Nov. 11, 2014
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip Card
NEWS AND NOTES
* San Diego State is set to open its 94th season of basketball and the 16th under head coach Steve Fisher.
* SDSU is meeting CSUN for the 25th time in the history of the series and for the first time since December 2008 in San Diego.
* San Diego State has won three straight vs. the Matadors, all of which have occurred in America's Finest City. The last two victories happened inside Viejas Arena.
* The Scarlet and Black have won the last three vs. CSUN by an average margin of 19.7 points.
* The Aztecs are looking for their second straight season-opening victory after defeating UC Riverside to begin the 2013-14 campaign. Steve Fisher teams are 12-3 in the first game of the season.
* In season openers at home, San Diego State has been victorious in four straight. SDSU last suffered a season-opening defeat at home in 2004, an 80-72 overtime decision to UC Santa Barbara. Since that season, the Aztecs have won 20 or more games and advanced to the postseason nine years in a row.
* SDSU is opening the season with three games at home before heading to the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational.
* The Aztecs are putting their 41-game winning streak vs. California schools on the line vs. the Matadors. The streak is the longest in America ahead of second-place Duke, which has won 10 straight vs. teams from the Golden State.
* San Diego State has won 14 consecutive home games, which is tied for the sixth-longest in school history.
* SDSU has won 10 straight non-conference games, a streak that is tied for the third-longest in school history. A win over CSUN will match the second-longest streak in program history.
* The Aztecs have won 48 straight non-league games vs. unranked foes. CSUN comes in unranked in both major top-25 polls.
* San Diego State enters the campaign ranked in the preseason AP poll for just the third time in school history. The No. 16 distinction is the highest in program history for either of the major top-25 polls. In 2010-11, SDSU was No. 25 in the preseason rankings and No. 20 in 2012-13.
* SDSU has appeared in 17 consecutive AP Top-25 Polls dating to last season. The streak is tied for the 10th-longest nationally.
* The Aztecs are the 17th-rated team in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll, which marks the second time they have appeared in the first poll of the new year in school history. In 2012-13, the coaches voted SDSU 20th in the preseason poll.
* San Diego State has also appeared in 17 straight editions of the coaches poll, which is the 11th-longest streak in the U.S.A.
* The Aztecs unofficially opened the 2014-15 campaign with a 74-45 home exhibition victory over Point Loma, which won the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Championship last season.
* Junior forward Winston Shepard, SDSU's leading returner in scoring (11.6) and rebounding (4.9), led the Aztecs with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman Trey Kell, making his first appearance in an Aztec uniform, scored 10 points in a starting role.
* San Diego State's starting unit of Shepard, Kell, senior forward JJ O'Brien, senior forward Dwayne Polee II and junior forward Skylar Spencer combined for 49 points on 22-of-42 shooting (.524).
* As a team, SDSU shot 50.0 percent from the floor and limited the Sea Lions to 31.6 percent shooting. Eight of Point Loma's 18 field goals were from behind the arc. In the first half alone, the Sea Lions only made a pair of two-point field goals.
* San Diego State dominated the boards, outrebounding Point Loma, 44-27, with 16 of its rebounds coming on the offensive glass. Seven of Shepard's 10 rebounds were of the offensive variety.