Sac State men’s basketball team loses 59-45 at No. 21 Colorado

Hornets taste defeat for first time this season with loss to Buffaloes

Shaun Holkko

Sac State sophomore guard Brandon Davis pivots while being guarded by UC Davis freshman guard Ezra Manjon on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at Golden 1 Center. The Hornets lost their first game of the season Saturday night 59-45 at No. 21 Colorado.

Michael Wiggins
November 30, 2019

The Sacramento State men’s basketball team lost its first game of the season Saturday night at No. 21 Colorado 59-45. 

Sac State (4-1) sought an unprecedented 5-0 start to the season when it visited Colorado (6-0), who was fresh off winning the MGM Resorts Main Event championship in Las Vegas on Tuesday. 

The Hornets entered the game ranked second nationally in scoring defense and showed it early. 

Sac State forced turnovers on Colorado’s first three possessions of the game and forced 12 total turnovers in the first half. Neither team was able to find any rhythm on offense in the first half. 

A jumper from Sac State junior guard Bryce Fowler tied the game at eight with 11:08 remaining in the half before Colorado responded with a 7-0 run. The Hornets shot just 24% from the field in the first half and trailed 24-16 at halftime. 

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Colorado opened the second half with a 4-0 run to push its lead to 12, but the Hornets responded with a 6-0 run of their own. 

Sac State junior forward Ethan Esposito made a layup to cut the Colorado lead to seven with 12:02 left in the game. 

Esposito led all scorers and finished with 12 points and six rebounds. 

Sac State trailed by just five after senior center Joshua Patton’s layup cut the lead to 45-40 with 4:04 left in the game. 

Patton was named the Big Sky Player of the Week after averaging 19 points, four rebounds, two assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per game in wins over UC Davis and Pepperdine last week. The senior finished Saturday’s game with four points and three rebounds on 1-8 shooting from the field. 

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Patton also recorded three blocks in the game, becoming the all-time leader in blocked shots in program history. 

Colorado once again responded with another 7-0 run before pushing its lead to 14. 

The Hornets shot 28% for the game and made just one 3-pointer in their 59-45 loss to Colorado.

Sac State is back at the Nest on Tuesday when they host UC Merced with tipoff set for 7:05 p.m.