Sac State is 0-16 on the road. Can Mike Bibby’s Hornets make March magic happen?
They’re good at home, sometimes spectacularly so with overflow gatherings of more than 3,000 squeezed into the Hornet Pavilion roaring their approval.
But the blot on Sacramento State’s basketball resume is the road record. It’s a cover-your-eyes 0-16 showing, which inspires fear in no opponents and boils the competitive juices within the Hornets.
So what can first-year Hornets coach Mike Bibby and his injury-ravaged roster do about it as the Big Sky Conference Tournament looms in Boise? Win a game or two and turn the bracket upside-down, for one.
If the Hornets suddenly get hot and take some of their home cookin’ vibes with them to Idaho, they can make a run at program history.
The winner of the Big Sky will get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, best known as March Madness. Sac State since it moved up to Division I in 1991 has not played for a conference tournament championship, nor played in the NCAA Tournament.
The Big Sky event starts Saturday in the Idaho Central Arena in what the conference is billing as “Starch Madness” — a play on the Idaho’s status as the top potato-producing state in the country. All games will be carried on ESPN+.
Sac State is closing out its 29-year membership with the Big Sky as it heads to the California-heavy Big West Conference this fall. The road skid has become a burden. The players know it, and the coaches feel it, and they also understand that they are capable of changing their fortunes.
The Big Sky Conference Tournament is winnable, Bibby said.
“The guys have to do it,” Bibby said of the urgency of winning away from the comforts of home. “We didn’t win a game on the road this year, and I think they got down. But if you get hot at the right time, that’s all that matters.”
That time is now, or it’s suddenly a theme of pack your gear and get ready for the team banquet. The Big Sky Conference Tournament includes all 10 Big Sky teams. Sac State (10-20 overall and 6-12 in the Big Sky) is the No. 8 seed and opens Saturday night at 7 p.m. against No. 7 Idaho, the team the Hornets lost to at home, 86-80 on Feb. 21, and on the road Jan. 22, 86-76.
Sac State’s final home game at the sparkling new Pavilion was Monday, an inspired 83-65 effort over Idaho State, which is seeded ninth in the tournament. That was Sac State’s best victory of the season, given the team was again down to eight healthy players. Senior guard Prophet Johnson scored 20 points to lead the Hornets, and forward Mark Lavrenov of Placer County’s Rocklin High School had 19 in what has been a big freshman season.
“First time that I think we showed up from start to finish, and I know we have it in us to play like this,” Bibby said. “We just have to get that effort. If we play like this, there’s a good chance we’re going to do great in the Big Sky Tournament, which I think we will.”
Hornets are injured and undersized
The Idaho win halted a seven-game skid for the Hornets. Every victory has been savored, as the team has been reduced to eight players in each of the last seven games. Since senior guard Mikey Williams, one of the top scorers and top talents in the conference, was injured late in the Feb. 7 game against Portland State, the Hornets have gone 1-6. Sac State has played undersized and has had to put players out of position out of necessity.
“We have to keep pushing,” Bibby said. “We have so many guys playing out of position. It’s crazy. Injuries are part of the game. I think the kids are doing a great job with what we have and the cards that were dealt to us.”
Sac State senior forward Shaqir O’Neal also played well in the Big Sky regular-season finale, his famous father and Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal in attendance. Shaqir said simply of conference tournaments: “Anything can happen.”
He added, “I remember when I was at Texas Southern as a sophomore, we were losing games, and we locked in at the end, won our conference tournament and made the tournament. So anything really can happen.”
Sac State women aim to surprise
The Sac State women made history in 2023 in winning its first Big Sky Conference Tournament, thus earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament bid, doing so under coach Mark Campbell in his second and final season with the program. He now coaches Texas Christian, including leading the team to a 33-3 record last season.
The Hornets went 25-8 in 2023, then dipped to 6-25 in coach Aaron Kallhoff’s first season with an overhauled roster. Kallhoff led the Hornets to a 15-18 showing last season and 14-10 this season, including an 8-10 record in the Big Sky.
The Hornets are the No. 5 seed in the field and take on No. 4 Idaho State at 11 a.m. Monday in Boise for their taste of Starch Madness. And these Hornets were hot on the road in their last game.
Sac State beat Idaho State 85-72 on Monday by shooting 54% against the top-scoring defense in the conference. The Hornets made a season-high 14 3-pointers, five by Rubi Gray, and Benthe Versteeg and Natalie Picton scored 18 each. Versteeg is one of the greatest players in Sac State history, a senior with personality to match her exciting game.
The rematch with Idaho State will be telling, as the Bengals are 19-10 overall.
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 1:00 PM.