GAME NOTES: The Sacramento State Hornets try to put a rough end to the regular season behind them on Thursday when they play a Big Sky Conference Tournament contest against the Portland State Vikings at Dahlberg Arena.

Sacramento State had been in first place and would have won the league and hosted this event with a win in either of its final two games. However, the Hornets lost both games and comes into this tournament as a three seed.

Still, the Hornets, who have never won a Big Sky title, had the best season in their Big Sky history with 19 wins and were 13-5 in the league.

Portland State, meanwhile, won four of its last six games and is the sixth seed after going 9-9 in conference play and 15-13 overall. The Vikings have advanced to the semifinals of this tourney in each of their last six appearances, including titles in both 2008 and 2009.

Sacramento State beat the Vikings both times they squared off during the season and has won the last three matchups. This, though, is the first meeting between the schools in the Big Sky Tournament.

The winner of this contest will square off against the winner between No. 4 Northern Arizona and the top-seed Montana on Friday.

Leading the way for the Hornets is Big Sky MVP Mikh McKinney, who averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game. Dylan Garrity averaged 13.3 points, 2.7 assists and has a team-high 69 three-point field goals. Cody Demps averaged 9.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists.

As a team, Sacramento State averaged 70.4 points per game and allows 67.4 points - which ranks second-best in the league. It also leads the Big Sky Conference in field-goal percentage (.485) and ranks second in 3-point percentage (.406). The Hornets are sixth in the nation in 3-point shooting and 11th in field-goal percentage.

DaShaun Wiggins was the most consistent offensive performer for Portland State this year, as he averaged a team best 15.8 points per game, ranking ninth in the Big Sky Conference. He is shooting .438 from three-point range to rank sixth in the Big Sky and his 43 steals is fourth-best in the league. He scored in double-figures 26 times in 28 games and has led the team in scoring 15 times. Wiggins has four 20+ scoring games and all four were Viking wins.

There was a time when it looked as if Sacramento State was going to be hosting this tournament. It picked the wrong time to struggle though, and could be ripe for the picking here for a hot Portland State team.