Nov. 18, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip Card
NEWS AND NOTES
* San Diego State heads north to Sacramento to play California in a neutral-site contest inside the new Golden 1 Center on Monday night. The intrastate match-up is set for an 8 p.m. PT start on the PAC-12 Networks, The Mighty 1090 and 105.7 The MAX.
* The Aztecs are coming off an 81-58 home victory over San Diego Christian last Wednesday. It was San Diego State's sixth straight win in the game immediately following a defeat after it was a dealt a road loss at nationally ranked Gonzaga last Monday during ESPN's College Hoops Marathon.
* Four Aztecs scored in double figures in the win over the Hawks and were led by Jeremy Hemsley's 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting (3-4 3FG) to go with five assists. Trey Kell added 19 points (7-10 FG), Zylan Cheatham had 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals, and Dakarai Allen finished with 15 points, a career-high nine rebounds, four assists, a personal-best five blocked shots and two steals.
* For the third time in as many games, the Aztecs were without the services of projected starter Malik Pope (knee), Max Hoetzel (knee) and Ben Perez (back). Matt Shrigley (ankle) and Valentine Izundu (ankle), who both played at Gonzaga, were also held out of the San Diego Christian game due to preventative reasons.
* As a team, the Aztecs shot a season-best 56.1 percent from the field, including 60.0 percent in the second half. San Diego State had a season-high 18 assists on 32 buckets after totaling only 12 in the first two games combined. On the defensive side of the ball, SDSU held San Diego Christian to 32.3-percent shooting, forced 17 turnovers and blocked a season-high eight shots.
* San Diego State will look to carry the momentum from the San Diego Christian game into its clash with the Golden Bears, a team it has defeated three straight times, including last year's 72-58 decision in Las Vegas while California was ranked No. 14/13. In that game, the unranked Aztecs rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit, which was SDSU's second-largest overcome in a victory since 1996-97.
* SDSU will look to continue its dominance over schools from the state of California. The Aztecs are 58-4 in their last 62 games vs. California universities and 48-1 in their last 49 vs. non-league foes from The Golden State. SDSU will look to improve to 3-0 this year vs. California teams after downing San Diego and San Diego Christian already this year.
* The Aztecs have won their last two games vs. the PAC-12 Conference, defeating the Golden Bears in Las Vegas last November and then beating Washington at home in the second round of the 2016 NIT. In those two victories, San Diego State's average margin of victory was 14.5 points. SDSU went 2-1 vs. the league last year after dropping an 81-76 decision at No. 16/16 Utah in the second game of the season.
* San Diego State has gone 11-7 vs. teams in the PAC-12 Conference at game time since the start of the 2009-10 campaign. Four of those losses came to Arizona teams that were ranked in the top six nationally.
* The Aztecs will look to add to their record vs. the PAC-12 as one of the top teams nationally since the beginning of the 2010-11 season. San Diego State is 171-47 since that year and its .784 winning percentage is the seventh-best in the country and No. 1 in the state of California.
* SDSU has been one of the top road/neutral teams in the country since the start of the 2009-10. San Diego State ranks sixth nationally in winning percentage since '09-10, winning at a .662 clip (88-45), which is also the best mark among teams in California.