Dec. 20, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip Card
NEWS AND NOTES
* San Diego State returns to action on Thursday when it faces Southern Miss in the opening round of the 2016 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. Tip time is set for 2 p.m. HT (4 p.m. PT) inside Stan Sheriff Center and will air on ESPN2, WatchESPN and The Mighty 1090.
* The Aztecs will be in action for the first time since Dec. 12, when they snapped a three-game losing streak with a 73-41 home victory over Alabama State. SDSU limited the Hornets to 25 percent shooting and only eight free-throw attempts (4-8), while shooting 55.6 percent and putting up 26 free throws (18-26) itself.
* The improved defensive effort from San Diego State was a welcomed sight after it allowed two opponents to shoot over 50 percent during its three-game losing streak. During the skid, all three foes shot at least 50 percent in the second half. In the game vs. Alabama State, SDSU kept the Hornets from getting hot, holding them to 8-for-29 shooting in the final 20 minutes.
* SDSU opened the game by taking a 10-0 lead and made its first 11 two-point field goals, all of which came in the paint. The Aztecs' first non-paint field goal came on a Matt Shrigley three-pointer with 9:24 left in the first half, which gave San Diego State a 25-8 advantage. Shrigley started the game, his first of 2016-17, in place of Jeremy Hemsley, who was held out of the game due to a sore foot. Hemsley leads the team in scoring (17.1), three-pointers (21) and three-point field-goal percentage (.600), and is tied for the team lead with 22 assists.
* Malik Pope led a balanced offensive attack for the Aztecs with 16 points (6-10 FG) and seven rebounds vs. Alabama State. Three other Aztecs (Zylan Cheatham and Montaque Gill-Caesar - 11 points, Dakarai Allen - 10 points) reached double figures in scoring, while Max Hoetzel and Trey Kell added nine and seven points, resepectively.
* The Aztecs are looking to carry their momentum from the Alabama State victory into the Diamond Head Classic, an event in which they experienced success in back in 2012. SDSU defeated San Francisco and Indiana State to reach the finals, but fell in the closing seconds to No. 3/3 Arizona, 68-67.
* In the 2012 Diamond Head Classic championship game, the No. 17/16 Aztecs led, 67-66, with 31 seconds left, but two Wildcat free throws put Arizona back up by one point with 13 seconds remaining. Current San Diego State student manager Chase Tapley was on his way to making the game-winning layup, but the attempt was blocked from behind by Arizona's Nick Johnson with three seconds left and UA claimed the title.
* The Aztecs are returning to Hawaii for the first time since 2014, when they competed in the 2014 EA SPORTS Maui Invitational. Their effort was much like 2012, when they defeated Brigham Young and Pittsburgh before facing Arizona in the championship game. SDSU fell short of capturing the crown, losing, 61-59, to the No. 3/4 Wildcats.
* San Diego State is 7-3 in its last 10 games in the state of Hawaii, a stretch that dates back to a road win vs. the Rainbow Warriors on Dec. 14, 2001. Since that win inside Stan Sheriff Center, the Aztecs have gone 2-1 in the 2003 and 2014 Maui Invitationals and the 2012 Diamond Head Classic.
* The Aztecs will look to improve upon its record in Hawaii against a Southern Miss program it has not seen since the 2005-06 campaign when they met in the third-place game of the BP Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska. In that match-up, San Diego State won going away, 79-51, which later propelled it to a Mountain West regular-season and tournament championship, and eventually a then-school-record 24 wins.