10th-seeded Sac State stuns No. 1 Eastern Washington to reach Big Sky semifinals on ESPNU

David Patrick notices details, small or large, inside or out, and the weather caught his attention over the weekend in Boise.

“We’ve had better weather here than last year, which was a good omen,” the Sacramento State men’s basketball coach said Monday morning with a laugh in appreciating the mid-40s chill.

He added that the Hornets’ inspired showing in Idaho, which has the program on the cusp of its first Big Sky Conference Tournament championship appearance, is an example of hard work turning into a measure of “good living.” It’s been a long time coming, too. The 10th-seeded Hornets have put their 4-14 showing in the Big Sky regular season behind them to turn the bracket upside down. They now seek their first conference final since joining the league in 1996.

Sacramento State eliminated Idaho 72-64 in Saturday’s tournament opener before stunning top-seeded and regular-season champion Eastern Washington 74-69 on Sunday to advance to the semifinals for just the fourth time in program history. The Hornets will play Tuesday afternoon on ESPNU against the winner of Monday’s Weber State-Montana State contest. Sacramento State has split with those teams this season, so more winning “is doable,” Patrick said.

In no way have the Hornets felt that they were in over their heads. Sacramento State has reached this point behind the efforts of eight players, four of them freshmen, including two freshman starters: 6-foot-4 guard Emil Skytta, a transfer from Central Michigan with roots in Finland, and 7-foot Bowyn Beatty out of Australia and the NBA’s Global Academy.

The Hornets still have life to a season that started with promise despite being without leading scorer and rebounder Duncan Powell. The 6-foot-9 forward is out with a knee injury. The team since the start of January has not had the services of Brandon Betson, a senior guard who left the program through a mutual agreement with Patrick.

So how did Sacramento State become the first No. 10 seed to bounce a No. 1 seed in the Big Sky? How does any of it make sense?

“From the outside looking in, people wonder how we can win without those players,” Patrick said. “The team is bigger than one or two players, and that speaks volumes about what our guys have done. It’s really been kind of cool.”

Patrick has been defined as being kind of cool, too. He is in his second season heading the Hornets, and he’s been a winner wherever he’s been. This includes assistant coaching stints at Oklahoma and Arkansas and as head coach at UC Riverside. He is a people person, engaging, funny and insightful, much like his good pal Mike Brown, the Sacramento Kings coach. Those men have attended each other’s games and practices the last two seasons.

Patrick is a renowned recruiter who works every inch of the globe in search of a shooter, a rebounder, a passer or a defender, which is fitting since he coaches every inch of every game as if it’s his last. Patrick doesn’t sit. He paces the sideline, urging effort, applauding a charge, chewing on a referee.

The Hornets showed glimpses of how good they could be this season, losing more tight games than they care to remember. But they have put together their best stretch of the season because they have become a cohesive unit. Sacramento State has won four of its last five games. The loss was just over a week ago in the Big Sky regular-season finale, a 91-88 setback to Eastern Washington.

“I’ve been to a lot of places and been with a lot of programs, builds and rebuilds, and this is a build,” Patrick said. “When you’re building, it takes time. When you bring in 12 new guys from five different continents and different programs, the language, the basketball language, the living, how I coach them, it takes time.”

He added: “Day by day, practice by practice, we’ve gotten better. Most of our games have come down to the last two or three possessions. People say ‘trust the process’ all the time, but not everyone does. We have.”

Zee Hamoda led the charge against Eastern Washington with 19 points, making all five of his 3-point attempts. The 6-7 guard is from Bahrain, the third-smallest nation in Asia. He played at Utah State of the Mountain West Conference last season.

Akol Mawein had his second big tournament game against Eastern Washington, scoring 17 points. The 6-9 senior forward is a native of Sydney, Australia. He played at Oklahoma in 2021-22. Freshman point guard Bailey Nunn had 11 points, two assists and two steals against Eastern Washington. He is from Melbourne, Australia.

Not every key player is from overseas, certainly. Junior guard Austin Patterson is from Sonora, the heart of Gold Rush country in Tuolumne County. He started all 32 games for the Hornets last season. He had nine points and a season-high nine rebounds against Eastern Washington.

Patrick has delivered on his message to all of the players he has recruited. They will have a shot to play, including the freshmen. The Hornets lead all Division I programs in minutes played for freshmen. Transfers will have a new opportunity to compete and develop, and Sacramento State plays a fun brand of ball. Everyone on the bench stands and cheers big efforts, and there has been a lot of that in Boise.

After the Eastern Washington game, Patrick tried to keep things as normal as possible. That wasn’t easy. Players and coaches celebrated, then headed back to the hotel, had a team meal, broke down film, and hit the sack by 10:30 p.m.

That was considered normal routine, but it really wasn’t. The Hornets were not packing their bags to head back to Sacramento as most No. 10 seeds generally do after facing the No. 1 seed. Patrick said the weather and the challenge are too good to pass up.

“I told them to be consistent, win, lose or draw, and today, we had a breakfast, and we’ll lift weights and try to keep it all the same as usual,” Patrick said. “You can get caught up in all of it. I got extra texts after the win and the guys got extra texts. They were juiced.”