March 11, 2011
San Diego State-UNLV Postgame Notes in PDF Format
LAS VEGAS -
Final Score: No. 7/6 San Diego State 74, UNLV 72 - Conoco Mountain West Conference Championship Semifinals
Records: San Diego State: 31-2; UNLV: 24-8
Next Game: Saturday, March 12, vs. (1) Brigham Young | Thomas & Mack Center | 4 p.m. PT | VERSUS HD | AM 600 KOGO
THE BIG NOTES
* San Diego State advances to the Mountain West Conference championship game for the third consecutive year and the fifth time in school history. The Aztecs tie UNLV (2002, 2003 and 2004) for the league record for most consecutive title game appearances. SDSU is the only program to accomplish this without the benefit of playing on its home court.
* The Aztecs will try for their six Mountain West Conference championship tomorrow. San Diego State has won two regular-season titles (2006 and a shared title in 2011) and won a MWC record-tying three tournament titles (2002, 2006 and 2010).
* San Diego State is tied with Kansas for the most victories this season (31).
* San Diego State has now won 40 consecutive games against unranked teams at game time.
* San Diego State has defeated UNLV for a school-record fifth consecutive time and has downed the Rebels at the Thomas & Mack Center for a third consecutive time.
* San Diego State is 5-1 in its last six games against UNLVat the Thomas & Mack Center. During that span (since Dec. 17, 2008), the rest of the nation is 6-36 against the Rebels in the venue.
GENERAL TEAM NOTES
* San Diego State wins its school-record 31st game of the season. Prior to this season, SDSU's school-record for victories was 26.
* SDSU matches Kansas for the most victories in NCAA Division I.
* With the 31st victory of the season, Steve Fisher has tied his personal record for victories in a season. He guided the 1992-93 Michigan team to a 31-5 overall record and helped the Wolverines advanced to the NCAAchampionship game.
* SDSU has won six consecutive games on the Thomas & Mack Center floor (three at 2010 MWC Championship, Feb. 12 at UNLV, vs. Utah last night and at UNLVtonight).
* SDSU has won eight straight games in Las Vegas city limits (three at 2010 MWC Championship, Dec. 21-22 at South Point Arena, Feb. 12 at UNLV, vs. Utah last night and at UNLV tonight).
* SDSU has now won 40 straight contests vs. unranked teams, 18 in a row over unranked clubs at road/neutral sites and five straight at neutral sites.
* Head coach Steve Fisher improves to 45-22 in postseason play (15-8 in MWC tournament, 10-5 in NIT, 20-9 in NCAA).
* SDSU is 9-1 in its last 10 games played in March, 12-2 in its last 14 games played in the month and 16-3 in games played in March since 2009.
* San Diego State is 17-1 in road/neutral games this season.
* The Aztecs scored 44 points in the first half, which were the most in a half vs. UNLV since Jan. 14, 2006.
TOURNAMENT TEAM NOTES
* SDSU improves to 15-8 in MWC Championship action (5-2 in semifinal games), which is the second-best overall record in the league tournament.
* San Diego State is now 8-1 all-time when playing as the higher seed in the MWCtournament.
SERIES NOTES
* San Diego State has defeated UNLVa school-record five consecutive times and has claimed eight of the last nine games in the series.
* The Aztecs have defeated UNLV in three consecutive meetings at the Thomas & Mack.
* UNLV has suffered eight losses in Mountain West Conference tournament play, with five of those coming at the hands of San Diego State.
* The Aztecs have eliminated UNLVfrom the tournament each of the past three seasons.
PLAYER NOTES
* D.J. Gay (15 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, team-high 2 steals) - Hit his second game-winner of the season... The game-winner is his second game-winning field goal of his career (at Colorado State this season)... A year ago, he made game-winning free throws in the quarterfinal round of the MWC Championship against Colorado State... San Diego State defines a game-winner as a shot or free throw(s) that puts SDSU ahead to stay with less than 35 seconds to play... Scored in double figures for the first time scoring 11 at Wyoming on March 1 and his scoring output was his highest since putting up 20 at UNLV (Feb. 12) during the regular season... Posted his 18th double-figure scoring game of the season and his 55th of his career... Entered tonight having made seven of his last 35 three-point field-goal attempts over his last five games; tonight he finished 3-for-4 from distance... In his last six games, he was 16-for-62 from the field; tonight he made six of his 11 attempts.
* Kawhi Leonard (team-high 18 points, team-high 8 rebounds, 1 assist, team-high 2 blocked shots, team-high 2 steals) - Reached double figures for the 11th consecutive game, which is one short of his career high... This was his 29th career game with at least 10 points and his 53rd time in his career reaching double figures.
* Billy White (12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot) - The senior reached double-figures in scoring for the third consecutive game, marking the first time he has accomplished the feat this season... The double-figure scoring performance is his 15th of the season and the 59th of his career... Entered the UNLV with 14 points and six rebounds in two games against UNLV this season; tonight he had 12 points and three rebounds.
* Malcolm Thomas (13 points, team-high 8 rebounds, team-high 5 assists, team-high 2 steals) - Posted his 20th double-figure scoring game of 2010-11 and his 37th of his career... Did not block a shot, which snapped his streak of 17 straight games with a block... Followed his eight-assist performance vs. Utah with a team-high five... Was 7-for-10 from the free-throw line; the seven makes were a team high.