The Pacific Tigers will travel to Hornet Gym to square off against the Sacramento State Hornets. The game begins at 8:35 pm ET on Sunday, Nov. 29.
The Hornets were beaten by South Dakota 96-90 on Saturday. Cody Demps played well in the loss for Sacramento State, recording 19 points and 11 assists to earn his first double-double of the season. The Tigers, meanwhile, are coming off a 70-63 loss to Eastern Washington on Saturday. T.J. Wallace played well for Pacific, recording 11 points, eight rebounds, and four steals.
Sacramento State, a five-point favorite, will look to capitalize at home against Pacific. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is 142 points. The Hornets have started the season off hot Against The Spread (ATS) with a 2-0 record, while sporting a 4-0-1 Straight Up (SU) record. The Hornets have no trouble scoring as they rank 47th in the nation in home offense with 90.0 points per game. Sacramento State is one of the most disciplined teams in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.56. Transitioning to the Sacramento State defense, an area where the Hornets are particularly strong is shot blocking, where they average 5.2 blocks per game, 47th in Division I.
Over on the other bench, the Tigers have 1-3 SU and 2-1 ATS records. Pacific has not committed many turnovers, averaging only 10.2 per game.
These two will be squaring off for the first time this season. In their most recent meeting a season ago, Pacific came out on top, bringing its SU record to 3-1. The teams are even ATS, with a 2-2 record.
Predictions: SU Winner – Sac, ATS Winner – Sac, O/U – Over
Notes
Sacramento State 4-0-1 SU in its last 5 games.
Sacramento State is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games when playing Pacific.
Sacramento State scores 90.0 points per home game (ranked 47th). Pacific ranks a poor 166th in points allowed on the road, allowing 74.5 points.
On average, Sacramento State has 71.1 possessions per game and scores 1.161 points on each possession. Pacific has both fewer possessions (69.2) and scores fewer points during those possessions (1.043).
Pacific has an average effective field goal percentage of 45.7%. Sacramento State is an even 1-1 when opponents have a similar or higher effective field goal percentage.
Ranked 11th in the nation, Sacramento State has an average of 19.4 assists per game. Pacific ranks lower at 190th with 13.4.
Sacramento State, the 47th-ranked team in blocked shots, records an average of 5.2 per game. Pacific does worse, ranked 310th with 2.0.
Pacific makes an average of 4.6 steals per game. Sacramento State has a winning 3-1 record when it allows at least 4 steals.
