GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State (4-4) will begin a season-long seven game road trip on Saturday evening at Pacific (5-2). The Hornets and Tigers will tip at 7 p.m. at the Spanos Center.
• Through the first eight games, the Hornets have played five at home (4-1 at Hornet Pavilion). But the home cooking ended with Tuesday's 94-46 victory vs. San Francisco State.
• In fact, the Hornets will go 50 straight days without a home game, a stretch that runs from Nov. 26 until Jan. 14.
• Moreover, the Hornets do not return home until their Big Sky Conference home opener on Jan. 15 vs. Northern Arizona.
• Pacific is the first leg of a road trip that will see the Hornets play teams from the Big Sky (first three conference games are on the road), Big 12 (Baylor), WCC (Pacific), Big West (CSUN) and Western Athletic Conference (California Baptist).
• The Hornets are seeking their first road win, as the team lost at UC Davis (77-73) before a pair of lopsided losses at #19 UCLA (79-48) and California (91-67).
• Sacramento State and Pacific will play each other for the first time in nearly 10 years - last meeting was a 74-58 Hornet loss in Stockton on Dec. 1, 2016.
• The Hornets are 10-30 all-time against the Tigers, including a 2-20 mark in Stockton.
• Sacramento State has lost 15 straight road games to Pacific, and has not won in Stockton since a 65-48 victory on Dec. 13, 1955. 
• Overall, Sacramento State has defeated Pacific just twice since 1964, and has gone 2-15  over that span. The Hornets' last win in the series came via 74-72 overtime win at the Nest on Dec. 6, 2006. In that game, Sacramento State shooting guard Haron Hargrave buried a corner 3-ball with 0.4 seconds left in overtime.
• The Tigers bring a 5-2 record into Saturday, which includes a pair of lopsided wins in Daytona Beach, Fla., vs. Stony Brook (86-58) and Jacksonville (68-53) earlier this week.
• Pacific is 2-0 at home, including a 69-66 victory over Long Beach State.
• The Hornets finished last season with a 7-25 overall record and 3-15 in the Big Sky Conference. The team finished in last place (10th) for the second straight year.
• Mike Bibby is the third head coach for the program in three years - David Patrick (2023-24) and Michael Czepil (2024-25).

MULTIMEDIA OPTIONS

• For the fifth straight season, all Hornet home games, and games played at a Big Sky Conference venue, will stream on ESPN+. The subscription-based service will stream on watchespn.com and the ESPN App.
• Saturday's game at Pacific will also air on ESPN+
• Links for all multimedia options, including live stats for every game, can be found next to each game on the men's basketball schedule at hornetsports.com..

SAN FRANCISCO STATE WIN RECAP

• Sacramento State's Prophet Johnson and Jahni Summer both connected for 21 points on the way to a 94-46 victory over San Francisco State on Tuesday evening in front of another packed house at Hornet Pavilion.
• The Hornets led from start to finish, and were never threatened in a game that saw all 12 players crack the scoring column. That includes Summers (6-for-9) and Johnson (4-for-7) who combined to shoot 10-of-16 from the 3-point line.
• Sacramento State outscored the Gators, 49-23, in the first half, and 45-23 in the second half. The Hornets held sizable advantages in rebounds (56-36), points off turnovers (20-2), points in the paint (40-16), second chance points (20-2) and fast break points (21-6). 
• Johnson had a huge game with 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and six steals. Summers' 21 points were one shy of his career high as he was a +30 in plus/minus in 24 minutes of action. Shaqir O'Neal had nine points and five rebounds.

NEW ADDITION TO THE ROSTER

• On Tuesday, the Hornets added 6-9, 245-pound center Davis Ambuehl to the roster. Ambuehl just completed a season with the Sacramento State football team as a tight end.
• The Hornets needed more size on the roster, and brought in a player in Ambuehl who spent the 2022-23 season on Ole Miss' basketball roster (he did not play a game).
• He spent the last two years playing football at UNLV (2024) and Sacramento State (2025).


BIBBY ERA HAS BEGUN

• Head coach Mike Bibby, who spent half of his 14-year NBA career with the Sacramento Kings, returns to the city where he became a fan favorite while helping the Kings to multiple playoff appearances in the early 2000s.
• A first team All-American, Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, Bibby helped Arizona to a 1997 NCAA national championship.
• Recently, Bibby had assistant coaching stops with the Puerto Rican National Team, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies summer league teams, and the NBA G-League Ignite.
• During his six seasons at Shadow Mountain High School (five as head coach), he coached the team to five state championships, a 157-21 overall record, a 72-game winning streak, and a six-year home winning streak.

SHAQ JOINS PROGRAM AS GENERAL MANAGER

• Shaquille O'Neal is currently in his first season as general manager of the Hornets. He joined the program shortly after the appointment of Mike Bibby to head coach.
• O'Neal played 19 years in the NBA and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.
• He accepted the position in a volunteer capacity and will focus on recruitment, marketing, and holistic player development - both on and off the court.

FORMER KING BRAD MILLER ALSO ON STAFF

• Fourteen-year NBA veteran Brad Miller is also on staff as the team's Lead Advisor.
• Miller spent six years with the Kings where he and Bibby were teammates from 2003-07.
• A two-time All-Star, Miller finished his career with 11.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 48% from the field and 80% from the free throw line.

