With the Sacramento State men’s basketball team down by one point midway through the first half of their home opener against Dominican University, sophomore guard Jayden Teat stepped into a pass from sophomore guard Mikey Williams just behind the three-point line.

Teat took the shot well and laced it, following it up with two more threes shortly after to cap off a solo 11-0 scoring run and push the Hornets into the lead over the Penguins. After that outburst, the Hornets steadily built up their lead to take home a win at Hornet Pavilion Tuesday.

“The team trusted in me, and the coaches did, too,” Teat said. “They kept providing me with the ball, and I tried to make the right winning play.”

That’s 21 for Teat! https://t.co/kaDqg1rCnI pic.twitter.com/sDDKRiWmUb

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Teat finished the game joint leading the Hornets in scoring, finishing with 21 points. He had an efficient night from outside the arc, shooting four for six from deep to culminate in a 66.67% clip. Head coach Mike Bibby likened Teat’s performance to one of his former Sacramento Kings teammates.

“[Teat’s] an explosive scorer,” head coach Mike Bibby said. “Kind of like Bobby Jackson was, coming off the bench to give us a rise when we didn’t have it.”

The win against the Penguins marked many firsts for Sac State: the team’s debut victory at the new venue and Bibby’s first win as a college coach.

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— Sacramento State Men’s Basketball (@SacHornetsMBB) November 5, 2025

“It’s great to be in the building,” Bibby said. “I try to get it rocking and keep it like that all game.”

The game started out as a back-and-forth affair, with the Hornets only up two points at the end of the first half. However, as the game continued, Sac State was able to take care of business in front of the packed crowd and beat the Penguins with a score of 103-79. The Hornets improved their field goal percentage from 40% in the first to 60% in the second.

“Our energy was super good, even when we didn’t play that good in the first half,” Johnson said. “Our energy was still there, and we just never let up.”

The story for the Hornets was the three-point shooting as a team, with Sac State shooting a combined 13 for 27 from beyond the arc. This was a catalyst for the Hornets to have an improved second half, scoring 62 total points after a 41 point first half.

It was also a physical environment, with the two teams having a combined 48 free throws, split 29 for the Hornets and 19 for the Penguins.

“They got a lot of their points at the free-throw line and from layups in the first half,” Bibby said. “If we don’t foul and give up layups, it’s not that close of a game.”

Sac State was able to turn their defense into offense, scoring 19 points off of turnovers in comparison to Dominican’s 9.

“We take pride in our defense,” Bibby said. “I think our defense set it off for us in the second half.”

Dominican was led in scoring by junior guard Michael Wilson, who transferred to the Penguins after playing his first two years at Sac State.

The Penguins out-rebounded the Hornets 24 to 20 in the opening half, but they couldn’t keep up in the second, posting only 16 rebounds to the Hornets’ 27.

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Tied with Teat for scoring was senior guard Prophet Johnson. He complemented his high-scoring night with nine rebounds and four assists, filling up the stat sheet.

“He slowed down a little bit. I think he was reading the game a little bit more,” Bibby said. “I’ve been telling these point guards for the last 12 weeks, ‘Slow down so you can read the defense. Slow down so you can see what’s going on,’ and I think they finally did it tonight.”

Another big performance came from senior forward Jeremiah Cherry, who ended his night with a 17 point double-double, grabbing 10 boards along the way.

“He’s very skilled; we really play through him,” Teat said. “Give him the ball, and let him make a play. If they double, then we’re going to be open.”

Sac State will look to stay undefeated at Hornet Pavilion against Jessup University on Friday at 7 p.m.

“I’m gonna try to turn [Hornet Pavilion] into the Duke arena,” Bibby said. “Where it’s a little smaller and we have our fans get rowdy.”