Nov. 11, 2015
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip Card
NEWS AND NOTES
* San Diego State opens its 95th season of basketball and 17th under two-time national coach of the year Steve Fisher.
* Fisher, who received his bachelor's (1967) and master's degrees (1968) from Illinois State, is facing the Redbirds for just the second time. His 1990 Michigan team defeated the Redbirds, 76-70, in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Los Angeles.
* The Aztecs and Redbirds are meeting for the fourth time with ISU owning a 2-1 series lead. The teams have not met since Dec. 29, 1973, when the Aztecs posted a 97-88 win in Peterson Gym.
* The Aztecs are once again selected to win the Mountain West title, receiving 28 of 31 first-place votes in the league's media poll.
* SDSU has won 13 straight non-conference home games and 55 straight non-league games vs. unranked foes. Illinois State comes in unranked in both major top-25 polls.
* The Aztecs have gone 82 consecutive games without suffering consecutive losses. That is longest active streak in the nation. The streak is in jeopardy Friday as the Aztecs were eliminated from the NCAA tournament in the third round by eventual NCAA champion Duke.
* SDSU is one of eight schools nationally to appear in at least six straight NCAA tournaments (beginning with 2000).
* SDSU is one of nine schools in the country to make the round of 32 in each of the last three NCAA tourneys.
* Since the beginning of the 2010-11 campaign, San Diego State ranks seventh nationally in winning percentage with a 141-36 record (79.7 percent). The Aztecs trail only Wichita State, Gonzaga, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and Arizona.
* Since the beginning of the 2009-10 season, San Diego State's 90-7 (92.8 percent) home record is fourth nationally, trailing only Kentucky, Kansas and Duke.
* The Aztecs are 30-1 in their last 31 home games, holding opponents to 49.4 points, 34.4-percent field-goal shooting and 23.8-percent three-point accuracy during that stretch.
* Illinois State has advanced to postseason play each of the last two seasons and has posted four consecutive winning seasons.
* Since the beginning of the 2011-12 campaign, the Redbirds rank third in the Missouri Valley (79-58, 57.7 percent), trailing only Wichita State and Northern Iowa in win percentage.
* San Diego State claimed a share of the 2015 Mountain West regular-season title (tied with Boise State) for the fifth time in the last six seasons. The Aztecs own a league-high nine Mountain West championships. Prior to Friday's game, SDSU will unveil its championship banner.
* Senior forward Winston Shepard is San Diego State's leading returner in scoring (11.1 ppg), rebounding (5.3 rpg) and assists (1.9). A member of the preseason all-conference team, Shepard is 16 points shy of becoming the 30th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.
* Senior forward Skylar Spencer, the 2015 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, is already the school's all-time blocked shot leader with 231. He is 13 blocks shy of the conference record held by Wyoming's Justin Williams (244). In his career, Spencer is a 57.8-percent shooter from the floor (167-289).
* Sophomore guard Trey Kell has returned to his natural two-guard position after playing major portions of his minutes during his true freshman season at point guard. He had just seven turnovers in his final 12 games a year ago, dishing out 23 assists during that stretch.