Sacramento State junior forward Alex Tiffin showed he is not only a proficient rebounder and defender, but also a scorer.

Tiffin scored 21 points, more than doubling his career high in Saturday’s 85-54 win against William Jessup University. He also added nine rebounds and a pair of assists.

“All week we were talking about getting the ball inside and my success came from executing the game plan,” Tiffin said. “When I get the ball down low I can be threat to score, but there are also other things I need to be able to do.”

This season Tiffin has been a piece of the Hornets’ front court along with senior forward Jordan Salley and freshman center Eric Stuteville, but Hornets’ head coach Brian Katz said Tiffin can be both a physical presence and an offensive threat.

“He was a scorer in high school and we recruited him because we know he can develop into that,” Katz said. 

At Thousand Oaks High School, Tiffin was named CIF Southern Section Division II-AA Player of the Year in 2009 and helped his team to a 30-3 record. 

The Hornets got out to an early lead coming off a 20-4 run led by the inside presence of Tiffin, Salley and Stuteville. 

Sac State extended its lead to 34-18 when junior point guard Dylan Garrity hit the first of his two 3-pointers.

Garrity was questionable to play because of a sprained left ankle injury he suffered in the first half against UTEP last week but was in the starting lineup, finishing with eight points and five assists.

“Obviously there is going to be some pain there, but it is nothing I cannot play through,” Garrity said.

In the second half with the Hornets up 68-35, Katz rested his starters and received some production from the bench, including sophomore guard Case Rada, freshman forward Nick Hornsby and senior center Ryan Okwudibonye. 

Okwudibonye sat out all last season with a knee injury and finished with seven points and three rebounds. Rada also contributed with a pair of 3-pointers and Hornsby grabbed two rebounds.

Although Hornsby has only averaged 2.8 points in 12 minutes per game, Katz said he is a very smart player.

“He gives us something at the [small forward] position,” Katz said. “He gives us length and athleticism that we need.”

Sac State finishes up its non conference schedule against two Big West Conference opponents Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside the next two Saturdays, respectively.

This will the be the first time the Hornets have matched up with the Titans since 2003 when they won 78-71 in overtime. 

Tipoff is at 3:05 p.m.

Ryan can be reached on Twitter at  @rskuhn