March 10, 2016
LAS VEGAS -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip
NEWS AND NOTES (through March 10th SDSU game)
* After advancing to the semifinal round of the Mountain West Championship for a ninth consecutive season, top-seeded San Diego State looks to advance to its fourth consecutive final when the Aztecs face fifth-seeded Nevada in Friday's semifinal round. Game time is set for 6 p.m. PT.
* San Diego State and Nevada will meet for the 15th time. The Aztecs own an 11-3 series advantage and have won the last six encounters.
* San Diego State rallied from an eight-point deficit and from five points down with less than six minutes to play to record a 71-65 victory over Utah State in the quarterfinal round. The Aztecs improved to 7-0 against the Aggies in the Mountain West era.
* San Diego State has won three consecutive games, six of its last seven (6-1) and 17 of its last 19 (17-2).
* Skylar Spencer has played in 105 career San Diego State victories. That is tied for the most wins in school history with D.J. Gay.
* SDSU won its Mountain West-high 10th men's basketball title by capturing the regular season 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. See list below
* 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.
* Now playing in its 17th Mountain West tournament, San Diego State owns a 24-12 record in the event.
* 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 Mountain West championship game for the third consecutive season, the seventh time in eight seasons and the ninth time in school history.
* Steve Fisher has won 27 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. See list below
* Following the game, but prior to the end of Thursday's games, SDSU's RPI moved to 39 and KenPom rating improved to 38.
* Sophomore Trey Kell has reached double figures in a career-high 19 consecutive games (16.3 ppg). Equally impressive, he is 27-53 from three-point range over his last eight games (50.9 percent). The sophomore led all players with 17 points, five rebounds and two assists in the victory over Utah State.
* 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 (1,324), 10th in rebounds (665) and 13th in assists (285). The senior scored 12 points, and added eight rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes in the victory Thursday.
* Sophomore Malik Pope continued his stellar play over the past couple of weeks. Pope scored 15 points, on 6-of-11 shooting, and added seven rebounds Thursday. He has now reached double figures in points in three straight games for the first time in his career. The sophomore has averaged 12.6 points and 5.7 rebounds during his last seven games. He has made 14 of his last 27 three-point field goal attempts (51.9 percent).