Nov. 28, 2017
Mountain West Network | Live Stats | Weekly Release
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego State returns to the friendly environs of Montezuma Mesa this week when it renews acquaintances with the University of San Diego on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena. Opening tip is set for 6:30 p.m. PT, with SDSU alumnus Chris Ello calling the play-by-play for a streaming webcast via the Mountain West Network/Stadium on GoAztecs.com.
The first 500 fans in attendance for Wednesday's contest will receive a free pair of Aztec socks.
The Aztecs-Toreros clash will mark the 41st edition of the intra-city matchup, which dates back to February 1978. The two sides have battled one another on a yearly basis since 2002 after the series went on hiatus from 1997-2001.
SDSU owns a 28-12 advantage over USD, but has dropped the last four encounters, including a 91-53 setback at Jenny Craig Pavilion a year ago.
Defense has typified the series recently, with the two schools reaching the 70-point plateau just five times in the past 18 meetings. On each occasion, the team to score over 70 points came away with the win. Similarly, the losing side has failed to score more than 60 points in 13 of the last 16 engagements.
In addition, the annual city skirmish has featured a winning margin of five points or less in just five of the last 15 games. The other 10 encounters have been decided by an average of nearly 19 points, with each team posting a victory of more than 25 points.
After winning their first three games of the 2017-18 campaign at home, the Aztecs (3-2) ventured to Bimini, Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam over Thanksgiving weekend, but lost a heartbreaker to Central Michigan in overtime 85-76, before falling to Tulane, 80-46.
SDSU has been led this season by senior guard McKynzie Fort, who is averaging 14.4 points per game, while fellow classmate Geena Gomez tops the squad with 4.8 assists per contest. A first-team all-Mountain West selection last year, Fort ranks 11th in program history with 1,305 career points and needs just six points to move into 10th place on the school's all-time scoring list.
USD (5-1), which was picked fourth in the West Coast Conference preseason poll, is coming off a 71-58 road victory at UC Santa Barbara on Monday night.
A year removed from a historic season of shooting beyond the arc, San Diego State has kept up the trend, ranking third in the Mountain West and 26th nationally in 3-point field goals made per game (9.0).
In addition, the Scarlet and Black is 65th in the country entering the week with a 36.6 percentage from beyond the arc.
Individually, Lexy Thorderson is the league's leader in triples per game (3.60) and ranks second in total 3-pointers made (18), good for 18th and 49th nationally, respectively. She also occupies the 62nd position with a 47.4 percent clip from long range.