Nov. 25, 2003
Complete Game Notes vs. Dayton (Nov. 25) in PDF Format
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SAN DIEGO STATE (2-0) vs. DAYTON (2-0)
Coming off 22-Point Win Over Ohio State, Aztecs Meet Atlantic 10 Foe Dayton in Maui Semifinals
San Diego State, which is 2-0 for the first time since the 2000-01 season and has won the opening two games for the 12th time in 34 Division I seasons, battles the upstart Dayton Flyers (2-0) in the semifinal round of the 2003 EA Sports Maui Invitational on Tuesday afternoon. Game time is set for 2 p.m. HST (4 p.m. PST) and the game will be televised by ESPN and can be heard in San Diego on XPRS-1090 AM (The Mighty 1090).
The Aztecs are coming off of an impressive 83-61 victory over Sports Illustrated's preseason 25th-ranked team Ohio State in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. San Diego State. San Diego State freshman Brandon Heath connected on 5-of-6 three-point field goals en route to a career-best 28 points. Junior guard Wesley Stokes poured in a career-high 22 points and added four assists for SDSU. The game was tied at 32 at intermission, but SDSU took control early in the second half, utilizing a 21-1 run en route to the victory. The Aztecs were outshot from the floor (44.0 percent to 38.6 percent), but utilized advantages in three-pointers (13-6), rebounding (37-35, including 21-14 in the second half) and turnovers (15-23) to take the victory. The 22-point victory was the largest ever for SDSU over a Big Ten school and represented the Buckeyes largest defeat since Feb. 7, 1998.
Dayton, a trendy preseason pick to win the Atlantic 10, has looked impressive thus far this season, recording wins at Pepperdine (90-77) and over 2003 NCAA Tournament participant Central Michigan (82-63). The Pepperdine win looks even more impressive after the Waves defeated Colorado 94-77 last night in Malibu. In the victory over CMU, Dayton placed five players in double figures and enjoyed a 43-31 rebound advantage.
Dayton and San Diego State have met just once, with the Flyers claiming an 80-71 victory in the 1977 Dayton Invitational (Aztec coach Steve Fisher has never faced Dayton). The Aztecs are 3-4 against current Atlantic 10 members.
This is the Aztecs second trip to the Maui Invitational, having placed seventh in the 1989 tournament. That marks the only eight-team in-season tournament SDSU has participated in during the Division I era. The Aztecs will also be looking to claim their first in-season tournament title since winning their own Holiday Bowl Classic in 1987.
Of course Aztec head coach Steve Fisher has been slightly more successful in tournaments in general, including those played in the 50th state. This is the fourth time that Fisher has participated in the Maui. He served as an assistant coach under Bill Freider when Michigan won titles in 1985 and 1988 and was head coach in 1994 when the Wolverines posted a 2-1 record. His three previous trips to the Maui have resulted in a 7-1 record and two championships. His Michigan squad also claimed the 1992 Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, defeating three top-20 ranked teams in three days. In total, Fisher is 8-3 in Hawaii as a head coach and 13-3 counting his days as an assistant.
The Aztecs are continuing a remarkably busy schedule to open the season. Including the three games in Lahaina, San Diego State opens with seven games in 16 days - with at least four of those games against teams that advanced to postseason play in 2003.
San Diego State Enjoys 2-0 Start
San Diego State improves to 2-0 for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign and just the second time in the last eight seasons. As previously mentioned, the Aztecs have opened a campaign 2-0 just 12 times in their 34 seasons (counts this year) at the Division I level. This is the first time the Aztecs have opened 2-0, with at least one of those wins coming against a BCS conference school since 1988-89 when SDSU opened with victories over Delaware (74-61) and Baylor (83-58). The Aztecs have not opened 3-0 since 1994-95 and have done so just six previous times since moving to Division I prior to the 1970-71 campaign.
As impressive as the 2-0 start has been for a team that lost four starters and the top four scorers from last season, the domination in the first two games may be even more remarkable. The Aztecs have outscored their two opponents by a 157-105 score (+26.0 margin of victory). That despite shooting just 38.2 percent from the field in two games and being outrebounded (74-80). The two stats that have been SDSU's favor are three-point shooting (San Diego State has made 23 treys and shot 46.0 percent from bonus land while opponents have seven treys and are connecting on 24.1 percent) and turnovers (SDSU 28, Opponents 49). The Aztecs have trailed a total of 24 seconds in the second half this season.
Below is a look inside the numbers from the first two games.
* - San Diego State's 52-point margin of victory through two games is rather impressive. The last time the Aztecs open a campaign with a larger margin of victory through two games was the 1981-82 season when SDSU opened the campaign with wins over UC Santa Barbara (95-60) and UC San Diego (105-70). That season the Aztecs outscored their first two opponents by 70 points, although it is worth noting that UCSD played at the Division III level that season.
The last time the Aztecs had a 52-point margin in two consecutive games at any point during the season was during the 2001-02 season when the Aztecs defeated UC San Diego (98-53) and Cal State Northridge (80-70) for a +55. The last time the Aztec dominated two consecutive Division I opponents to the tune of +52-point margin was the 2000-01 season when SDSU disposed of Florida Atlantic (90-57) and Cal State Sacramento (92-69) for a +56.
u San Diego State has allowed just 105 points through two games. That is the lowest point total through two games to open a season since allowing just 97 points in the first two games of the 1958-59 season (defeated Alumni 73-57 and Whittier 69-40). It is the lowest point total allowed in the Division I era.
