The Wildcats play hard and have some great moments, but are undone by a few bad stretches that involve surrendering a large run or two, usually including a string of 3-pointers from the opponent.

Thursday night’s game in the Dee Events Center was the same rerun.

Viljami Vartiainen netted career highs of 24 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the 3-point line, Blaise Threatt totaled 20 points, six rebounds, eight assists and three steals, but the shorthanded Wildcats had too many defensive lapses and couldn’t close the game with makes in an 80-77 loss to last-place Sacramento State.

The Wildcats suffered the program’s third-ever home loss to Sac State (now 27-3 when at home in the series) to fall into a tie for ninth — or 10th/last place, depending on the focus — with the Hornets and with four games left in the regular season.

Senior center Jacob Holt did the bulk of the damage for Sacramento State (7-20, 3-11 Big Sky), totaling 27 points and 13 rebounds while posting a career-high 5 of 9 from behind the arc. Freshman Lachlan Brewer made a career-high five 3s, too, as the Hornets blazed past their season-high 10 made 3s against Division I opponents with a 15-of-29 mark from deep.

The big run that did WSU in was a 14-0 rally over 4 1/2 minutes that took a 5-2 home lead to a 16-5 advantage for the visitors. Holt scored six of those points and Brewer made consecutive 3s in that stretch.

Redshirt freshman Nemanja Sarenac gave the Wildcats (9-19, 3-11) a needed boost by tossing in three 3s in a period of 2 1/2 minutes to key a 12-2 rally and make it 30-27. Sacramento State led 40-37 at halftime.

Continuing a run that began before halftime, Vartiainen emerged from the locker room with a pull-up paint jumper and a 3-pointer for an 11-0 run and a 42-40 Weber State lead. Trading scores for a few possessions, Vartiainen returned the Wildcats to a 47-45 lead on a 3-pointer with 16:40 left.

That would be WSU’s last lead of the game. Brewer and Holt hit consecutive 3s to start building a Sac State margin. Vartiainen would periodically answer with 3-pointers to keep WSU within three.

After Threatt threw a lob to Alex Tew for a dunk, a Vartiainen turnaround jumper made it 76-75 with 1:10 left and gave him his career-high 24 points.

The game was decided on the next sequence. With a smaller crowd of 2,196 fans now energized, Tew stonewalled Holt in the paint for a block. The ball rolled toward Sacramento State’s bench and a diving Bailey Nunn, who totaled seven assists for the Hornets, disrupted the loose ball enough to eventually force a held-ball whistle.

The possession arrow kept the ball in Sac State’s possession with 39.6 seconds on the game clock and 3 on the shot clock. On the inbound pass, Holt got himself enough airspace off a screen and fired a contested 3 over Tew from the deep left wing, finding nothing but net.

The Hornets used that 79-75 lead to hang on for the win, overcoming five consecutive missed free throws in the final 26 seconds by blocking two shots and keeping Weber from finding the basket.

WSU shot 52.5% from the floor and 40.9% from distance, totaling more field goals (31-29) than Sac State, but shot 6 of 11 at the foul line.

Weber State next hosts third-place Portland State (16-11, 8-6) at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Vikings took an 82-74 loss to Idaho State on Thursday.

WOMEN COLD IN ROAD LOSS

Weber State women’s basketball saw an opportunity for a win streak freeze up in a Thursday trip to Sacramento State, losing 56-45 after beating the Hornets by 16 at home one month ago.

The Wildcats (10-14, 7-7 Big Sky) remain in fourth place but missed a chance to tie Idaho in third after the Vandals lost their third straight game Thursday.

Weber State did not reach 10 made field goals until there was 1:33 left in the contest. Sacramento State (12-15, 5-9) led 23-19 at halftime but the Wildcats shot 1 of 12 in the third quarter while the Hornets made six of their 17 field goals in the frame to lead 36-28 after three.

In the end, WSU shot 12 of 57 (21.1%) overall and 3 of 22 (13.6%) from the 3-point line.

Thanks to an 8-of-11 mark at the foul line, Rose Bubakar led Weber State with 12 points, adding six rebounds. Kendra Parra scored 10 points and Antoniette Emma-Nnopu added six points and 12 rebounds.

Sac State shot 11 of 19 in the second half to pull away. Jaydia Martin led the way with 16 points and seven rebounds. Benthe Versteeg added 12 points.

WSU next plays at Portland State (4-19, 1-13) at 2 p.m. MST Saturday after the Vikings lost in double overtime to Idaho State on Thursday.