2018–19 Sacramento State Hornets men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Sacramento State Hornets men's basketball team represented California State University, Sacramento in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hornets were led by eleventh-year head coach Brian Katz and competed at The Nest as a member of the Big Sky Conference for the 23rd consecutive season. They finished the season 15–16, 8–12 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They defeated Northern Arizona in the first round of the Big Sky tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Montana.

2018–19 Sacramento State Hornets men's basketball
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Record15–16 (8–12 Big Sky)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaThe Nest
(Capacity: 1,012)
Seasons
2018–19 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Montana 16 4   .800 26 9   .743
Northern Colorado 15 5   .750 21 11   .656
Eastern Washington 12 8   .600 16 18   .471
Weber State 11 9   .550 18 15   .545
Portland State 11 9   .550 16 16   .500
Montana State 11 9   .550 15 17   .469
Southern Utah 9 11   .450 17 17   .500
Northern Arizona 8 12   .400 10 21   .323
Sacramento State 8 12   .400 15 16   .484
Idaho State 7 13   .350 11 19   .367
Idaho 2 18   .100 5 27   .156
Conference tournament winner

Before the season

edit

The Hornets finished 7–25 overall, and 4–14 in the conference. During the season, the Hornets participated in the Wooden Legacy, which was held in Fullerton, California. Sacramento State earned 8th place by losing to Cal State Fullerton, Saint Joseph's, and San Diego State. Sacramento State lost in both matches of the Sacramento Showcase against rival UC Davis and Portland. In the postseason, Sacramento State lost to Portland State in the first round of the 2018 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament in Reno, Nevada.

On July 19, 2018, the Sacramento State Hornets finished renovating The Nest's court. The renovation features include an emphasis on the main logo, implementing the school-known hashtag #StingersUp, and a redone of Sacramento State's colors.[1]

Offseason

edit

Departures

edit
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Justin Strings 3 F 6'7" 220 Senior Carson, CA Graduated
Jiday Ugbaja 4 G 5'11" 194 Senior San Francisco, CA Graduate transferred to San Francisco State
Cristian Perez 32 F 6'7" 215 Junior Santa Fe Springs, CA Left the team for personal reasons
James Herrick 50 C 6'10" 256 Senior Minden, NV Graduated

Incoming transfers

edit
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Ethan Esposito 22 G/F 6'7" 220 Sophomore Naples, Italy Junior college transferred from San Diego City College
Brandon Davis 32 G 6'2" 190 Sophomore Mission Hills, CA Transferred from UC Santa Barbara. Under NCAA transfer rules, Davis will have to sit out from the 2018–19 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.

2018 recruiting class

edit
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Elijah McCullough
#62 PG
La Verne, CA Damien High School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Sep 10, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: 73
James Bridges
SG
Las Vegas, NV Ed W. Clark High School 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Feb 26, 2018 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 5, 2018.

Season

edit

Senior Marcus Graves was named to the All-Big Sky Second Team.[2]

Roster

edit
2018–19 Sacramento State Hornets men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Marcus Graves 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 188 lb (85 kg) RS Sr Westview High School San Diego, California
F 1 Chibueze Jacobs 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Notre Dame High School Santa Clarita, California
G 2 Izayah Mauriohooho-Le'afa 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Saint Patrick's College Wellington, New Zealand
G 4 Jamion Wright (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Mission High School San Francisco, California
G 11 Kevin Hicks 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 168 lb (76 kg) Sr Western Texas College New Orleans, Louisiana
G 12 Jordan Tolbert 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 150 lb (68 kg) Sr Western Texas College Houston, Texas
G 13 Grant Greabell (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Estrella Foothills High School Goodyear, Arizona
G 14 Jeff Wu 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Modesto Christian School Taipei, Taiwan
G 15 Elijah McCullough 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Damien High School Chino Hills, California
G/F 20 James Bridges 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Clark High School Las Vegas, Nevada
G/F 21 Osi Nwachukwu 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Antelope Valley College Oakland, California
F 22 Ethan Esposito 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So San Diego City College Naples, Italy
G/F 23 Bryce Fowler 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Agua Fria High School Avondale, Arizona
C 25 Calvin Martin 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Citrus College Ridgecrest, California
C 30 Joshua Patton 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Jr Sierra College Manteca, California
G 32 Brandon Davis   6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So UC Santa Barbara Mission Hills, California
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: July 26, 2018

