Nov. 22, 2015
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip Card
NEWS AND NOTES
* San Diego State continues Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational action vs. East Carolina on Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
* The Aztecs opened Invitational action on Saturday afternoon vs. Little Rock and suffered a 49-43 setback.
* The loss to the Trojans snapped two lengthy streaks for the Aztecs. Little Rock halted SDSU's 15-game home winning streak vs. non-conference foes, which was tied for the third-longest run in school history. San Diego State also had its 27-game home winning streak stopped vs. non-league opponents that were not ranked the in AP Top-25 at game time.
* San Diego State was stunned by Little Rock because the decision came at the place where the Aztecs rarely lose. SDSU came into the game having won 32 of its last 33 home games with an average margin of victory of 16.8 points. With the defeat, the Aztecs are 95-8 in their last 103 home games.
* Despite holding Little Rock to a season-low 49 points, which was also the fewest points San Diego State has allowed this season, SDSU was doomed by its 16 turnovers and 28.3-percent accuracy from the floor.
* The Aztecs opened the second half looking at a seven-point deficit and even with their shooting woes, found themselves ahead, 41-38, with 4:14 to play thanks to Ben Perez's third three-pointer of the afternoon.
* SDSU scored just once more, on a Jeremy Hemsley bucket with 1:44 to go, and was outscored 11-2 following the Perez triple as Little Rock improved to 3-0.
* Hemsley and Dakarai Allen led the Aztecs with 11 points apiece vs. Little Rock. Hemsley has scored in double figures three times and leads the team in scoring (13.0), assists (10), three-point field-goal percentage (.400, min. 10 att.) and minutes played (29.0), while shooting 48.7 percent from the floor.
* Allen continued his strong start to the season vs. Little Rock as he pulled down a game-high-tying seven rebounds in addition to his scoring performance. The junior ranks second on the team in scoring (11.7), assists (7) and steals (3), and leads all Aztecs in three-pointers (6, tied with Ben Perez), free-throw percentage (.842, min. 10 att.) and blocked shots (5).
* Perez enjoyed a breakout game vs. the Trojans after knocking down 3-of-6 from behind the three-point arc for a career-high nine points. In fact, all three of his triples gave the Aztecs the lead. The first came with 10:57 left in the second half, which propelled SDSU to a 30-29 lead, its first since leading, 5-3, with 17:59 to go in the first half. His second gave the Aztecs a 36-34 lead with 6:34 to go and his final three came at 4:14, putting the home side up, 41-38.
* The Aztecs will be put to the test vs. East Carolina, a team that lost at No. 14/14 California, 70-62, on Friday.
* SDSU will look to continue a trend vs. the Pirates that is tops in America. The Aztecs will look to make it 22 straight times they followed a loss with a win. San Diego State has done it twice already this season. SDSU lost to Duke in the third round of the 2015 NCAA tournament and answered with a victory over Illinois State in the 2015-16 opener, and then was put to the test after falling at No. 16/16 Utah. The Aztecs managed to rebound with a 10-point win vs. San Diego Christian.
* San Diego State has gone 86 straight games without suffering a two-game losing streak.
* Freshman point guard Jeremy Hemsley is one of five true freshmen in the country to average 13 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists, while connecting on at least 48.5 percent of his attempts from the field (LSU's Ben Simmons, Boston's Kyle Forman, Louisiana Tech's Derric Jean and Boston College's Jerome Robinson).