Jan. 11, 2018
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip Card
NEWS AND NOTES Through games of Wednesday, Jan. 10
* Among current membership, the two Mountain West teams with the highest winning percentage in league tilts - San Diego State (59.8 percent; 171-115) and Boise State (57.9 percent; 62-45) - meet for the first time this season in Boise on Saturday night. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN2 and can be heard on 101.5 KGB, XTRA 1360 and FOX Sports IE 1350 in Southern California, and on the iHeart Radio app.
* San Diego State has won three consecutive games - defeating Utah State (gave the Aggies their widest margin of defeat this season), at Colorado State (outrebounded the Rams by 13, their worst margin in a home game since 2014) and San José State (defeated the Spartans by 36 points, tied for the second-widest margin of victory in an MW game in Aztec history) by a combined 65 points. In those three games, SDSU has held its opposition to 38.3-percent shooting from the field, 33.3 percent from three-point range while forcing 48 turnovers.
* On Tuesday, the Aztecs utilized a 26-4 run in the middle of the game en route to an 85-49 victory over the Spartans. SDSU had stretches in which it made nine consecutive field goals and seven straight shots from the floor, and won for the 61st consecutive time when shooting 50 percent or better from the field.
* Boise State is 9-0 in home games this season, with an average margin of victory of 23.9 points. Although the Broncos defeated the Aztecs at Taco Bell Arena last season (68-78), SDSU has handed Boise State three of its most recent 12 losses in the building.
* Comparing where San Diego State is this season to where it was entering the fifth conference game each of the last two seasons, the 2017-18 squad is well ahead of pace. The Aztecs have improved their RPI by 40 positions and its KenPom number by 29 positions compared to one year ago. See right box
* The Aztecs rank 20th nationally in points allowed per possession (.941), 25th in field-goal percentage defense (39.3) and 46th in fewest fouls per game (16.2). SDSU has held eight of its 15 opponents to 38.1 percent or less from the field.
* San Diego State is 9-0 this season when owning an advantage in field-goal percentage and 9-0 when attempting more free throws.
* San Diego State is 11-1 this season against teams outside the Pac-12 Conference.
* Redshirt freshman Jalen McDaniels is one of 13 freshmen nationally to average eight points, 6.5 rebounds and shoot 50 percent or better from the field, and among those 13 players, he has the fewest turnovers per game (0.6). In his last eight games, he is averaging 11.4 points and 7.9 rebounds, and is 35-of-52 from the field (67.3 percent). In addition, his inaugural year productivity is reminiscent of legendary Aztec and NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard.
* The Aztecs' freshman class of McDaniels, Matt Mitchell and Jordan Schakel has had a tremendous season and is coming off a pair of impressive performances. The trio combined for 31 points and 21 rebounds, while connecting on 11-of-20 field-goal attempts (55.0 percent) in the victory at Colorado State and followed that up with 26 points, 16 points and five assists in the win over San José State. In conference play, the classmates are averaging 23.5 points, 16.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists.
* Junior Devin Watson has five consecutive double-digit scoring games (12.8) to his credit and is 8-16 from three-point range (50.0 percent) over his last four games. The guard has shot 50 percent or better from the field in each of his last four contests (20-of-35, 57.1 percent) for the first time in his career.
* Senior Malik Pope has scored eight or more points in seven consecutive games (14.4 ppg) and is 40-of-77 from the field (51.9 percent) from the floor during that span.
* True freshman Matt Mitchell has eight double-digit scoring games this season and has multiple assists in three straight contests for the first time in his career.
* Junior guard Jeremy Hemsley, who needs just 30 points to become the 32nd member of the SDSU 1,000-point club, is averaging 9.3 points in his last seven games. Fighting a case of the flu, he did not score in the contest against the Spartans on Tuesday, but still produced a five-assist, one-turnover performance in 18 minutes of action.