March 8, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip
NEWS AND NOTES (through March 6)
* The three-time defending regular-season champion San Diego State Aztecs open play as the top seed in the 2016 Mountain West Championship at noon PT Thursday in the quarterfinal round at Thomas & Mack Center against either eighth-seeded Wyoming or ninth-seeded Utah State.
* SDSU won its Mountain West-high 10th men's basketball title this season (six regular-season titles, four tournament titles). All 10 titles have come under the direction of head coach Steve Fisher, who has won four more Mountain West titles than any other coach.
* In addition to winning its fifth regular-season title in the last six seasons, SDSU claimed its sixth regular-season title of the Mountain West era, eighth regular-season conference title of the Division I era and 21st league title in school history.
* San Diego State owns a 23-12 record in the 16 previous Mountain West Championships. The Aztecs' winning percentage of 65.7 percent is second-highest in the event's history among active MW members, trailing only UNLV (25-12, 67.6 percent), which has played 30 of their 37 conference tournament games during the span in its home building.
* This marks the fourth time in the MW era that the Aztecs have earned the No. 1 seed. San Diego State has advanced to the championship game in all three of those seasons, claiming the title in 2006 and losing in the title game in 2012 and 2014.
* San Diego State has won four Mountain West tournament titles (2002, 2006, 2010 and 2011). The four titles are tied with New Mexico for the most in league history.
* San Diego State is looking to advance to the semifinal round for the ninth straight season. The Aztecs are 11-5 all-time in the quarterfinal-round game, having won every quarterfinal contest since 2008.
* Steve Fisher has won 26 games at Thomas & Mack Center. That is the second-highest total of any active head coach and the most by any active coach not to spend time as the UNLV head coach.
* Fisher was named the Mountain West Coach of the Year by the league media and head coaches. The all-time winningest coach in San Diego State and Mountain West history has earned the honor for the fourth time in the last six seasons (2011*, 2012, 2014 and 2016; * - indicates co-coach of the year).
* The media and coaches also selected senior forward Skylar Spencer as the defensive player of the year for a second consecutive season. Spencer is the school's single-season and career record holder, as well as the MW record holder in career blocked shots.
* Already having secured an 11th consecutive 20-win season, on Saturday San Diego State won its 23rd game of the season marking the eighth straight season it has reached that plateau. That is tied for the fifth-longest active streak nationally.
* This past week, SDSU handed New Mexico its worst home loss since 2002 (San Diego State 83, New Mexico 56 on March 1) and handed UNLV its worst overall loss since 2000 (San Diego State 92, UNLV 56 on Saturday).
* The New Mexico margin of victory was SDSU's largest in 82 all-time meetings and the UNLV margin of victory was its largest in 64 all-time meetings.
* Senior Winston Shepard is the only player in school history and one of 16 active players nationally with 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 250 assists. On the career school list, he is seventh in scoring (1,312), 10th in rebounds (657) and 13th in assists (282).
* Sophomore Trey Kell has reached double figures in a career-high 18 consecutive games (16.2 ppg). Equally impressive, he is 24-46 from three-point range over his last seven games (52.2 percent).