Jan. 5, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip
NEWS AND NOTES (through Jan. 4 games)
* San Diego State looks for its fifth 3-0 start to a conference season in the last nine seasons when the Aztecs play host to San José State on Wednesday night. SDSU has won or shared the regular-season conference championship in each of the previous seasons it began Mountain West play with a 3-0 mark (2008, 2011, 2012 and 2014).
* The Aztecs ran their conference win streak to four games with a 70-67 road victory at Utah State on Saturday night.
* San Diego State has won all three meetings with San José State since the Spartans joined the Mountain West prior to the 2013-14 campaign. The Aztecs' average margin of victory in those three games is 23.0 points. Overall, SDSU has won four straight in the series between California teams.
* This is the only game in a stretch that will see the Aztecs play three of four contests on the road. San Diego State plays one home game in the 19 days from Dec. 31 through Jan. 18.
* San Diego State is 99-10 in its last 109 home games and is 24-1 in its last 25 conference home games.
* Senior forward Winston Shepard is coming off two of the best games of his career. He followed up his fifth career double-double (16 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds against Wyoming), with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals at Utah State on Saturday. He is one of just five players nationally to produce at least those numbers in a game this season.
* SDSU is once again one of the elite defensive teams in the country. The Aztecs, who ranked ninth in tempo-free adjusted defense in 2013-14 and fourth in 2014-15, are currently fifth nationally, allowing 91.0 points per 100 possessions according to Kenpom.
* The Aztecs are eighth nationally in points allowed per game (60.3), fifth in field-goal percentage defense (36.3) and third in two-point field-goal percentage defense (37.7 percent).
* San Diego State is 19-1 the last 20 times it has shot at least 37.1 percent from the field. In its six losses this season, the Aztecs have shot 34.6 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from three-point range.
* The Aztecs have won 35 straight home games and are 26-3 in all conference games since Jan. 1, 2014, when shooting at least 37.1 percent from the floor.
* SDSU has outrebounded 11 of its 15 opponents this season. The Aztecs have outrebounded their two conference opponents, 89-56.
* San Diego State is led in scoring and assists by true freshman Jeremy Hemsley (13.1 points, 2.5 assists). The point guard has been particularly effective at home where he is averaging 15.1 points and 2.9 assists, and shooting 50.5 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from three-point range. No freshman has led the Aztecs in scoring since Kawhi Leonard did it in 2009-10.
* SDSU, which owns a Mountain West-high nine league titles (five regular-season titles and four tournament championships), is the conference favorite to successfully defend its regular-season crown, as revealed in the MW's preseason poll back in October.
* The Aztecs have won the outright championship or shared for regular-season Mountain West title in four of the last five seasons (2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015).
* Uncharacteristically, San Diego State has six losses this season, however four of those defeats could have easily gone the other way: at No. 16 Utah (down two with 0:27 to play), vs. Little Rock (tied with 1:44 to play), vs. San Diego (down one with 1:16 to play) and vs. Grand Canyon (up two with 2:59 to play).
* Of SDSU's six losses this season, five have come to teams with a combined record of 62-9 (Utah: 11-4, Little Rock: 12-1, West Virginia: 13-1, Grand Canyon: 13-2 and Kansas: 13-1).