In a basketball game barely 48 hours removed from a disappointing loss to Eastern Washington, the Sacramento State men’s basketball team looked to reestablish momentum against Idaho on Saturday night at the Nest.

If it were only that easy.

A second consecutive loss in an 81-58 contest to the Idaho Vandals left the Hornets frustrated and looking for answers. Sac State coach Brian Katz came into the media room with obvious disappointment.

“Not good,” Katz said. “You’re always disappointed but we are never discouraged.

“Both those teams were ready for us, and regardless they outplayed us and we have to respond going forward.”

Sac State (6-18, 3-8 Big Sky Conference) found itself in another hole down 24-10 early on in the contest. The Hornets shot just 4-for-13 from the floor to add to yet another poor start.  

Senior forward Justin Strings, who finished with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting, said the early deficits in both games have taken their toll on the Hornets when trying to fight back into both basketball games.

“For us, we have to work on starting the game more aggressive and staying ahead,” Strings said. “We’re fighting back and fighting back, we make a run and get it into single digits and it’s like you’ve climbed so much, it’s so hard to climb that next hill”.  

Katz took a risk early in the game by playing sophomore forward Joshua Patton after he was charged with two early fouls. But Patton rewarded Katz’s risk by keeping the Hornets in the game by scoring six of their first 14 points.

The Vandals (16-7, 8-3 Big Sky) were able to extend their lead to 33-17 late in the first half after Sac State went five minutes without scoring a single point.

Things didn’t get a whole lot better as senior point guard Perrion Callandret nailed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer just before halftime to extend Idaho’s lead to 40-20 over Sac State.

However, the Hornets jumped out on a 9-0 run to begin the second half to help cut their deficit to 43-31. Sac State once again made another crack at a comeback by going on an 8-0 run over a span of 1:53 to help cut the Vandals’ lead to 59-48 with less than eight minutes remaining in the game.

But for the second straight night, a key Sac State player fouled out during the second half. Patton, who had been in foul trouble all night, picked up his fifth and final foul with 6:14 left in regulation. He finished the night with a team-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting with six rebounds in 22 minutes of action.

Patton maintained after the game that he has to do better when it comes to the defensive side of the floor to avoid staying in foul trouble.

“I just have to balance out the aggressiveness with the intelligent play,” Patton said. “I just gotta go out there and do better on defense, so that I can stay on the court.”

A contact layup and successful free throw by Callandret, who would finished with a game-high 23 points, extended the Vandals’ lead to 74-55 en route to a 81-58 final.

Sac State will look to stop its two-game losing streak as it travels on Thursday to Montana State.