Jan. 18, 2016
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip
NEWS AND NOTES (through Jan. 17 games)
* San Diego State completes a stretch of three games in seven days and looks to open league play 6-0 for the second time in three seasons (the 2013-14 team opened 10-0) when the Aztecs play host to Fresno State Tuesday night on Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
* The Aztecs have opened Mountain West play with five consecutive victories for the third time in 17 league seasons (2011, 2014).
* SDSU carries a five-game overall win streak (tied for the 19th-longest active streak) and a seven-game conference win streak (tied for the fourth-longest streak in school history) into the game vs. the Bulldogs.
* San Diego State has won its most recent encounter against the other 10 Mountain West schools (UNLV 6, Air Force 5, Nevada 5, San José State 5, Utah State 5, Colorado State 3, New Mexico 2, Boise State 1, Fresno State 1 and Wyoming 1).
* San Diego State and Fresno State are meeting for a school-record 109th time. The Aztecs lead the overall series, 59-49. The Aztecs have won nine of the last 10 encounters between the schools.
* The Aztecs own a 38-17 series lead in games played in San Diego, including victories in their last five encounters at Viejas Arena.
* On Saturday, San Diego State snapped Boise State's 10-game overall win streak and 17-game homecourt win streak with a 56-53 victory. The Aztecs held the Broncos to 31.5 percent shooting (their lowest since Dec. 23, 2014), 1-for-17 from three-point range and had a 42-30 advantage on the glass (Boise State's worst rebound margin of the 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 seventh nationally, allowing 90.6 points per 100 possessions according to Kenpom.
* The Aztecs are sixth nationally in points allowed per game (60.1), fourth in field-goal percentage defense (36.3) and fifth in two-point field-goal percentage defense (39.1 percent).
* Senior forward Winston Shepard scored a team-high 13 points, added a team-high tying 10 rebounds and had a game-high four assists in Saturday's victory. In league games, Shepard is averaging 14.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.6 steals. He is one of just six players nationally to average at least 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and 1.5 steals per conference game.
* Shepard is the only player in school history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 225 assists in his career.
* Sophomore guard Trey Kell reached double figures for a career-high fifth consecutive game when he scored 11 points and added five rebounds against the Broncos. Kell, who has averaged 13.4 points during the five-game stretch, has four or more rebounds from his guard position in eight straight contests.
* True freshman Jeremy Hemsley continues to lead the team in scoring (12.9 ppg) and assists (41) for the season. No freshman has led the Aztecs in scoring since Kawhi Leonard in 2009-10.
* Redshirt freshman Zylan Cheatham had seven points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes at Boise State. He is the first Aztec player with at least seven points and 10 rebounds in fewer than 20 minutes since Jamaal Franklin did it against Utah on Feb. 8, 2011.
* Sophomore Malik Pope is playing his best basketball of the season. He has scored 23 points in his last two games, his highest two-game total of the season, and has four or more rebounds in five consecutive games.
* SDSU has outrebounded 13 of its 18 opponents this season. The Aztecs have outrebounded their three MW opponents, 197-153.
* San Diego State is 22-1 the last 23 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.
* 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 74-12 (Utah: 13-5, Little Rock: 15-1, West Virginia: 15-2, Grand Canyon: 16-2 and Kansas: 15-2).
* 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).