one of those teams.”

Last year, the Hornets allowed 69.6 points per game, which was the lowest since 1986.

The Hornets have nine returning players from last year’s team, which is the most during Katz’s tenure. They also have four transfer students, two players who redshirted last season and one true freshman.

Junior forward John Dickson looks to lead the Hornets this season after being named an honorable mention all-Big Sky player last season.

Dickson said they need to get off to a good start at home so teams know the Hornets Nest is a tough place to play.

“It’s good to start out with the crowd behind us and get the crowd going,” Dickson said. “You want to start off playing well at home and make a statement that you have a good home court.”

Last season, the Hornets were 5-7 at home in the Hornets Nest and sophomore guard Jackson Carbajal said he thinks starting the season at home is important.

“We have to play together and keep working as hard as we are right now,” Carbajal said. “Starting at home gets us in a groove. (It) gets us used to playing in front of our crowd. The road trips are tough. Once we go on the road later on in the year, it starts getting tough, so it’s nice to definitely start out at home.”

The Hornets’ biggest problem last season was road games as they were a conference-worst 1-14. They lost their first 12 games on the road and did not win their first road game until they were three months into the season.

The Hornets also had trouble closing out games last season and were 3-8 in games that were decided by six points or less.

Senior guard/forward Heath Hoffman said they have the depth this year to fix that problem.

“We have a good team unity going on right now,” Hoffman said. “We have the depth to play 40 minutes and we can close out games this year better than we did last year. We have a stronger focus especially early in the season.”

There were also positives to last season, however.

For the first time in 23 years, the Hornets out-rebounded opponents 993-969 last year. They have also increased their Big Sky win total for the third consecutive year after winning four games last season.

The Hornets have made at least one 3-pointer in 491 straight games, a streak that dates back to Nov. 28, 1993. Katz said he believes this year’s team is going to be the best offensive team since he has been here.

“We’re going to score and shoot the ball better than we ever have, no doubt about it” Katz said. “I think we’ve defended well enough the last couple of years to win games, but I don’t think we’ve scored well enough. If we can score well enough and continue to defend the way we have, I think we will be in a good situation.”

The Hornets have an exhibition game tonight against Simpson University at 7:05 p.m. at the Hornets Nest. The game gives the Hornets a shot at practicing in-game situations before they open the 2011-12 regular season Nov. 11 at home against Menlo College.

Katz said they need to take advantage of playing at home and use the small gym to their advantage this season.

“The support of the home crowd is huge especially in that gym,” Katz said. “If we get 1,200 people, it is a really tough place to play. It’s an advantage, but we haven’t taken advantage of it the way we should have since I’ve been here. We need to do that.”

All home games are free of charge for all Sac State students with a valid OneCard.

Josh Stanley can be reached at [email protected].