Feb. 17, 2017
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip
NEWS AND NOTES (through Feb. 16)
* Winners of two straight games and four of its last five, San Diego State opens a two-game homestand against UNLV on Sunday on Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
* San Diego State has posted nine straight victories over UNLV, which is its longest streak in the history of the series and the longest streak by any team against the Runnin' Rebels in the last 21 seasons.
* Steve Fisher owns 26 career victories against the Rebels. That is the most among active coaches nationally (Steve Alford is second with eight). He has faced eight different UNLV head coaches (Bill Bayno, Max Good, Charlie Spoonhour, Jay Spoonhour, Lon Kruger, Dave Rice, Todd Simon and Marvin Menzies).
* As late as Jan. 11, SDSU was alone in last place (11th place) in the Mountain West. Currently, the three-time defending regular-season champions are alone in fifth place (a season best) and are two games back in the loss column of first place.
* On Wednesday night, despite missing two rotation players (starter Valentine Izundu and key reserve Montaque Gill-Caesar), the Aztecs gutted out a 66-62 road win at Utah State.
* The Aztecs committed just nine turnovers to overcome disadvantages in field-goal percentage (41.1-42.3) and rebounds (33-36) to snap the Aggies' three-game homecourt win streak and extend SDSU's series win streak to nine games.
* Junior guard Trey Kell continued his remarkable play in conference, leading the Aztecs in scoring for a fifth consecutive game. He had team highs in scoring (21), rebounding (seven) and assists (three) in the win over Utah State.
* Kell, who surpassed a 1,000 career points last Sunday, has reached double figures in scoring in a season-best 10 consecutive games. His numbers during that stretch: 16.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals, while shooting 46.3 percent from the field.
* Sophomore guard Jeremy Hemsley reached double figures for a third consecutive game, tallying 13 points on Wednesday night.
* Junior forward Malik Pope has missed nine games and countless practice time this season due to a knee injury. He has played in nine straight games and started each of the last six contests during which he has posted impressive numbers: 12.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals, while shooting 56.3 percent from the field (27-of-53) and 46.2 percent from three-point range (6-of-13).
* 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. In Allen's last 11 games, he is averaging 10.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists, to go with 11 steals and 10 blocked shots. He is shooting 61.4 percent (43-of-70) from the field and 46.7 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-15) during that span.
* Allen leads the Mountain West in league games in effective field-goal percentage (min. 70 FGA) at 63.6 percent.
* 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 (65.5), field-goal percentage defense (39.5 percent) and blocked shots (5.1 bpg), and second in steals (7.1 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 field-goal percentage defense.
* Despite a 7-6 league record, SDSU still owns a +47 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 +3.6.
* SDSU has missed 23 games due to injury from players expected to contribute at the beginning of the season.
* San Diego State entered the season 50-2 since the beginning of the 2010-11 campaign in games decided by six points or less in overtime. This season, the Aztecs are an uncharacteristic 2-7 in such games.
* KenPom lists the Aztecs as the 19th "unluckiest" team in the country (a measure of a team's actual winning percentage and what one would expect from its game-by-game efficiencies). Among the 24 unluckiest teams in the nation, SDSU is one of only five with a winning record (also: Indiana, Kansas State, Missouri State, Murray State).