SAN DIEGO – Putting its perfect record and No. 20 ranking on the line, the 10-0 San Diego State men's basketball team host the San Diego Christian Hawks on Wednesday night in Viejas Arena. The match-up will be the ninth time the teams have faced off, with SDSU have winning by an average of 29 points per game.
NEWS AND NOTES
-Enjoying the second-best start in the 99-season history of the program and a No. 3 ranking in the initial NCAA NET ranking, San Diego State returns from a nine-day break for semester exams with a contest against San Diego Christian on Wednesday.
-The two schools, separated by 9.4 miles will meet in the regular season for ninth time (all since 2010), with the Aztecs owning an 8-0 series lead. SDSU has won all eight games in the series by double figures.
-San Diego State made the largest jump inside the Associated Press Top 25 this week, jumping five positions from 25 to 20. The Aztecs are also ranked 20th in the coaches poll after spending a week at 24 last week.
-This is the Aztecs 68th appearance in the AP Poll, all since the beginning of the 2010-11 campaign. Since first appearing in the poll (preseason of the 2010-11 campaign), San Diego State's 68 weeks rank as the 23rd most in the nationally. In case your curious Xavier (66), Indiana (62), Maryland (61) and Oregon (61) immediately follow SDSU on that list.
-Although this is the second straight week the Aztecs have appeared in the AP Top 25 poll, this will mark San Diego State's first game played as a nationally ranked AP team since Feb. 28, 2015.
-This starts a key four-day stretch for the Aztecs, who will travel to Los Angeles' STAPLES Center for a neutral court game against Utah on Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m. PT). The Aztecs already own neutral court victories over the Big Ten's Iowa and the Big East's Creighton.
-San Diego State is currently one of four unbeaten teams nationally. In addition to the Aztecs, that list includes, Auburn vs. North Carolina State (Thurs.), Duquesne (vs. Austin Peay, Sat.) and Liberty (vs. Towson, Fri.).
-As previously noted, the Aztecs are off to their second-best start in school history (20-0 in 2010-11) and the current 10-game win streak is the seventh longest in program history. A win would provide an 11-game win streak which would match the fourth longest win streak in school history and mark SDSU's longest win streak since an 11-game streak from Dec. 20-2015 - Feb. 2, 2016 when SDSU posted 11 straight conference victories.
-San Diego State's metrics continue to pace at an elite level. The Aztecs are currently 1st in strength of record, 3rd in NET, 9th in RPI, 10th in Sagarin, 21st in BPI, and 31st in KenPom.
-With the fast start, San Diego State finds itself ranked among the nation's elite in several statistical categories, including 5th in three-point field goal percentage differential (+12.6), 11th in scoring defense (57.5), 13th in scoring margin (+17.7), 16th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.40), 17th in three-point field goal defense (26.9), 19th in field goal percentage defense (37.1), 23rd in three-point field goal percentage (39.6) and 31st in field goal percentage differential (+8.3).
-About the only thing Malachi Flynn did not do in his first nine games as an Aztec was hit a game winning shot. The All-America candidate checked that box when he rose above two San Jose State players and sank a three-point field goal with 0.9 second remaining to lift SDSU to a 59-57 victory. Flynn became the first Aztec player to make a shot to give SDSU a lead it did not relinquish in the final 35 second of a game since Dwayne Polee nails a three-pointer from the left wing with :04.2 left to give SDSU a 67-65 win at Boise State on Feb. 5, 2014. Chase Tapley was the last Aztecs to do it in Viejas when he knocked down a three with :02.8 left in a 65-62 win over the Broncos on Feb. 6, 2013.
-Although Flynn saw his double-digit scoring streak snapped at nine games against the Spartans, he still is in rare company, averaging 16.1 points, 4.9 assists, 3.2 rebounds and a 3.27 assist-to-turnover ratio. He is one of only three players in the nation to average 16 points a game and have an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.27 or better (also": Jacob Gilyard (Richmond) and Matt Hauser (Portland State).
-Junior forward Matt Mitchell has reached double figures in each of the last four games, one off his career mark set in Nov., 2017). In his last four games he is averaging 14.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and is shooting 54.1 percent from the floor and an eye-popping 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from three-point range. He has six offensive rebounds in SDSU's last two games.
-Junior Jordan Schakel scored 11 points against SJSU and now has 11 or more points in three of his last four games. Not only is reaching double figures good for Schakel, it has proven good for the Aztecs. When Schakel scores 10 or more points in his career, SDSU is 14-2 with seven straight victories. The Aztecs are 10-0 at Viejas when the sharp-shooter reaches double figures.
-San Diego State has four players averaging in double figures (also senior forward Yanni Wetzell) and six players averaging 6.5 points or more. Six Aztec players have scored 13 or more points in a game this season.
INTO THE TOP-25s
-Off to a 10-0 start, the second best in program history, San Diego State entered the top-25 in both the AP (No. 25) and Coaches (No. 24) Polls on Dec. 9 and moved up to No 20 in both polls this week (Dec. 16).
-SDSU's five spot move up the AP poll is the fourth largest jump in program history trailing only an eight-spot increase, after wins at Colorado State and No. 16/17 Kansas, from No. 21 to No. 13 on Jan. 6, 2014. Twice, on Jan. 16, 2012 and Dec. 3, 2012, the Aztecs made six-spot increases in the AP Poll, moving from No. 22 to No. 16 and No. 23 to No. 17, respectively.
-Last week was the first time since Feb. 23, 2015, San Diego State has been ranked by the Associated Press.
-The Aztecs have been ranked as high No. 4 (Jan. 24, 2011) by the AP and since the 2010-11 season has appeared in the top-25 for a total of 68 weeks (66 of those 68 weeks were from 2010-11 to 2014-15).
-San Diego State's longest consecutive streak of weeks being ranked in the AP top-25 is 22 (Dec. 2, 2013 to Dec. 15, 2014).
-San Diego State entered the Coaches Poll at No. 24 last week. The last time the Aztecs were ranked in the Coaches Poll was March 9, 2015.
-The last time the program made a four-spot move up the Coaches Poll was Jan. 20, 2014, jumping from No. 11 to No. 7 after back-to-back wins over Fresno State and UNLV.
NET NATIONAL RANKING
-The NCAA announced its first NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings on Monday and San Diego State slotted comfortably at No. 3, behind only Ohio State (No. 1) and Kansas (No. 2).
-The NET replaced RPI this year as the primary sorting tool for evaluating teams during the Division I men's basketball season. NET relies on game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses to create its rankings.
...AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR
-When the season started on Nov. 5, all 353 schools that compete at the Division I level were undefeated.
-On Monday, Dec. 16, there were four Division I schools that remained unbeaten (San Diego State, Auburn, Duquesne & Liberty) after No. 3 Ohio State fell to Minnesota on Sunday night.
-According to KenPom, which rated SDSU No. 31, the Aztecs have the best chance (34 percent) to remain unbeaten for the remainder of the year.
-Staying with the KenPom rankings, SDSU will be favored in every game for the rest of the regular season, except at Utah State on Jan. 4. In that contest, KenPom predicts the Aggies will win 67-65.
SDSU's 10-0 start is the second-best start to a season, since the program went 20-0 to start the 2010-11 season.
Men’s Basketball Hosts San Diego Christian on Wednesday
