A road trip that Sacramento State would like to forget ended in heartbreak in Moscow, Idaho, against the Vandals on Saturday, Feb. 8.
Sac State sophomore guard Emil Skytta received the ball at the top of the arc with 13 seconds left in the final quarter, firing a step back three over a reaching Idaho redshirt sophomore guard Jack Payne.
The game was 76-75, a bucket would almost guarantee a victory to close a road trip that saw Sac State lose four in a row.
A miss and scramble for the rebound resulted in freshman forward Chudi Dioramma fouling Vandal junior forward Tyler Lindhardt, sending him to the charity stripe where he drained both free throws, putting the Vandals ahead by one.
The Hornets had under 12 seconds left and one more chance, but junior guard Julian Vaughns’ shot from the corner bounced off the rim into Idaho’s hands to secure a 78-76 loss for Sac State.
Sac State started the game competitive, entertaining the idea of breaking their 5-game losing streak thanks to impressive performances by Dioramma and fellow freshman guard Lachlan Brewer.
Brewer knocked down four first-half 3-pointers, finishing the game with a career-high 13 points on 71% shooting. While Dioramma delivered a career-high 19 points, accompanied by 9-of-9 shooting and six rebounds.
“Chudi played a monster 27 minutes for a freshman in his absence,” Sacramento State head coach Michael Czepil said, referring to senior forward Jacob Holt.
Holt, who is coming off a monumental 32-point effort against Eastern Washington last Thursday, racked up two fouls early in the first half, forcing Czepil to monitor his time.
Sac State committed a torrent of personal fouls, 28 in total, just shy of the Sac State record held at 31 against Cal.
Payne took advantage of the overzealous defense and went to the free throw line 15 times, resulting in 14 of his team-leading 21 points coming from the line. In total, the Vandals sank 26-of-31 free throws.
In comparison, Sac State went 9-of-16 from the line, exacerbating a problem that the coaching staff and players acknowledge as a roadblock in the path to success.
“We will look at the fouls in the review,” Czepil said. “We won’t stop our physical approach, but will need to see if there are a couple of cases of discipline that could have saved us a couple free throws.”
Holt ended the game going a mere 1-of-4 with four points and picked up four fouls in only 13 minutes.
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Sac State held Idaho to 35% from the field, demonstrating that the defensive prowess is still there for the Hornets. Czepil said he credits adjustments made throughout the game for the productive defense.
“Switching screens was the adjustment in the second half. Once we got situated, we were able to find that flow again as the half went on,” Czepil said.
Despite shooting a massive shot-making difference in favor of the Hornets, they couldn’t keep their hands on the ball long enough to secure a win.
Their 18 turnovers proved costly, as Idaho converted those into 16 points.
Junior guard Julian Vaughns secured 19 points and played a clean game for Sac State, only picking up one foul.
“Despite the loss, I see a lot of positives,” Dioramma said. “Our team chemistry is only getting better, and this just motivates my teammates and me to come back even stronger.”
Vaughns said that the team will need to stay poised down the stretch.
“I saw growth in our team’s performance,” Diorama said. “We built mental toughness by staying locked in.”
Sac State returns home, where they will play Northern Colorado on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Hornets look to grab their first win since Jan. 23.
Additional reporting by Mateo Davis
