Sacramento State’s road trip from hell has finally ended, as the Hornets lost their seventh straight game, most recently falling to the hands of the Portland State Vikings on Jan. 10.
It was another loss in blowout fashion for the Hornets, who lost by a final score of 96-69. This leaves them with a record of 4-11 on the season and a 0-3 start to their conference schedule, with the latter being the program’s worst since the 2021-22 season.
It was a runaway affair from early on with Sac State trying to keep pace with the Vikings early, but they ultimately started to dwindle toward the end of the first half. This is a means of defeat that the Hornets are becoming accustomed to facing as they relive the same nightmare over and over again.
“That wasn’t the standard we expect from Sacramento State basketball,” head coach Mike Bibby said. “Portland State was the more physical team from the opening tip, and they set the tone on both ends of the floor.”
Sophomore guard Mikey Williams was a bright spot for the Hornets once again, scoring 29 against the Vikings. He’s currently averaging 29.7 points in conference competition, leading the Big Sky Conference in points per game.
Outside of Williams, freshman guard Taj Glover and sophomore guard Jayden Teat had 11 points each, meaning that 51 of the Hornets’ 69 points came from the trio.
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Sac State shot 3-for-21 from the 3-point line, and their percentage of 14.3% was their second-lowest mark of the season, just edging out the Hornets’ faceoff against UCLA where they shot just 12.5%. Against the Vikings, they failed to register their first-made 3-pointer until there was 7:37 left in the game.
The Vikings had a triad of noteworthy performances and were led in scoring in the contest by senior guard Jaylin Henderson, who had 26. Through three conference games for the Vikings, Henderson has yet to sit on the bench, playing in all 130 minutes of the team’s Big Sky campaign.
Senior center Tre-Vaughn Minott put on a show as well, posting a monster 23 points and 20 rebounds for the Vikings, his career high in both stats.
The true stat sheet filler for Portland State, however, was senior forward Terri Miller Jr. He posted 14 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds en route to being the first player in the Vikings’ program history to achieve multiple triple-doubles in their career.
With Sac State giving up 96 points to the Vikings, the Hornets have conceded 95 or more points in all three of their conference-opening games, suffering 97 to Idaho State and 95 to Weber State. This makes for an average of 96 points allowed per game, the most in the Big Sky by 10.7 points.
The Hornets ended their season-longest seven-match road trip with seven losses, only finishing one game within 10 points of their opponent. In the seven games, they scored a total of 532 points and allowed 640.
“We had too many lapses defensively, especially in transition and in the paint. When you don’t get stops, it puts pressure on everything else you’re trying to do,” Bibby said. “We have to take more pride in defending, no matter where we’re playing.”
Sac State will play their first home game in 51 days on Jan. 15, where they will host the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks. Both teams enter the game looking for their first Big Sky wins, with NAU currently being 0-4 in conference play.
