NEWS AND NOTES
* San Diego State enters its 98th season of basketball, its 49th season at the Division I level and the second under the direction of Brian Dutcher on Tuesday Nov. 6, with a contest against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
* Prior to the game, San Diego State will unveil the 2018 Mountain West Conference championship banner. Last season, SDSU claimed its 11th MW men's basketball championship overall, defeating Fresno State (64-52), No. 22/23 Nevada (90-73) and New Mexico (82-75) to secure the school's fifth Mountain West tournament title.
* San Diego State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff will meet for the third time in school history. The Aztecs defeated the Golden Lions 93-61 on Dec. 29, 2008 and 79-43 on Nov. 21, 2012. Both previous encounters came at Viejas Arena.
* Since Feb. 14, 2018, San Diego State's 9-1 record is tied for the third-highest winning percentage in the country, trailing only Michigan (13-1) and Loyola Chicago (11-1).
* Head coach Brian Dutcher begins his second season at the helm after guiding San Diego State to a 22-11 record. He was the only first-year coach to lead his team to the NCAA tournament in 2018. In 96 previous seasons of Aztec basketball, no head coach had won more games and/or won a conference title in his first year until Dutcher accomplished the feat.
* SDSU has won five straight season openers and 12 of the last 13 lid-lifters. The one hiccup came in 2012-13 opener when San Diego State fell to No. 9/9 Syracuse on the USS Midway. That gives SDSU a win in its last 12 season-opening games played indoors.
* The Aztecs have won 12 straight season-opening games against unranked teams, a streak that dates back to the 2005-06 campaign. SDSU's last loss to an unranked foe on opening night occurred on Nov. 19, 2004, when it was on the wrong end of an 80-72 double-overtime score against UC Santa Barbara. SDSU has also won eight straight openers that have taken place at home.
* SDSU tuned up for the regular season by winning its 26th consecutive exhibition game with a 68-63 victory over Chaminade last Thursday at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs trailed by 11 late in the first half but used an 18-0 run to flip the script. The Aztecs played without two players expected to contribute this season - freshman forward Aguek Arop (hip) and freshman forward Nathan Mensah (left index finger).
*The Aztecs had four starters reach double figures in the victory over the Silverswords. Sophomore forward Matt Mitchell had 16 points (5-7 FGs), five rebounds and four assists, while sophomore guard Jordan Schakel added 16 points (5-7 FGs, 3-3 3FGs) in the SDSU win. Sophomore forward Jalen McDaniels added 14 points and seven rebounds and senior guard Jeremy Hemsley contributed 11 points (5-8 FGs) and two assists.
* The class breakdown of San Diego State's 68 points in the exhibition game is: 16 by seniors, 6 by juniors, 46 by sophomores and 0 by freshmen.
* The minutes breakdown by class reflect that trend as well, with 66 by seniors, 18 by juniors, 92 by sophomores, 24 by freshmen.
* Dutcher welcomes back three returning starters in redshirt sophomore forward Jalen McDaniels (2018 all-MW third team by media, honorable mention by coaches) sophomore forward Matt Mitchell and senior guard Devin Watson. The trio played in all 33 games a year ago with Watson starting every game, Mitchell receiving the opening nod 32 times (starting the final 31 outings) and McDaniels starting 21 of the final 22 contests (did not start on Senior Night).
* The aforementioned threesome ranked No. 2, 3 and 4 in scoring in 2017-18 with Watson leading the way at 12.2 points and falling seven points shy of tying outgoing senior Malik Pope for the team lead in the category. Mitchell and McDaniels, meanwhile, each finished with 10.5 scoring averages.
* SDSU returns from last year its leader in rebounding average (McDaniels - 7.5), assists (Watson - 124), steals (Mitchell - 36), field-goal percentage (McDaniels - .586), free-throw percentage (McDaniels - .788), three-point field-goal percentage (Watson - .389), three-pointers (Mitchell and Watson - 49) and minutes (Watson - 1,031).
* Senior guard Jeremy Hemsley and junior forward Nolan Narain are back for their respective seasons after receiving the starting nod at different times throughout the 2017-18 campaign. Hemsley (7.3 ppg, 1.22 a/to) played in 32 of 33 games last year, starting seven times, and enters '18-19 with 63 starting assignments in 101 career games, which is the most on the active roster. Narain, meanwhile, started once in 23 games and averaged career highs in every category (4.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg, .688 FG).
* Sophomore guard Jordan Schakel returns as one of the team's top three-point threats. Hailing from Torrance, Schakel ranked fourth on the team last year in three-point makes (27) and percentage (.346; min. 40 3FGA), while playing in all 33 games (13.8 mpg). Schakel averaged 3.2 points and 2.1 rebounds, and took great care of the ball, committing just nine turnovers in 455 minutes. In fact, he only had one multi-turnover game all season and finished the year with 26 straight one-turnover-or-less outings.
Men's Hoops Opens Regular Season Tuesday vs. UAPB
