GAME PREVIEW

• Sacramento State (6-12, 2-4) is back in action for its second road game in three days when the Hornets travel to Cheney to face Eastern Washington (4-15, 2-4) on Saturday. Tip at Reese Court is set for 2 p.m.
• The Hornets had won both games last week at home, until the team's modest winning streak was snapped in Thursday's 86-76 loss at Idaho.
• After missing two games with injury, the Hornets welcomed back sophomore guard Mikey Williams (25.8 ppg in league) to the lineup at Idaho where he scored 14 points.
• Eight different Hornets have missed games to injuries this season. That includes five players that sat in the team's win over the Bears on Saturday.
• The Hornets are 6-1 at home, but it has been the exact opposite on the road. Sacramento State is still seeking its first road victory (0-11) and recently completed a seven-game road trip in which the team went 49 straight days without a home game. That streak was the third longest in the country among Div. I teams without a home game.
• Dating back to last season, the team has dropped 13 straight on the road, with the last victory coming at Weber State on Feb. 20 by an 80-77 score.
• Of Sacramento State's six Big Sky games thus far, five have been decided by double figures. The only close game was last week's 93-89 overtime win over Northern Colorado.
• Eastern Washington is 4-15 and 2-4, but could easily have a better record. Of the team's six conference games, four have been decided by four points or less, and the Eagles are 1-3 in those outcomes.
• The Eagles have played just six home games, and are 3-3 at Reese Court. On Thursday night, EWU narrowly fell at home to first-place Portland State by a 65-61 score. 
• Sacramento State is 17-47 all-time vs. Eastern Washington, including a 4-28 mark when playing in Cheney.
• The Hornets have dropped six of the last seven in the series with the only win since 2023 coming via 74-69 victory in the 2024 Big Sky Tournament quarterfinals in Boise. In that matchup, the No. 10 seed Hornets upset the top seed Eagles.
• The Hornets have dropped seven straight on Eastern Washington's home floor with the last win in Cheney coming on Feb. 28, 2019, by a 59-56 score.
• Eastern Washington is led by senior guard Isaiah Moses, who transferred before the season from UC Riverside where he was an honorable mention all-Big West selection. This year, he is the Big Sky's third leading scorer at 18.1 ppg.
• Expect plenty of scoring in Saturday's game as the Eagles (9th, 82.3 ppg) and Hornets (10th, 82.6 ppg) are at the bottom of the Big Sky defensively in points allowed.

MULTIMEDIA/TELEVISION OPTIONS

• For the fifth straight season, all Hornet home games, and games played at a Big Sky Conference venue, will stream on ESPN+. 
• All home games are called by 29th-year play-by-play announcer Steve McElroy and former Hornet assistant coach Ajay Riding.
• Five home games (beginning with the Northern Colorado victory) will be televised on KMAX 31. Its the first time in recent memory the Hornets have home games televised.
• 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..

RECAP OF THE IDAHO LOSS

• Idaho connected on 14 3-pointers, and saw five players bury multiple 3-balls, on the way to an 86-76 victory over Sacramento State on Thursday evening at ICCU Arena.
• The 14 3-pointers are the second most allowed this season by the Hornets, as the Vandals shot 44% (14-32) from long range while Hornets connected on just 3-of-14.
• Idaho took a comfortable lead after going on a 15-3 run midway through the first half that turned a 24-22 deficit into a 37-26 lead. From there, the Vandals, who held a 53-38 advantage at halftime, never led by anything less than three points the rest of the way.
• Sacramento State made things interesting by going on a 21-9 run to open the second half, and close within three points (62-59) with 12:12 remaining. However, Idaho responded with an 11-2 spurt to reclaim a 12-point advantage. The Vandals led by double figures the final 7:19 of the contest.
• Freshman Mark Lavrenov registered his third straight double-double with 26 points and 12 rebounds (seven on the offensive glass).