Schedule

edit
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 2, 2018*
7:05 pm
Bethesda W 103–55 
 15  Esposito   6  3 Tied   10  Graves  The Nest (528)
Sacramento, CA
Non-conference regular season
November 9, 2018*
7:05 pm
Simpson (CA) W 75–52  1–0
 20  Esposito   10  Graves   11  Graves  The Nest (537)
Sacramento, CA
November 16, 2018*
PPD, Big Sky Network
Cal Poly       The Nest 
Sacramento, CA
November 20, 2018*
7:05 pm
vs. UC Davis
Rivalry
W 58–55  2–0
 11   3 Tied    7   2 Tied    8  Graves  Golden 1 Center (1,545)
Sacramento, CA
November 24, 2018*
7:05 pm
Cal State Fullerton W 87-82 OT 3–0
 22  Graves   12  Graves   8  Graves  The Nest 
Sacramento, CA
November 29, 2018*
7:00 pm
at UC Santa Barbara L 58-75  3–1
 15  Patton   5  Mauriohooho-Le'afa   3   Tied   The Thunderdome (1,516)
Santa Barbara, CA
December 1, 2018*
7:05 pm
at Cal State Northridge W 88–68  4–1
 19  Graves   12  Esposito   5  Graves  Matadome (812)
Los Angeles, CA
December 8, 2018*
7:05 pm
at Portland L 67–76  4–2
 22  Patton   11  Patton   4   Tied   Chiles Center (1,789)
Portland, OR
December 11, 2018*
7:05 pm, Big Sky Network
Holy Names W 81–56  5–2
 19  Patton   11  Fowler   10  Graves  The Nest (496)
Sacramento, CA
December 13, 2018*
7:05 pm, Big Sky Network
Westcliff W 89–40  6–2
 18  Graves   11  Jacobs   6  Mauriohooho-Le'afa  The Nest (307)
Sacramento, CA
December 21, 2018*
7:05 pm, P12N
at Washington L 41–57  6–3
 12  Tied   6  Graves   2  3 tied  Alaska Airlines Arena (6,888)
Seattle, WA
Big Sky regular season
December 29, 2018
7:05 pm, Big Sky Network
Northern Colorado L 65–70  6–4
(0–1)
 15  Patton   9  Patton   6  Graves  The Nest (581)
Sacramento, CA
January 3, 2019
7:05 pm
at Montana L 56–87  6–5
(0–2)
 10  Graves   5  Mauriohooho   2  Graves  Dahlberg Arena (3,920)
Missoula, MT
January 5, 2019
1:05 pm
at Montana State L 70–84  6–6
(0–3)
 18  Graves   7  Fowler   5  Graves  Breeden Fieldhouse (2,723)
Bozeman, MT
January 12, 2019
7:05 pm, Big Sky Network
Idaho State L 70–72  6–7
(0–4)
 27  Graves   8  Fowler   4  Graves  The Nest (761)
Sacramento, CA
January 17, 2019
5:35 pm
at Northern Arizona W 66–64  7–7
(1–4)
 34  Patton   11  Patton   3  Graves  Walkup Skydome (1,706)
Flagstaff, AZ
January 19, 2019
1:05 pm
at Southern Utah L 71–76  7–8
(1–5)
 24  Graves   8  Nwachukwu   5  Graves  America First Center (1,672)
Cedar City, UT
January 24, 2019
7:05 pm, Big Sky Network
Idaho W 69–48  8–8
(2–5)
 14  Graves   8  Patton   10  Graves  The Nest (634)
Sacramento, CA
January 26, 2019
7:05 pm, Big Sky Network
Eastern Washington L 92–94 OT 8–9
(2–6)
 29  Graves   10  Nwachukwu   9  Graves  The Nest (708)
Sacramento, CA
January 31, 2019
6:05 pm
at Idaho State W 74–58  9–9
(3–6)
 18  Graves   9  Nwachukwu   6  Graves  Holt Arena (1,525)
Pocatello, ID
February 2, 2019
6:05 pm
at Weber State L 65–75  9–10
(3–7)
 14  Graves   6  Bridges   4  Graves  Dee Events Center (7,034)
Ogden, UT
February 9, 2019
6:05 pm
at Northern Colorado L 59–65  9–11
(3–8)
 14  Graves   6  Graves   3  Graves  Bank of Colorado Arena (1,637)
Greeley, CO
February 11, 2019
7:35 pm, Big Sky Network
Portland State W 78–67  10–11
(4–8)
 16  Esposito   7  Patton   5  Graves  The Nest (689)
Sacramento, CA
February 14, 2019
7:05 pm, Big Sky Network
Southern Utah W 84–73  11–11
(5–8)
 22  Patton   13  Patton   6  Maruiohooho  The Nest (615)
Sacramento, CA
November 16, 2019
7:05 pm, Big Sky Network
Northern Arizona L 66–78  11–12
(5–9)
 18  Graves   10  Patton   4  Patton  The Nest (706)
Sacramento, CA
February 21, 2019
7:05 pm, Big Sky Network
Weber State W 78–76  12–12
(6–9)
 24  Graves   12  Patton   7  Graves  The Nest (621)
Sacramento, CA
February 23, 2019
7:05 pm
at Portland State L 57–65  12–13
(6–10)
 12  Patton   8  Nwachukwu   6  Graves  Pamplin Sports Center (1,115)
Portland, OR
February 28, 2019
6:05 pm
at Eastern Washington W 59–56  13–13
(7–10)
 19  Graves   10  Graves   9  Graves  Reese Court (1,027)
Cheney, WA
March 2, 2019
7:05 pm
at Idaho L 90-94  13-14
(7-11)
 21  Tolbert   5  Patton   8  Graves  Cowan Spectrum (1,219)
Moscow, ID
March 7, 2019
7:05 pm, Big Sky Network
Montana State W 70–67  14–14
(8–11)
 34  Hall   8  Kirby   7  Frey  The Nest (709)
Sacramento, CA
March 9, 2019
7:05 pm, Big Sky Network
Montana L 68–86  14–15
(8–12)
 20  Patton   6  Patton   6  Mauriohooho  The Nest (977)
Sacramento, CA
Big Sky tournament
March 13, 2019
8:30 am
(8) vs. (9) Northern Arizona
First round
W 72–60  15–15
 27  Graves   4  Graves   5  Patton  CenturyLink Arena 
Boise, ID
March 14, 2019
11:00 am
(8) vs. (1) Montana
Quarterfinals
L 73–79  15–16
 30  Graves   8  Fowler   5  Graves  CenturyLink Arena 
Boise, ID
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Pacific.

[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ "The Nest Receives a Brand New Floor Design". Athletics at California State University, Sacramento. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  2. ^ UNC'S JORDAN DAVIS TABBED #BIGSKYMBB MVP; ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM ANNOUNCED. Big Sky Conference. https://bigskyconf.com/news/2019/3/11/mens-basketball-uncs-jordan-davis-tabbed-bigskymbb-mvp-all-conference-team-announced.aspx Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  3. ^ "2018–19 Men's Basketball Schedule". Athletics at California State University, Sacramento. Retrieved July 26, 2018.