As you get ready for tonight's game -- which will feature a mini-preview by yours truly on the game thread -- here are some interesting facts about Sacramento State, courtesy the Hornets' sports information department.
- WSU is the only Pac-10 team Sacramento State has ever defeated (1-28). The Hornets won, 45-44, in Sacramento in the 1953-54 season.
- Sacramento State turned the ball over 23 times in its last game. The Hornets rank 278th nationally in turnover percentage, giving the ball away in more than one out of every four possessions. That's bad, folks. (Actually, the Cougs haven't been much better at 24.4 percent, but you can chalk that up mostly to the heavy minutes the freshmen are logging with the ball in their hands.)
- Senior guard Loren Leath, the team's leading scorer last season, is again leading the way, averaging 17.5 points. No one else is averaging double figures.
- Of the 16 players on Sacramento State's roster, not one came there directly from high school. In fact, all but one came through the junior college ranks, including -- I swear I am not making this up -- 12 JC transfers this year. (In case you're curious, the team has signed a high school big man for next year.)
- Sacramento State has made at least one three-pointer in 406 consecutive games, a streak which dates back 15 years. The last time the Hornets did not make a three-pointer occurred on Nov. 28, 1993, when the team went 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in an 85-57 loss at Montana State. (Who better to end that streak than the school that had its football shutout streak ended this year? Anyone with me on this?)
- Forty percent of Sacramento State's shots have come from their big men, but it hasn't translated into trips to the free throw line -- the Hornets are 319 out of 334 teams in free throw rate.
- Sacramento State has a 24-game road losing streak.