SCENE SETTER
* San Diego State, owners of a Mountain West Conference 11 men's basketball championships (six regular season titles, five tournament titles), becomes the final team in the league to open conference play when the Aztecs play at Boise State on Saturday night.
* The Aztecs enter the game having won their last nine games against Mountain West Conference teams (final six regular season games and three Mountain West tournament games en route to the 2018 title). That is the sixth longest active streak in the nation.
* The six-game (regular season) conference win streak is tied for the eighth-longest in school history. A win Saturday would move the streak into a tie for the fifth-longest in school history.
* San Diego State has won its most recent game with all other 10 Mountain West Conference teams.
* Saturday will mark the 18th all-time meeting between the teams, with the Aztecs owning an 11-6 advantage. Boise will travel to San Diego on Feb. 16 for the back end of the home-and-home.
* In the Mountain West era, the total score in the 16 meetings is San Diego State 1.042 (65.1), Boise State 1,029 (64.3).
* Of the seven all-time meetings between the teams in Boise (the Broncos lead 4-3), four have been decided by four points or less.
* On Tuesday San Diego State overcame its second 19-point deficit of the season, this time defeating CSUN, 65-60, at Viejas Arena. In the last five seasons there have been 1,740 teams to play Division I basketball. SDSU is just the sixth to overcome at least two 19-point deficits to win games in a single season.
* The Aztecs are beginning their league schedule on the road for the second straight season. SDSU had won six straight Mountain West openers that have taken place on the road, until dropping an 82-69 decision at Wyoming last season.
* In the previous 19 years of Mountain West action, San Diego State is 13-6 in league openers and 13-3 over the last 16 seasons.
* San Diego State is 3-1 in its last four games, outscoring its opponents by 46 points during that stretch.
* San Diego State ranks 13th nationally in three-point field goal percentage at 39.8 percent. Only once have the Aztecs ended a campaign with a higher percentage from beyond the arc (43.7 percent in 1987-88). In the last 17 seasons, only once has SDSU ended the season ranked above 101st nationally (12th in 2005-06).
* San Diego State is 17-6 in its last 23 games - regardless of location - dating back to last season.
* San Diego State is 15-4 in its last 19 contests against teams that were not ranked in the AP Top 25 at game time.
* On Tuesday, second-year head coach Brian Dutcher recorded his 30th victory since taking over prior to the 2017-18 campaign. He is the fastest person to claim 30 wins at SDSU in the Division I era and the fastest to get to the 30-win plateau since C.E. Peterson guided SDSU to a 30-13 record in the first 43 game in program history (1921-22 and 1922-23 seasons). Two-time national coach of the year Steve Fisher began his tenure at SDSU with a 30-43 mark.
* Senior guard Devin Watson is one of only six players in the nation to average at least 15 points, 5 assists and 2.5 three-point field goals per game this season. The senior has scored or assisted on 40.1 percent of San Diego State's field goals this season. He needs 28 points to reach the 1,500-point plateau. Averages 1.463 points per possession and shoots 48.8 percent (20-of-41 3FGs) from the field on his 41 catch-and-shoot possessions this season.
* Senior guard Jeremy Hemsley is in 16th place on the school's career scoring list with 1,211 points. In his last seven games he is 12-of-24 from three-point range (50.0 percent). SDSU career ranks: 8th in three-point field goal attempts (383), 9th in three-point field goals (134), 11th in field goal attempts (987), 15th in field goals (419), 15th in minutes played (3,027), 15th in games played (114), 16th in free-throw attempts (361), 16th in points (1,218), 18th in games started (76), 19th in free throws (246), 21st in assists (229)
* Sophomore guard Jordan Schakel has 114 points this season (in 13 games), eight points more than he accumulated during his entire freshman season (33 games). Schakel, who is averaging 8.8 points and 4.5 rebounds has connected on 25-of-53 three-point field goal attempts this season (47.2 percent). He is one of seven players in the nation who is shooting 46 percent from the field (minimum 70 field goal attempts), 47 percent from beyond the arc and 90 percent from the free-throw line.
* Sophomore forward Jalen McDaniels has reached double figures in 13 of his last 14 games. He is averaging 14.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists and has multiple assists in a career-high eight straight games. In 20 post-up possessions this season he is 9-of-15 from the field and with free thows included is averaging 1.20 points per possession.
* Sophomore forward Matt Mitchell is third on the team in scoring at 12.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest. Excluding post-ups, he is averaging 1.52 points per possession in 33 opportunities around the basket. That includes 24-of-33 from the field (72.7 percent).
MBB opens conference play Saturday at Boise State
