Jan. 22, 2018
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Basketball Game Notes | SDSU Broadcast Flip Card
NEWS AND NOTES Through games of Sunday, Jan. 21
* Just 22 days after meeting for the first time this season in Fort Collins, San Diego State and Colorado State conclude their home-and-home regular-season meetings on Wednesday night at Viejas Arena. The game will be televised nationally by CBS Sports Network and can be heard on 101.5 KGB, XTRA 1360 and FOX Sports IE 1350 in Southern California, and on the iHeart Radio app.
* Wednesday will mark the 83rd time the teams have met and the series is tied at 41 apiece. In San Diego, the Aztecs have a 25-13 advantage, including a 15-3 record against the Rams in Viejas Arena.
* Earlier this season, San Diego State snapped Colorado State's seven-game homecourt win streak with a 77-68 victory. The Aztecs outrebounded the Rams by 13, handing CSU its widest rebound margin deficit in a home game since 2014. Freshman Jalen McDaniels was 8-for-11 from the field and had a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds.
* San Diego State suffered its third consecutive heartbreaking loss on Saturday, dropping a 79-75 decision at New Mexico. It marked the third straight game in which the Aztecs have suffered a loss after leading at both halftime and with five minutes remaining in the game.
* Senior Malik Pope and junior Devin Watson each scored 16 points for the Aztecs. Pope, who reached double-figures for a season-high-tying fourth consecutive game, also added a team-high eight rebounds. Watson, meanwhile, had a game-high seven assists.
* The Aztecs have now suffered three consecutive losses, all by four points or less. This marks the first time in 30 years, since 1987 (Jan. 31, Feb. 5 and 7), that SDSU has lost three straight games all by a margin of four points or less.
* Through Saturday's games, San Diego State and Columbia were the only two Division I schools (out of 351 teams) that had dropped three consecutive games, all by four points or less. Last season, it happened a total of 12 times, with only three of those teams able to finish the campaign with winning records.
* The loss marked the fifth time this season that the Aztecs have lost a game in which it had the lead within the final five minutes of the game and is 1-5 in games decided by four points or less.
* San Diego State is 9-2 this season when owning an advantage in field-goal percentage and 9-1 when attempting more free throws.
* McDaniels is one of seven freshmen nationally to average 9.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and shoot 60 percent or better from the field, and among those seven players, he has the fewest turnovers per game (0.7). In his last 11 games, he is averaging 12.2 points and 8.0 rebounds, and is 51-of-74 from the field (68.9 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 put together a string of impressive performances. For the season, the trio is averaging 22.9 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists. In conference play, the classmates are averaging 26.0 points, 14.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
* Watson has eight consecutive double-digit scoring games (13.8) to his credit and is 14-28 from three-point range (50.0 percent) over his last seven games. The guard has shot 50 percent or better from the field in five of his last seven contests (33-of-66, 50.0 percent) and has 29 assists in his last five games.
* Pope has scored eight or more points in 10 consecutive games (14.5 ppg) and is 57-of-108 from the field (52.8 percent) from the floor during that span. He has 61 points in his last four games.
* Mitchell has 10 double-digit scoring games this season and is averaging 11.0 points in his last three games. During that span, he has made 14 of his 25 field-goal attempts (56.0 percent), including a 13-for-17 effort from two-point range (76.5 percent).
* Junior guard Jeremy Hemsley needs just 25 points to become the 32nd member of the SDSU 1,000-point club. After fighting a case of the flu, his scoring is down a bit the last four games; however, he still has six assists and just two turnovers during that span.