The last time the Aztecs allowed fewer points in any two game stretch was Jan 31-Feb. 1, 1983 when SDSU recorded wins over Air Force (71-47) and New Mexico (61-37).
Stat Happy Sure it is through only two games, but San Diego State has recorded some rather impressive stats. Obviously the NCAA does not compile season statistical leaders for some time, but here is where SDSU's numbers so far this season would have ranked in last season's final NCAA stats. The Aztecs would rank in the top 30 of eight statistical categories and would lead the nation in five stat categories.
1st in Scoring Defense (52.5 ppg)1st in Three-Point Field Goals Per Game (11.5 3FGM/gm)5th in Field Goal Percentage Defense (38.2 pct.)1st in Steals Per Game (12.0 spg)17th in Free Throw Percentage (75.5 percent)25th in Scoring Offense (78.5 ppg)1st in Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (46.0 percent)1st in Scoring Margin (+26.0)
vs. Ohio State and the Big Ten
* - The Aztecs now lead the series with Ohio State 2-1 and improve to 6-6 all-time against the Big Ten Conference. This marked the first win over a Big Ten team since SDSU defeated Ohio State on December 23, 1996.
* - Steve Fisher coached teams are 10-6 against Ohio State. The 10 victories tie for the third most by the coach against any opponent (Illinois-13, Northwestern-13, Michigan State-10, Wisconsin-10, Ohio State-10).
* - The 22-point margin of victory was the largest ever for the Aztecs over a member of the Big Ten Conference. The previous five victories were by a total of 47 points with four of those five decided by seven points or less or in overtime.
* - The 22-point loss by Ohio State marked the largest margin of defeat for the Buckeyes since a 32-point loss to Purdue (75-107) on Feb. 7, 1998.
This Program Keeps Building and Building
Steve Fisher and the Aztecs' journey from perennial basement dweller to a team that has made two straight appearances in the postseason is made all the more remarkable by the speed at which the turnaround was achieved.
Just four years ago in 1999-2000, the Aztecs won only five games, and three years ago in 2000-01, San Diego State finished seventh in the conference.
As if going from 5-23 in 1999-00 to 14-14 in 2000-01 wasn't enough, in the 2001-02 season the Aztecs went 21-12 for the second-highest win total in the school's Division I history and the 2002-03 Aztecs returned to the postseason and finished 16-14.
* - San Diego State is now 39-26 (60.0 percent) since the beginning of the 2001-02 season and 53-40 (57.0 percent) since the start of the 2000-01 campaign. Remember, the Aztecs averaged 9.8 wins per season in the 15 years from 1986-87 through 1999-00, with just one winning season during that stretch. In those 15 years, SDSU was 147-281 (34.3 percent) and failed to advance to postseason play.
* - San Diego State is now 15-17 in its last 32 road/neutral games since the beginning of the 2001-02 campaign. Those 15 road/neutral wins equal the total SDSU had in the six seasons (1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00 and 2000-01) combined when the Aztecs were 15-61 away from home.
* - Below is a look at the Aztecs' records since the start of the 2000-01 campaign. The record on the right shows how many games it took San Diego State to win the same number of games prior to the 2000-01 season.
The Difference: Since/Before the '00-01 SeasonRecord Since BeforeRecord 53-40 53-98 53 wins equals the total in the 151 games prior to the 2000-01 seasonConference 17-25 17-56 17 conference wins equals the total in the 73 league games prior to the 2000-01 seasonHome Record 36-14 36-37 36 home wins equals the total in the 73 home games prior to the 2000-01 seasonAway/Neutral Rec. 17-26 17-65 17 road/neutral wins equals the total from the 82 road/neutral games prior to the 2000-01 season
New vs. Old
San Diego State's quick start to the 2003-04 season is made even more impressive by the fact that the Aztecs lost four starters and the top four scorers from last season's team. Although SDSU has eight returning letterwinners, the return of junior Chris Walton, the addition of Wesley Stokes and the influx of two freshmen - Brandon Heath and Marcus Slaughter - have statistically a huge impact.
Remember, the returning players from last season enjoyed a third consecutive .500 or better season, advanced to the postseason NIT and claimed the first Division I postseason victory in school history.
Below is a look at several key stats and the breakdown of how much of that production was on last season's team compared with that of the four new/returning redshirt players.
Returning New/Returning Redshirt (Heath, Slaughter, Stokes, Walton)Minutes 159 241Points 39 118Rebounds 29 36Assists 11 20
Individual Tidbits from the Ohio State Game
* - Brandon Heath had a game-high 28 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The freshman now has 34 points in two games.
* - Wesley Stokes had a career high 22 points, eclipsing his previous high of 19 set twice while he was a Tiger.
Team Tidbits from the Ohio State Game
* - San Diego State shot 38.6 percent from the field, the lowest percentage in a victory since connecting on 34.9 percent at Cal Poly on Nov. 30, 2002.
* - San Diego State entered the season 4-29 in the Steve Fisher era when shooting less than 40 percent from the field. Both Aztec victories this season have come with SDSU shooting below that figure (37.9 percent vs. Long Beach State and 38.6 percent vs. Ohio State).
* - The Aztecs are 2-0 this season and 23-6 in the Fisher era when committing fewer turnovers and having more free throw attempts.
* - The Aztecs connected on 26-of-33 free-throw attempts (78.8 percent) and are now 40-of-53 (75.5 percent) for the season.