Nov. 11, 2010
SAN DIEGO -
No. 25 San Diego State-Long Beach State Game Notes in PDF Format | SDSU Broadcast Flip Card in PDF Format
No. 25 San Diego State Opens the Season With a Stern Road Test at Long Beach State Saturday Afternoon
No. 25 San Diego State, the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West Conference, opens the 2010-11 season on the road at Long Beach State Saturday afternoon. Game time is set for 4 p.m. PT at Walter Pyramid and can be heard in San Diego on XTRA Sports 1360 AM with Steve Quis handling the play-by-play duties.
The Aztecs begin the campaign ranked for the first time in school history, coming in at No. 25 in the preseason Associated Press Top-25 poll. Prior to the Oct. 28 preseason rankings, San Diego State had never been ranked in any of the two major polls (AP, Coaches). SDSU, which is entering its 90th season of basketball and its 41st at the Division I level, is just the seventh school since 1974 to make its AP poll debut in the preseason rankings. San Diego State joins UNLV (1974), Charlotte (1977), UAB (1982), Cleveland State (1987), Rhode Island (1998) and Gonzaga (2000) as the only schools to have accomplished the feat.
SDSU is coming off a season in which it won the MWC tournament title, fell three points shy of defeating a Tennessee squad that advanced to the Elite Eight in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, and finished with a record of 25-9. From that 2010 Aztec team are nine letterwinners and all five starters, including sophomore Kawhi Leonard, who is on the John R. Wooden preseason top-50 list and is a preseason all-MWC selection.
Joining Leonard is three-year senior starter and 2010 all-conference choice D.J. Gay, preseason all-Mountain West pick and senior forward Malcolm Thomas, three-time all-MWC honoree Billy White, who enters the season as the nation's active career leader in field-goal percentage (61.7 percent), and sophomore guard Chase Tapley.
The starting unit remained intact for Monday's exhibition contest against Point Loma Nazarene as the Aztecs cruised to a 92-54 victory. San Diego State used a stifling defense in allowing the Sea Lions to shoot 31.7 percent from the field and forcing 17 turnovers, and a balanced attack offensively to emerge with the win. Ten of 11 Aztecs scored, including four in double figures. Leonard led the way with 20 points and six rebounds in just 18 minutes, while Thomas exploded for 14 points and 14 rebounds in 19 minutes. White was an efficient 5-of-6 from the field en route to 14 points in 19 minutes and sophomore transfer James Rahon scored 12 off the bench in his first game action his since freshman season at Santa Clara back in 2008-09.
Long Beach State is in action for the first time this season and was picked to finish in second place in the preseason Big West Conference media poll. The 49ers, Big West finalists in 2010, received two of a possible 23 first-place votes and 180 points, behind another 2010-11 SDSU opponent, UC Santa Barbara (204 points, 20 first-place votes). LBSU is led by its two preseason all-Big West selections T.J. Robinson and Casper Ware.