Nov. 21, 2006
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery
SAN DIEGO -
Final Score: San Diego State 79, UC Riverside 45
SDSU Record: 6-0
Attendance: 5,988
Next Game: Saturday, Nov. 25 at UC Santa Barbara (3-0* pending tonight's outcome); 2 p.m. PT; no live television
Still Streaking
• San Diego State extended a couple of winning streaks on Saturday, including a five-game overall winning streak (12-game regular-season winning streak; excludes NCAA tournament loss to Indiana); six-game home court winning streak; eight-game regular-season non-conference winning streak; seven-game non-conference homecourt winning streak.
• San Diego State has put together one of the more remarkable streaks not only in school history, but one of the most impressive active runs in the country. The Aztecs have won six straight games, 12 of their last 13 (12-1) and 22 of their last 25 (22-3) games dating back to Jan. 11, 2006. The three losses in that span have been by a total of 16 points (two-point loss to Utah, 10-point loss at Brigham Young (Aztecs trailed by four points with 91 seconds to play) and a four-point loss to Indiana in the NCAA tournament (Aztecs led and had the ball with under one minute to play).
• The Aztecs are 16-2 at home since the beginning of the 2005-06 season and have won 14 of their last 15 games at Cox Arena.
Fast Starts
• At 6-0, San Diego State has its best opening to a campaign since the 1984-85 squad opened the season 8-0. This is just the fourth time in 37 Division I seasons that the Aztecs have opened with six consecutive victories (1971-72, 1982-83, 1984-85 and 2006-07). The first three times SDSU opened 6-0 (1971-72, 1982-83 and 1984-85) San Diego State finished 18-10 in both 1971-72 and 1982-83, while the 1984-85 squad finished 23-8.
• The best sign for Aztec fans is what Steve Fisher's teams have accomplished after jumping out to a 5-0 start. Now in his 16th full season, Fisher has guided three teams (including this season's Aztec squad) to a 5-0 start and as you might suspect, his clubs have gone on to accomplish some pretty good things. In fact, the other three Fisher squads that have started with at least four straight wins have all advanced to postseason play, advancing to the national championship game in 1992, the NCAA regional final in 1994 and winning the postseason NIT in 1997, en route to posting a cumulative 73-28 record (72.3 percent). Below is a look at Fisher's quick starts. Not included in the list since it did not start a season is his magical run in 1989 when he took the reigns of the Michigan program just prior to the NCAA tournament and guided the Wolverines to their only basketball national championship (going 6-0).
High-Percentage Shooting
SDSU made seven consecutive shots from the field at one point in the first half and wound up shooting 52.6 percent for the game with 17 assists. It is the third consecutive game the Aztecs have shot above 50 percent and it is the fifth time this season they have accomplished the same feat.
The Last Time
The 34-point victory over UC Riverside is the Aztecs' largest margin of victory over a Division 1 school since they defeated Florida Atlanic by 33 on Nov. 30, 2001.
Intercepted!
The Aztecs had a season-high 12 steals versus the Highlanders tonight.
Player Notes
Jerome Habel - Made his first start in an Aztec uniform tonight and recorded 10 rebounds to set a career high.
Brandon Heath - With his 13 points tonight, senior Brandon Heath extended his consecutive double-digit scoring games streak to 31 games. The 31 games ties him for second all-time with Anthony Watson and has him one behind Zack Jones.
Kyle Spain - His 18 points set a season high and tied a career high that was set last December vs. Providence (12-27-05). Spain was perfect tonight, going 6-for-6 from the field (1-for-1 from beyond the arc) and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
Jer'Vaughn Johnson - His nine points set a season/career high.