THE BIBBY ERA

• Head coach Mike Bibby, who spent half of his 14-year NBA career with the Sacramento Kings, returned 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 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 ON BOARD AS GENERAL MANAGER

• Shaquille O'Neal is 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.
• Dr. Al Biancani, the new strength and conditioning coach, developed a relationship with Bibby when he served in the same role with the Sacramento Kings while Bibby was a player. Biancani was the second-ever strength coach hired by an NBA team.

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 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 Hornets' first five home games. The only non-packed house came on a Sunday afternoon game vs. Presbyterian.
• 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 seven programs in the country with zero returning players from a year ago. 
• 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. 
• The 13 total transfers on the Hornets' roster are third most in the country, trailing only 14 by both Memphis and Southern Miss. There are seven teams that sit just below the Hornets with 12 transfers.
• Davis Ambuehl, who played for Hornet Football in the fall as a tight end, joined the Hornets on Nov. 25. He has yet to play for the basketball team while dealing with injury.

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.

MIKEY MAKING HIS MARK

• Sophomore guard Mikey Williams, who is a nationally popular player with over 3 million followers on Instagram, has been very good in his first season with the Hornets.
• He has scored at least 26 points in the three of the four league games he has played. He missed two straight games to injury, before returning Thursday to score 14 points at Idaho.
• He scored a career-high 34 points at Idaho State, 26 at Weber State, and 29 at Portland State. That's all part of a stretch in which he has scored in double figures each of his last eight games, including 18+ points in six of the last seven.
• Overall, he has 13 games in double figures (two 30-point games), including at least seven points in every game. After averaging 13.3 ppg through the first eight games of the season, he is averaging 23.3 ppg over his last eight games.
• His average of 25.8 ppg in Big Sky play is the top mark in the conference. Overall, Williams is averaging 17.6 points, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 34.3 minutes per game (3rd in Big Sky).
 
LAVRENOV NOT PLAYING LIKE A FRESHMAN

• Freshman forward Mark Lavrenov was thrust into action after Jeremiah Cherry went down with injury at UCLA. Cherry, off to a big start (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 Lavrenov, who has been a fixture in the Hornet rotation. He has posted three straight double-doubles, including season highs in rebounds (17) vs. Northern Colorado, and points (26) at Idaho. The 17 rebounds are tied for third most in the Hornet Div. I era.
• In league play, he is nearly averaging a double-double with 13.8 points and 9.7 rebounds. He is second in the league in both rebounding and offensive rebounds per game (4.0) against conference opposition. He has also pulled 10+ rebounds in four straight games.
• There is no time table for Cherry's return. The 6-foot-11, 250-pound forward is averaging 15.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest.
 
STAT SHEET STUFFING PROPHET

• Senior guard Prophet Johnson was named the Big Sky Player of the Week on Tuesday after averaging 29.5 ppg last week. That included a season-high 30 vs. Northern Colorado.
• He has scored in double figures 12 times, including seven games with at least 20 points.
• Johnson is averaging 16.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.6 steals per game.
• The steals are the eighth best mark in the nation. Among players standing under 6-foot-5, his 8.0 rebounds are the best mark in the country. In addition, the rebounding average is the third best among all guards in the nation.
• Despite scoring just eight points at Idaho, he nearly had a triple-double in that game with eight rebounds and career-high nine assists.
• At 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, his six double-doubles are just four shy of the Hornet Div. I era season record of 10, set by center Callum McRae in 2022-23.
 
NOTABLES

• If he had enough attempts to qualify, Jahni Summers' 3-point percentage of 49% would rank first in the Big Sky. Over his last 11 games, he is shooting 58% (29-50) from deep.
• The Hornets are 1-9 when being outrebounded by the opposition.
• Eight different Sacramento State players (over half the roster) have missed games this season because of injury.
• The Hornets have used six different starting lineups, and none of those starting units have been used in more than six games.
• Sacramento State has allowed seven teams to score at least 90 points this season, and the Hornets are 0-7 in those games.