Sacramento State men’s basketball drew a full house to the brand new Hornets Pavilion on Tuesday night with Mike Bibby earning his first victory as head coach.
The Hornets defeated the Dominican University of California Penguins — a NCAA Division II program from the Bay Area — 103-79. With the win, Sac State improved to 52-0 all-time against non–Division I opponents.
Bibby, a 14-year NBA veteran and Sacramento Kings legend, takes over a program that went 7-25 last season and finished last in the Big Sky Conference for the second straight year. It marks his first coaching job at the collegiate level. He spent six years on the coaching staff for Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, Arizona.
This Hornets roster underwent drastic changes this offseason with 14 new players joining the team.
“I was anxious. It wasn’t nervous,” Bibby said. “It’s different than playing. I can’t get on the court and control what happens in the game.”
Sac State held a narrow 41-39 lead at halftime before finding its rhythm in the second half. The Hornets tightened their defense and shot more efficiently, building a lead that exploded to as many as 26 points.
“If we don’t foul them and give up layups, it’s not that close of a game,” Bibby said. “But they played tough, and our defense set it off for us in the second half.”
The Hornets outscored the Penguins 62-40 after the break to secure the win.
Senior Forward Prophet Johnson was methodical in his game — stuffing the stat sheet with 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. Johnson shot 6-of-9 from the field, 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, 6-of-8 from the free throw line.
Sophomore Guard Jayden Teat — a graduate of Capital Christian in Sacramento (now Destiny Christian Academy) — also scored 21 points shooting 6-10 from the field while dishing out 3 assists.
“It’s truly a blessing — blessing for all of us,” Teat said. “We all wanted to play Division I basketball growing up and we made it here. We’re just trying to make the best of our opportunity.”
Sophomore Guard Jayden Teat maneuvering through a screen set by Jeremiah Cherry in Sacramento State's home opener against Dominican University of California. Nov. 4, 2025.Chris Felts/CapRadio
New Hornets Pavillion brings in big crowd
The opportunity to shine was certainly there as students and community members packed Hornets Pavilion, registering 2,312 attendees.
Located inside ‘The WELL’, the on-campus fitness and health facility, Hornets Pavillion is decked out with new LED screens, a new sound system, and new expanded seating, tripling the capacity compared to the university's previous gym built in 1955, the Nest which only held 1,000.
The women’s basketball team was the first to christen the new facility on Monday with a dominant 85-point win over Stanton University, 124-39. The victory outshines the university’s previous record margin of 71 points in an 86-15 win over San Francisco State in 1974.
Bibby praised the turnout and spoke about the pride in having a home court advantage.
“It's real big,” Bibby said. “I’m going to try to turn this into the Duke arena. Where it’s a little smaller. Just have our fans getting rowdy and corrupt in there.”
“It was amazing,” Teat said. “I’ve been to one Sac State game and it’s never been like this before. Really happy the fans came out and it really helped us pull it out at the end.”
The new Hornets Pavillion was packed for the Sac State men's basketball opener, registering 2,312 attendees.Chris Felts/CapRadio
Big names bring attention
The landscape of sports in Sacramento has garnered much attention in recent years with the relative success of the Kings, the A’s bringing Major League Baseball to the city until at least 2028, and Republic FC building a new soccer stadium in the Downtown Railyards.
This renaissance has included Sac State as President Dr. Luke Wood pushes with all his might to make the university a respectable destination for student athletes across the country.
One of the ways Wood has yanked eyes and ears towards the basketball program is bringing in big names like Mike Bibby. NBA champion and Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal is now the volunteer General Manager, focusing on recruitment, marketing, and player development though he didn’t make an appearance at Tuesday’s game. His son, Shaqir, became Bibby’s first recruit in April.
“I'm a big Lakers fan, so that's actually really cool to have Diesel [Shaq] on campus sometimes,” said Jaramiah Graves, a 2025 graduate of Sacramento State who attended the game. “They got a new coach, they got some new players, so I just wanted to come check it out. See if they can make a tournament run or something this year.”
On the heels of those names, Sac State was able to bring in the former four-star high school recruit, Mikey Williams, who was ranked as the 19th overall player in the nation by 247Sports in the class of 2023. Williams has a large social media presence boasting 5.4 million followers across Instagram and TikTok.
“It feels wonderful. I feel like we’re putting our city on the map,” said Sac State fan Mark Botros. “We just have a great community going on — a great place to hang out, great place to watch and get entertained every so often. So I love that.”
Sac State takes on Jessup University at Hornets Pavillion this Friday.
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