Feb. 10, 2017
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip Card
NEWS AND NOTES (through Feb. 9)
* San Diego State opens a stretch of five games in 14 days on Sunday afternoon when the Aztecs play host to conference co-leaders, Nevada, at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena. Game time is set for 1 p.m. PT, with coverage on CBS Sports Network and The Mighty 1090.
* The game has been designated a "White Out" contest for the Aztecs with students receiving free white t-shirts.
* San Diego State and Nevada are meeting for the 17th time with the Aztecs owning a 12-4 series advantage.
* The Wolf Pack defeated the Aztecs on Jan. 4 in Reno, 72-69, to snap SDSU's seven-game win streak in the series. Jeremy Hemsley scored a career-high 30 points in the contest. Prior to that game, Nevada's last win in the series came on Dec. 9, 1998.
* Junior guard Trey Kell needs just four points to become the 31st 1,000-point scorer in school history (see list below and media guide page 125).
* Kell has reached double figures in a season-long eight consecutive games and during that stretch is averaging 16.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He has three straight games with multiple three-point field goals (7-for-13, 53.8 percent).
* Long-known as one of the best defensive players in the country (see page 47 of the media guide), senior Dakarai Allen is becoming a consistent offensive threat. Allen has reached double figures in four consecutive games for the first time in his career. Prior to this stretch, Allen had never posted three consecutive games with 10 or more points.
* In Allen's last nine games, he is averaging 11.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, with eight steals and seven blocked shots. He is shooting 62.7 percent (37-of-59) from the field and 50.0 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-14) during that span.
* Allen leads the Mountain West in league games in effective field goal percentage (min. 70 FGA) at 65.0 percent.
* Junior forward Malik Pope has not missed a beat since returning from a knee injury that has kept him out of nine games and countless practices this season. Pope, who has played in the last seven games and started the last four, has nine or more points in each of his last four contests.
* In those four games, Pope is averaging 13.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 28.8 minutes of action. He is 19-of-36 from the field (52.8 percent) and 5-of-10 from three-point range (50.0 percent) during that stretch.
* The Aztecs, who were the final Mountain West team to win a conference game, are currently in a tie for seventh place (tied for fifth place in the loss column), but are just a 1/2-game out of fifth place in the congested league standings.
* Despite a 5-6 league record, SDSU still owns a +29 scoring margin in MW games. In four of its six defeats, it has owned a lead of at least 11 points and in the other two games it had a seven-point advantage and had a shot at the buzzer to force overtime.
* San Diego State is third in the league in conference scoring margin at +2.6.
* Once again, San Diego State is the top-ranked defensive unit in the conference. In MW games only, the Aztecs rank first in points allowed (66.7), field-goal percentage defense (40.3 percent) and blocked shots (5.2 bpg), and second in steals (6.8 spg). 
* In each of the last three seasons, SDSU has led the Mountain West (all games) in points allowed per game and field-goal percentage defense. The Aztecs this season own the top defense in terms of points allowed and are second in field-goal percentage defense.
* Sophomore Max Hoetzel missed Tuesday's game with a heel injury. He is questionable for Sunday's game. Hoetzel is averaging 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds, while shooting 44.8 percent from three-point distance, in Mountain West action.
* SDSU has now missed 21 games due to injury from players expected to contribute at the beginning of the season.