The Sacramento State men’s basketball team suffered their worst home loss of the season in a 79-59 defeat against Weber State in the Nest on Saturday.

This matchup didn’t lack scoring in the opening minutes,  as both the Hornets (6-11, 2-8 Big Sky) and Wildcats (16-5, 9-1 Big Sky) got out of the gate with their own back-and-forth runs. 

Senior forward Bryce Fowler was cooking from the jump on offense for Sac State, coming off of a 4-13 shooting performance in the team’s previous outing against Idaho State. Fowler was having his way in isolation, scoring six of the Hornets’ first eight points with turn-around jumpers and layups in the low post.

“We know we can play with them,” said Fowler. 

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Sac State led 14-9 near the 13-minute mark and looked to be making a huge statement against the Big Sky’s number one seeded team as everything seemed to click.

This was until the 11-minute mark of the first half, when things suddenly became grim for the Hornets, as Weber State’s offense found a rhythm that seemed unmatchable.

In a 9-0 Wildcat run that featured three straight possessions ending with a three-point make, Weber State extinguished all of the  Sac State momentum. The Wildcats leaned on this three-point barrage to eventually open up a 25-11 run to end the first half.

“We gotta take away their three more, we’re not gonna win many games when the team shoots over 50% from the three-point line,” said Fowler. 

Seeing one of their biggest half-time deficits of the season in a 40-25 hole going into the break, the Hornets had some digging to do to get back into this matchup, and they almost did exactly that.

Right out of the gate in the second half, the Hornets made a 10-3 run in the first four minutes closing the Wildcats’ lead to eight with a score of 43-35. For the Hornets, they were finally finding ways to make impacts defensively and turn those opportunities into points in transition.

“We got some stops and I thought we got aggressive offensively,” said Hornets head coach Brandon Laird. “We were getting the stops [and] I think that generated the momentum we needed offensively.”

Sac State was able to cut the lead down to five at one point, as their offense continued to surge.

“Coach gave us a good halftime talk,” said junior guard Zach Chappell. “[He] told us we gotta come out [and] throw the first punch, and we did that.” 

However, Weber State never deflated, as the shooting clinic they showed in the first half came back for a second appearance. The Wildcats made over half of their threes and saw four players finish in double figures.

The Wildcats cruised to a 79-59 victory with their offense deflating every run the Hornets tried to make.

“I’m proud of our preparation, I’m proud of our fight and win or lose,” said Laird. “Thursday night’s win and  some moments from tonight to continue to build some positive momentum moving forward.”

The Hornets’ next game against Northern Arizona will be held Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, in the Nest at 7 p.m.