The Sacramento State Hornets and the UC San Diego Tritons meet Saturday in college basketball action from LionTree Arena. Sacramento State is 0-1 this year so far following an opener loss to UCLA. As for UC San Diego, they fell to Seattle in their first game of the year. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Sacramento State posted a pretty rough campaign in 2021-22 with a 11-18 overall record. The Hornets went just 6-14 in Big Sky Conference games, which put the team ahead of only Idaho, Idaho State and Northern Arizona in the standings.
In their first action of the year back on Monday against UCLA, the Hornets were down 39-25 by halftime. Sac State put up another 25 points from there in a 76-50 loss. Both Zach Chappell and Cameron Wilbon put up 10 points apiece to lead the team.
Over on the UC San Diego side, they managed to go 13-16 overall last season. The Tritons were ineligible for the national tournament and the Big West Tournament however, due to their four-year mandatory transition period to Division I.
UC San Diego faced off against Seattle in their opener this year. The Tritons were down 42-29 by halftime and ended up with an 85-71 loss. Bryce Pope led the way with 23 points, and J’Raan Brooks added 11 points with five boards.
PICK: I’m probably going to stay with Sacramento State. The Hornets were overmatched versus UCLA in their opener game this year, but there are a few things to build on. Sacramento State out-rebounded the Bruins 37-33, but it hardly mattered thanks to 34.5 percent shooting (and just 2-of-18 from 3-point range) and 21 turnovers. That said UC San Diego should provide a much more manageable matchup for Sacramento State, and I think they’ll pull off the cover/win.