Sacramento State suffered back-to-back all-too-familiar fates on the road, losing by double digits to the Northern Colorado Bears on Feb. 12. Following the loss, the Hornets’ traveled to Flagstaff, Arizona, and lost a grinded-out contest to Northern Arizona. Sac State remains the only Big Sky team left without a win on the road.

Feb. 12: Northern Colorado 95, Sac State 79

The Hornets started off the game on the back foot, something that has become a consistent characteristic of this team on the road. Within 12 minutes of the tipoff, Sac State was down 28-17.

Sac State spent the majority of the game unable to defend against UNC, with the Bears shooting 56.1% from the field as a team.

“Our free-throw shooting and some of our offensive execution were positives,” head coach Mike Bibby said. “But defense travels, and tonight, ours didn’t.”

In the first half, the score ended 51-37 in favor of UNC. The first half ended up being the real difference for the Hornets, as they were only outscored 44-42 in the second half, ending the game with a score of 95-79 in favor of the Bears.

“I loved that we kept battling in the second half and scored 42 after the break, but you can’t spot a team 14 points at halftime on their floor and expect it to be easy,” Bibby said. “We have to be sharper from the opening tip.”

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Senior guard Prophet Johnson had his fifth straight game with over 20 points, finishing with 23 to go with his six rebounds, three assists and three steals. He led the team in points, assists and steals.

Sac State had two other players reach double-digit scoring, with sophomore guard Arman Madi scoring 15 and junior guard Jahni Summers tallying 12 points. The team had an inefficient night, shooting 35.9% from the field on 64 attempts and 7-for-26 from deep for a percentage of 26.9%.

Freshman guard Taj Glover got his fourth start of the season, with sophomore guard Mikey Williams missing the game with an undisclosed injury. Of Sac State’s current 15 listed players, only eight were active against the Bears.

The Bears had two guys reach 20-plus points. Senior forward Brock Wisne led the game with 29 points and 11 rebounds. Graduate guard Quinn Denker had a 22-point, 16-assist and seven-rebound performance.

“We’ll get back to the basics, clean up the rotations and respond the right way,” Bibby said.

Feb. 14: Northern Arizona 79, Sac State 74

Unfortunately for Bibby, the coveted first road win didn’t manifest itself after the loss to the Bears. The Hornets went into the Walkup Skydome with winning on their mind but were unable to pull one out.

Early on, Sac State looked like they had reverted to their road form from earlier in the season, where they’d go down super early and never give themselves a chance to win.

With the Hornets down 14-9, 7:37 into the game, Bibby’s players still had everything to play for. For the next 7 minutes and 39 seconds, Sac State failed to score a point, and the Lumberjacks’ lead ballooned to 20.

As one might expect, the Hornets spent the rest of the game chipping away at the 20-point lead and were able to get it to as low as four on two separate occasions. Ultimately, they couldn’t make up the deficit, and Sac State lost their 14th straight away game with a final score of 79-74.

“I’m proud of the way we battled back. We shot over 58% in the second half and put up 49 points,” Bibby said. “That shows what we’re capable of offensively. We just can’t wait 20 minutes to start playing Sacramento State basketball.”

Summers led the team in scoring, putting up 18 points. He also saw an increased role in the offense, with his 16 field goals attempted being his highest of the season.

Just behind him were Johnson and senior forward Shaqir O’Neal, both of whom had 15 points. O’Neal had his points in just 21 minutes played due to being in foul trouble early, and Johnson paired his buckets with seven boards, the most by a Hornet in the game.

Johnson was favoring an unknown injury at the time of the tipoff, and sophomore guard Jayden Teat got his first ever Division I start in his place. The rotation of available players for the Hornets had shrunk from their last game, as freshman forward Romari Robinson missed the game for an unknown reason, leaving Sac State with just seven available team members.

Lumberjacks redshirt senior forward Diego Campisano had a career night, with his 18 points being a season-high and his 11 rebounds being his career high in Division I basketball, registering his first career D1 double-double.

After the losses, Sac State finds themselves back down at eighth place in the Big Sky standings, 2.5 games behind the No. 6 seed Weber State Wildcats. With Starch Madness approaching, it’s key to aim for the top six spots in the conference to secure a first-round bye in the tournament.

The Hornets return to the Hornet Pavilion on Thursday, Feb. 19 to host the Eastern Washington Eagles at 7 p.m. The Eagles are currently No. 4 in the Big Sky and are on a four-game winning streak heading into their second clash with the Hornets.

“This group keeps fighting, and that’s what I want our fans to know. We’re right there in these games,” Bibby said. “Now it’s about cleaning up the little things: turnovers, defensive possessions, late-game execution and turning these close ones into wins.”