GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State (2-0) will play the third and final leg of its season-opening three-game homestand on Tuesday vs. UC Santa Barbara (2-0). Tip at Hornet Pavilion is 7:00 p.m.
• Both teams come into the game undefeated, and the Gauchos will be the Hornets' first true test of the season. Both Sacramento State wins came against non-Div. I competition. The Gauchos have won 20-plus games twice in the last three seasons and were selected second in the Big West Conference preseason poll.
• The Hornets will join UC Santa Barbara in the Big West as this is their 30th and final year in the Big Sky. In fact, next season, the Hornets and Gauchos will play three times with one non-conference game at Santa Barbara, before the usual two conference matchups.
• Sacramento State has posted two double-digit wins to open the year, including 103-79 vs. Dominican, and most recently on Friday night, an 86-76 victory against Jessup.
• Like the Hornets, the Gauchos have played two home games thus far. Between the two teams, only one game has been played against a Div. I member. UCSB opened with a 98-67 win over Div. II San Francisco State, before an 85-74 win vs. San Jose State.
• Sacramento State is 1-6 all-time against UC Santa Barbara, and the teams haven't played  since a 75-58 Gaucho victory in Santa Barbara on Nov. 29, 2018.
• The only win for the Hornets came in a 51-50 victory in Santa Barbara in 2013.
• The Hornets have never defeated the Gauchos in Sacramento (0-3). That includes losses in 2017, 1992 and 1954. However, all those losses took place in the Nest. Sacramento State now plays its games in the brand new Hornet Pavilion.
• The fixed seating at Hornet Pavilion have been sold out for both games thus far, as Hornet fans have been flocking to see first-year head coach Mike Bibby and a roster that features 14 brand new players. Zero players are on the team from a year ago.
• The Hornets have four players averaging double figures in Jayden Teat (20.0 ppg), Prophet Johnson (18.5 ppg), Jeremiah Cherry (16.0 ppg) and Mikey Williams (13.0 ppg). No one else on the team averages more than 7.0 points per game.
• Bibby is 2-0 as a collegiate head coach after being named the 17th head men's basketball coach in program history on March 25, 2025. A fan favorite during his NBA career with the Sacramento Kings, Bibby returned home to coach the Hornets.
• 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.
• Bibby is the third Sacramento State head coach in three years, joining 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.
• That includes Tuesday's game which will air on ESPN+ with 29th-year play-by-play announcer Steve McElroy, and analyst Ajay Riding on the call.
• 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..

JESSUP WIN RECAP

• Jeremiah Cherry (15 pts, 12 reb) and Prophet Johnson (16 pts, 11 reb) both posted double-doubles to lead Sacramento State to an 86-76 victory over Jessup on Friday evening.
• Like the season opener on Tuesday, fans packed the brand new Hornet Pavilion and the Hornets delivered an 86-point performance that included nine players scoring.
• The Hornets led for over 35 minutes of game clock, outscoring the Warriors by four points in the first half, and six in the second half. Sacramento State shot 45% (27-60) from the field, 45% (13-29) from the 3-point line and 70% (19-27) from the free throw line. 
• The team also had nine blocked shots (five from Cherry) that helped limit Jessup to 42% shooting (30-72) from the field. Sacramento State had 19 assists on its 27 made buckets, including a game-high eight dimes from Mikey Williams.
• Cherry has now posted double-doubles in each of the first two games of the season.  Johnson's double-double also accompanied 10 made free throws, five assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Four Hornets scored in double figures, including Jayden Teat's game-high 19 points (7-13 FG, 5-9 3FG). Williams finished with 16 points, six rebounds, eight assists, one steal and a game-high +17 in plus/minus.
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.

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 athletic trainer (Samm Brockel) and team manager (Drew Peters) remain the same from a year ago.

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 been sold out each of the first two 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 14 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 14 players on the roster, there are 10 Div. I transfers, two high school players, one junior college transfer, and one transfer from a Div. II school. In all, 12 of the team's 14 players are transfers.
• 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, who became Rocklin High School's all-time leading scorer with 2,177 career points.
• Other Div. I teams with completely new rosters are Arkansas State, Xavier, Miami, North Texas, Cleveland State and Memphis.

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 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.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE

• Jeremiah "Bear" Cherry has posted double-doubles each of the first two games, finishing with 17 pts and 10 reb vs. Dominican, and posting 15 pts and 12 reb against Jessup.
• Cherry leads the Big Sky in both rebounds (11.0 rpg) and blocked shots (4.0 bpg). He is also third in minutes (34.9 mpg) and has played 34+ minutes in both games.
• Cherry is averaging 6.0 trips to the free throw line. A transfer from UNLV and the Hornets' lone true big man, he averaged 9.9 points and 5.3 rebounds for the Rebels last season.
 
TEAT A HIGH SCORING SIXTH MAN

• A local product and transfer from Utah, guard Jayden Teat is averaging a team-best 20.0 points per game despite serving as the team's sixth man.
• Teat is averaging just 24.6 minutes, but has been highly proficient, shooting 57% (13-23) from the field and 60% (9-15) from the 3-point line. He has striped at least four 3-pointers in each game and has yet to score under 19 points.
• He has also yet to miss from the free throw line (5-5). After playing 18 minutes the first game, he went up to 31 minutes in the team's second contest. 
 
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 18.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals.
• He narrowly missed a double-double (21 pts, 9 reb) against Dominican, and followed that with 16 points and 11 rebounds vs. Jessup. Johnson is shooting 56% (5-9) from long range, and has already been to the free throw line 22 times (converting 16 of those trips).
• During the 2024-25 season at Fairfield, Johnson was a third team all-MAAC selection after averaging 13.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.9 steals
 
MIKEY MAKING HIS MARK

• Sophomore guard Mikey Williams, who is a nationally known player with over 3 million followers on Instagram, has done a nice job at the point this season.
• He currently ranks second in the Big Sky with 7.0 assists per game, has scored in double figures in both contests, and has run an offense that is averaging 94.5 points and shooting 48 percent from the field.
• A transfer from UCF, Williams current line includes 13.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 32.7 minutes per contest. Williams had 16 pts, 6 reb and 8 ast on Friday vs. Jessup.
 
LAST SEASON'S TEAM

• Last year's team, which was led by interim head coach Michael Czepil, finished 7-25 overall and 3-15 in the Big Sky. 
• All 14 players on that roster either graduated or transferred to a different school.
• Prior to this season, Sacramento State had never began a season with less than four returners on its roster.