SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Jessup University men's basketball team fell 90-74 at Division I Sacramento State on Monday night at Hornet Pavilion, with
Cayden McDaniel scoring 24 points and
Aleksandar Mitrovic adding 14 in front of 2,324 fans. The Warriors stayed within reach for most of the night, but the Hornets won on the strength of free throws, fast breaks and points off turnovers in the season-opening exhibition.
Jessup was in the game early. The teams traded the lead 12 times and were tied four times in the first half, with the Warriors going ahead 20-18 on a fast-break layup by
Wyatt Studer and 23-22 on a Studer three-pointer at the 9:00 mark. Jessup shot 15-of-27 (55.6 percent) in the first half and outscored Sac State 22-14 in the paint, and McDaniel had 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting while
Tom Parsons added eight on 3-of-3.
Amarlie Wilkinson filled the stat sheet with five points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Mitrovic was a perfect 4-of-4 at the line. But 13 first-half turnovers led to 19 Hornet points, and Larry Hughes II scored 18 before the break as Sac State took a 50-42 lead into halftime.
The Warriors cut the deficit to four, 67-63, on a McDaniel layup with 9:03 remaining, but Sac State answered with a 12-3 burst and never let Jessup closer than 12 the rest of the way. Jessup shot 10-of-33 (30.3 percent) in the second half and 1-of-10 from three-point range, while the Hornets went 18-of-23 at the line after 31 total Jessup fouls. McDaniel scored 11 of his 24 points in the second half, and Mitrovic finished 10-of-11 at the free-throw line to go with three assists, three steals and a block.
Jessup shot 41.7 percent (25-of-60) for the game, including 5-of-21 from three, and hit 19-of-27 free throws. The Warriors scored 40 points in the paint to Sac State's 28, dished out 18 assists and forced 13 steals, with Wilkinson (four steals, six rebounds, four assists, seven points) leading the way and Kendall Connor adding six rebounds off the bench. Parsons finished with eight points, four rebounds and a block, and Studer and Michael Brown each scored five. The difference came in the transition game: Jessup committed 20 turnovers that Sac State turned into 27 points, and the Hornets won the fast-break battle 22-13 and the bench scoring 28-16.
Jessup stays on the road for its next game, traveling to Arcata, Calif., to face Cal Poly Humboldt on Monday, Nov. 9, at 5:30 p.m. at Lumberjack Arena. The Lumberjacks, led by head coach DJ Broome, reached the NCAA Division II Tournament last season for the first time since 2016. The Warriors then return home for the CCAA/PacWest Challenge at Warrior Arena, hosting Stanislaus State on Friday, Nov. 13, at 5 p.m. and CSU East Bay on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m.
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About Jessup University Athletics Jessup University is a member of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division II and the PacWest Conference. For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Instagram & X).
