Feb. 23, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip
NEWS AND NOTES (through Feb. 22 games)
* Having secured at least a share of its third consecutive regular-season Mountain West title and fifth in six seasons, San Diego State travels to Laramie, Wyo., to face Wyoming on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. MT (7 p.m. PT). The Aztecs won the previous meeting this season, 67-55, in San Diego on Dec. 30, 2015 (conference opener for both teams).
* San Diego State enters Tuesday's games with a four-game lead over Fresno State and New Mexico with four games remaining. The Aztecs' magic number to win the conference outright is one.
* In addition to being on pace to set an MW record for most games in front of second place (current record is three), the Aztecs have the largest lead by any team in any conference in America this season (next is Wichita State, which leads the Missouri Valley, Stephen F. Austin in the Southland Conference and Little Rock in the Sun Belt Conference, all of which enjoy a three-game advantage).
* Of the 10 MW championships San Diego State has won, six have been regular-season titles (2006, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016) and four have been tournament crowns (2002, 2006, 2010, 2011). Of the six regular-season titles, two have been outright championships (the 2006 squad led by Brandon Heath, Macacus Slaughter and Mohamed Abukar, and the 2014 team led by seniors Xavier Thames and Josh Davis).
* Current Aztecs that played on the 2014 outright championship team are Winston Shepard, Matt Shrigley, Dakarai Allen, D'Erryl Williams and Niksha Federico.
* San Diego State seniors Winston Shepard and Skylar Spencer need one more Mountain West victory to tie former Brigham Young guard Jimmer Fredette for most Mountain West victories in league history (53).
* The 2015-16 San Diego State team is chasing conference history. The Aztecs are within striking distance of the most MW victories in a season (16, held by SDSU 2013-14 team), most conference road wins (7, accomplished five times, including twice by SDSU), and largest margin between first and second place in the standings (3, by 2004-05 Utah). Earlier this season, the Aztecs already tied the record for best start to a conference season (11-0).
* On Sunday, the Aztecs used a 30-6 run covering an eight-minute stretch in the second half to post a 78-56 victory at San José State. The win secured San Diego State's record 10th Mountain West championship (see list below).
* San Diego State has secured its school-record 11th consecutive 20-win campaign. That is currently the ninth-longest active streak in the nation, trailing only Kansas (27), Duke (20), Gonzaga (19), Louisville (14), North Carolina (12), Akron (11) and Ohio State (11). Of the teams listed, only Ohio State has yet to achieve the 20-win plateau this season and is currently two wins shy of recording its 12th straight 20-win campaign. No other team can reach 11 consecutive 20-win seasons in 2015-16.
* Winston Shepard produced a magnificent game over the weekend, tying for team-high honors with 17 points, and adding seven rebounds and a career-high-tying seven assists in the win. He is the first Aztec to produce a 17-7-7 game since Brandon Heath in 2007. It was his fifth career game with at least 16 points, five rebounds and five assists (only Heath (7) and Jamaal Franklin (6) have more in the Steve Fisher era). He now has seven straight games with at least six rebounds (9.0 rpg) and 22 assists in his last four contests (5.5 apg).
* Sophomore Malik Pope is coming off his finest all-around game as an Aztec, scoring a season-high 17 points, adding a career-high 11 rebounds and matching a career-best with three blocked shots. He was 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range in the contest.