ENTIRE COACHING STAFF IS NEW

• Not only is Mike Bibby brand new to the program, so is his entire coaching staff. That includes his son, Michael Bibby, who is one of two associate head coaches.
• Joining the Bibbys on the staff are associate head coach Raymond Walcott, and assistant coaches Jason Fraser, Greg Moody II and Dr. August Mendes.
• The Hornets list two general managers, including Zach Chappell and Shaq. Chappell was an assistant coach on last year's coaching staff, and also played three highly successful seasons as player at Sacramento State (2020-23). An all-Big Sky Conference performer as a senior in 2022-23, he played one season of pro ball in Germany in 2024.
• The Hornets also have two new basketball operations guys in Michael Warren and Gerrard Carmichael, and new strength and conditioning coach Dr. Al Biancani. It was Biancani that developed a relationship with Bibby when he was the strength and conditioning coach with the Sacramento Kings while Bibby was a player.

THE MOVE TO HORNET PAVILION

• Sacramento State's 66-year run in the Nest has come to an end.
• The team moved its home games to The WELL on campus. The name of the facility is Hornet Pavilion. The project has converted a portion of the The WELL, an on-campus fitness facility, into a venue for both the men's and women's basketball teams.
• Overall capacity is 3,000, and the project was completed in late October. The fixed seating portion of the facility has sold out four of the team's first five home games.
• The Hornets had played in the Nest every year since 1955, except four seasons (1996-00) when they spent their first four Big Sky years at downtown Memorial Auditorium.

BRAND NEW ROSTER

• All 15 players on the Hornets' roster are brand new to the program. Sacramento State is one of eight programs in the country with zero returning players from a year ago. One of those teams is Baylor, who the Hornets play on Dec. 2 in Waco, Texas.
• Of the 15 players on the roster, there are 11 Div. I transfers, two high school players, one junior college transfer, and one transfer from a Div. II school. 
• Sacramento State has two local players on the roster in sophomore Jayden Teat, who transferred from Utah after starring at Capital Christian High School and Jesuit High School in Sacramento. The other is freshman Mark Lavrenov from Rocklin High School.

FINAL SEASON IN THE BIG SKY

• This season marks the Hornets' 30th in the Big Sky Conference (1996-pres.), but will also serve as the team's last.
• During the summer, Sacramento State announced that it will join the Big West Conference as a full member beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.
• In 2026, the Hornets will join a Big West lineup that includes California Baptist, Cal Poly, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, CSUN, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, and Utah Valley.

NBA LINEAGE

• Sacramento State has two players on the roster that have fathers that played in the NBA.
• That includes Shaqir O'Neal's father, Shaq, who played 19 seasons in the NBA (1992-2011) and is a member of the Hall of Fame. Taj Glover's father, Dion, played in the NBA for six seasons (1999-05).
• In addition, Isaiah Bronson's father, Lorenzo, was an official in the NBA.
• Also, of course, assistant coach Michael Bibby's father, Mike, played 14 seasons in the NBA and is Sacramento State's head coach.

LAVRENOV FILLING IN WELL FOR INJURED BEAR

• Freshman forward Mark Lavrenov has been thrust into action after Jeremiah Cherry went down with injury at UCLA. Cherry, who was having a big season (15.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg), was injured at the 8:18 mark of the first half against the Bruins and has not played since.
• In stepped in Lavrenov, who is a true freshman. He immediately posted a double-double (10 pts, 10 reb) in 29 minutes against the Bruins.
• He then followed that up at Cal where he had 14 points and eight rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. On Tuesday vs. San Francisco State, he had four points and nine boards.
• Over the last three games, he is averaging 9.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 29.4 minutes while going 16-of-20 from the free throw line. In addition, 11 of his 27 rebounds over that three-game stretch have come on the offensive glass.
• There is no time table for Cherry's return. The 6-foot-11, 250-pound forward is one of the Hornets' best players, ranking second on the team in scoring (15.5 ppg) and reb (8.2 rpg).
• Cherry posted three double-doubles in his first six games and had scored 15+ points in every game until scoring two points at UCLA before being injured in the first half.
• Lavrenov replaced Cherry in the starting lineup at Cal, after Sacramento State has used the same starting five each of the first six games (Johnson, Williams and Summers at guard, Cherry and O'Neal at forward).
 
STAT SHEET STUFFING PROPHET

• A great rebounding guard at previous stops, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound Prophet Johnson is at it again. He is currently averaging 16.0 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 4.1 apg, 2.6 spg and 33.1 mpg.
• Despite standing 6-foot-3, his five double-doubles are third most in the country, and he is the second best rebounding guard in the nation.
• Among Big Sky leaders, he ranks first in steals, second in rebounding, fifth in minutes, seventh in scoring and eighth in assists.
• He has been efficient, shooting 49% (41-83) from the field and 47% 15-32) from the 3-point line while also averaging 5.8 trips to the free throw line per game. That boils down to 128 total points on just 83 field goal attempts.
• Last season at Fairfield, Johnson led the team in scoring, rebounding and steals. In fact, the shooting guard now has 14 double-doubles in his career.
 
MIKEY MAKING HIS MARK

• Sophomore guard Mikey Williams, who is a nationally known player with over 3 million followers on Instagram, has been very good, including a 30-point explosion vs. UCSB.
• In that UCSB game, he had 30 points (10-16 FG, 4-7 3FG, 6-8 FT) and five assists in a game-high 39 minutes. That included 14 points in the first half, and 16 in the second half. 
• He ranks third on the team with 13.3 ppg, and has done a nice job setting up his teammates. His 44 total assists rank ninth in the nation, he has led the team in assists in all but one game, and his 34.1 minutes per contest ranks second in the Big Sky.
• He has scored in double figures five times, and has 4+ assists in seven of eight games.