The Hornets suffered their most disappointing loss of the season on Wednesday night at the Arena, falling to the struggling Sacramento Kings 105-96.

The Kings (5-8) ended a three-game losing streak. They had lost by 15 points at Memphis on Tuesday night and had been 1-5 on the road.

The Hornets dropped to 5-5 after posting a 3-0 record to begin the season. Their recent inconsistency continued.

The Hornets posted a franchise-record 56 victories last season and were predicted to challenge the Lakers for the Western Conference title. Coach Byron told his players last season was over.

Scott told his team, "You're fooling yourself if you think teams are scared of you when you step on the court, You haven't done anything for teams to be afraid of. You've got to compete for 48 minutes and you're not doing that. If you play hard for only 24 minutes, you're going to lose."

The Kings played without three starters. The Kings went on an 18-8 run over the final 5:07, handed the Bees their third home loss here in six games. Scott said, "the Kings wanted the game more than we did in the second half. They had more energy. They wanted the game more than we did."

Chris Paul led the Hornets with 20 points and 15 assists,

John Salmons led the Kings with 29 points and former Hornet Bobby Jackson had all 8 of his points in the final 5:10 of the game.

The Hornets play Oklahoma City on Friday night.

"We're too stagnant and predictable," said Hornets center Tyson Chandler. "We come down the court and the ball stays on one side, and we don't accomplish anything.

"We run so much in practice and we've got to run in the games. Since we've been a little off offensively, it's creeping over to the defensive side.

"Coach has some things planned for us."

SOME HITHER, OTHERS YON: Joe McKnight's USC season has been stunted from the beginning. The sophomore tailback from John Curtis has experienced an unusual number of personal setbacks. Last week, he missed two weeks of practice after he attended his grandmother's funeral. During training camp in August, he was one of many Trojans stricken with what players call "jock itch." He also suffered a broken finger when a teammate slammed a door on his hand, and a hyper extended elbow during practice. He scored his only touchdown of the season on a pass reception in the opener against Virginia, but he was forced to leave the Ohio State game with a migraine, In October, he suffered a toe injury while rushing for a career-best 143 yards against Arizona State. He didn't play against Washington because of academic issues. "It's been kind of frustrating,:said McKnight, "but I'm keeping a positive mind-set."...The Yankees will play their first exhibition game in the new Yankee Stadium on Friday, April 3 against the Cubs. The Bombers will play their first regular-season game in the new ballpark on Thursday, April 16, against the Indians...

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano told his team at the start of the season, "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die to get there." It's going be hard to find heaven in Miami. You would have to go to South Beach...Tulane is a 29 1/2 point underdog to Tulsa on Saturday, That's the largest point spread of the season. The Green Wave ranks 114th among 120 1-A teams in power ratings. Louisiana-Monroe is 112th...Prior to the Saints' Monday night's game against the Packers, author Alan Donnes will meet fans and sign copies of his book, Patron Saints, at the  Saints Team Shop at the Superdome. The book was originally published in 2007 and chronicles the Saints' return to New Orleans following Katrina and their rise to national prominence and appearance in the NFC championship game...Will Muschamp, defensive coordinator at LSU during the Tigers' 2003 national championship season, has been designated as the coach-in-waiting at Texas when Mack Brown retires. He will double his salary from $450,000 to $900,000. Muschamp was a top candidate for the vacant Clemson, Tennessee and Washington jobs. He likely will leave the Longhorns before Brown, 57, retires...Reports are that Steve Spurrier  will retire following this season. Spurrier, 62, was thought to be leaning heavily toward retirement before Saturday's 53-6 debacle against Florida. He is upset because South Carolina officials aren't inclined to give the head-coaching job to to his son, Steve Jr.

Ed Staton can be reached at edcoachstaton@yahoo,com.

Sign up for our Email Newsletter