Sacramento State head coach Michael Czepil’s squad had a light week of action, featuring just one game over seven days. The Hornets lost 83-77 against the University of California, Berkeley Golden Bears.

Sac State refined an area that had been an issue of concern, possess a player emerging as a top talent in the Big Sky Conference, but have a worrisome trend developing.

Don’t let others take what’s yours

After the UC San Diego game, Czepil identified turnovers as an area of concern and aimed to address them in ensuing practices. At that point in the season, the Hornets had averaged 17 turnovers per game and were coming off a game with a season-high 18 giveaways.

Sac State committed just 11 turnovers against Cal, which was their lowest total of the season and marked the first time they’d won the battle of mishaps against a Division I team through five games.

“The theme last week was ‘Ball tough.’ You can’t just give the ball up, and we did a solid job of that in practice throughout the week,” Czepil said. “The intent to protect the ball while still being a player is the hardest thing, and that’s where we’re at today, but it was much, much better.”

Czepil said creating good habits with turnovers is especially tough for the younger guys, and Sac State’s guard position employs five underclassmen that could see the floor on any given night. Whether or not they’ll be able to continue what they showed against Cal will be a deciding factor in the Hornets’ success going forward.

Holt’s senior-season surge is here to stay

Senior forward Jacob Holt’s start to the 2024-25 season has been a marvel and bright spot that has been slightly overshadowed by the team’s rocky start.

Just over a week after Holt set a new career high in points against California State University, Northridge, he set a new career-high 25 points against the Bears.

The senior’s three-point shooting continued to be a driving force in his ascension on Sunday, hitting four triples and opening up more alleys in the game.

Amid Holt’s soar in production, he’s continued to give kudos to the coaching staff for instilling belief in him and allowing him to be who he is as a player.

“I remember meeting with Zep and talking about the shooting, and then just getting used to it because having a five man that can shoot is huge,” Holt said. “I think just the confidence they have in me and the confidence I have in myself has been huge.”

Holt now moves up to eighth in scoring on a points-per-game basis in the Big Sky, averaging 15.6 on the year after Sunday’s loss.

“Holt’s an advantage creator, and he’s creating great offense for us right now,” Czepil said. “We’re going to have to surround him with guys that are ‘ball tough’ and that are great cutters and screeners.”

RELATED: Buzzin’ at the Basket: Sac State searching for consistency after two weeks of play

Four Division I teams, four losses

Sac State has struggled to get in the win column against even-level competition this season. Since the Hornets’ 62-point win over Cal Maritime in their home opener, they’re 0-4 against Division I opponents.

In each of those four games, Sac State has won either the first or second half, proving capable of hanging with the opposition. The hardest part is learning how to win the close ones, something the Hornets struggled with last year at just 5-11 in single-digit outcomes.

Sunday, they were on the fringe of a win but couldn’t make enough plays down the stretch to leave Berkeley with one.

“We’re getting there. I told the boys, ‘You want to win those games,’” Czepil said. “‘You’re two possessions off.’ That’s why you have to be so disciplined to win. But we have great buy-in, and they’re doing a good job.”

Details and discipline have been a point of emphasis for Czepil all season. During practice last week, he stopped a drill and pointed to two spots on the court just inches from where someone was supposed to be and said, ‘That’s the difference between winning and losing.’

“I feel like this game was a big stepping stone for us, because I feel like last game when we had the lead, we just didn’t believe that we had it,” junior guard Julian Vaughns said in regards to the team’s two most recent games.

It gets easier

Sac State will enter the week ahead with two favorable matchups; one on the road against the Air Force Falcons on Wednesday and a home game against the Mercyhurst University Lakers on Saturday, the final game of the Cal Classic.

These three teams and Sac State are part of a round robin set of games, where each team will face each other once.

Air Force is 2-4 on the season and was picked to finish last in the Mountain West Conference. Like the Hornets, the Falcons lost to Cal at Haas Pavilion and are coming off a dominant 34-point win over the Lakers at home.

This is Mercyhurt’s first season as a Division I program, as they made the switch from Division II this year. Per NCAA rules, they renounce their postseason rights for four years in part of a reclassification period.

The Lakers were picked to finish seventh of eight teams in the Northeastern Conference preseason polls. They are off to a 4-3 start, however two of their wins came against Division 3 teams.

“It’s so hard to win these Division I games,” Holt said. “It’s going to take us a solid 40 minutes of our habits and organization, and once we do that it’s going to be hard to beat us.”