SAN DIEGO – Looking to continue one of the program's best starts to a season, the San Diego State men's basketball team travels up the I-5 to play former conference foe the Utah Utes as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in STAPLES Center on Saturday afternoon.
NEWS AND NOTES (through games of Dec. 18)
-Owners of the nation's second-longest win streak, San Diego State looks to extend the second-best start in the 99-season history of the program when the Aztecs face Pac-12 Conference member Utah at STAPLES Center Saturday afternoon.
-San Diego State's current 11-game win streak is tied for the fourth-longest in school history. Overall, the Aztecs have enjoyed six win-streaks of at least 11 games, with five of those coming with Brian Dutcher on the sidelines (four as an assistant coach).
-San Diego State is looking for a third neutral court victory over a major conference opponent. Earlier this season the Aztecs claimed the Las Vegas Invitational title with a 31-point victory over Creighton (Big East) and a 10-point win over Iowa (Big Ten).
-San Diego State's metrics continue to pace at an elite level. The Aztecs are currently 1st in strength of record, 3rd in NET, 8th in RPI, 10th in Sagarin, 19th in BPI, and 30th in KenPom.
-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.
-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.).
-With the fast start, San Diego State finds itself ranked among the nation's elite in several statistical categories, including 2nd in three-point field goal percentage differential (+14.0), 5th in scoring margin (+20.1), 8th in scoring defense (56.6), 9th in three-point field goal defense (25.8), 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.46), 13th in field goal percentage defense (36.7), 17th in three-point field goal percentage (39.8) and 20th in field goal percentage differential (+9.4).
-San Diego State has four players averaging in double figures (10.7 points or more) and six players averaging 6.5 points or more. Six Aztec players have scored 13 or more points in a game this season.
-Junior guard Malachi Flynn has been one of the best players in the nation through the opening two months of the season. A transfer from Washington State, Flynn leads the Aztecs in scoring (15.5), assists (5.1) and steals (1.5). He is one of just 24 players in the nation to average 15 and five and when you add his assist-to-turnover ratio (3.29, 8th nationally), he is one of only three players to average 15 points, five rebounds and have an ATO ratio of 3.00 or better.
-Junior forward Matt Mitchell had his four-game double-digit scoring streak snapped Wednesday when he tallied eight points in 17 minutes of action. Nonetheless, the junior is still playing some of his best basketball. In his last five games he is averaging 13.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and is shooting 53.7 percent from the floor and an eye-popping 52.9 percent (9-of-16) from three-point range.
-Junior Jordan Schakel reached double figures for the second straight game and the fourth time in five outings on Wednesday. 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 15-2 with eight straight victories. The Aztecs are 11-0 at Viejas when the sharp shooter reaches double figures.
-Senior Yanni Wetzell scored 17 points in 19 minutes of action against San Diego Christian. He has reached double figures in six of his last eight games, averaging 12.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, while shooting 68.3 percent from the field during that span.
INTO THE TOP-25s
-Off to a 11-0 start, the second best in program history, San Diego State entered the top-25 in both the AP and Coaches polls on Dec. 9.
-San Diego State debuted at No. 25 in the AP poll. It's the first time since Feb. 23, 2015, the team has been ranked by the AP.
-The Aztecs have been ranked as high No. 4 (Jan. 24, 2011) by the AP and since the 2010-11 season have 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.
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) and following Wednesday evening's games, Kansas and Ohio State swapped spots and the Aztecs remain No. 3.
-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 rates SDSU No. 30, 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 11-0 start is the second best start to a season, since the program ripped off 20 straight to start the 2010-11 season.
MULTI-TEAM EVENT SUCCESS
-Since the start of the 2010-11 season San Diego State has competed in 11 Multi-Team Events (MTE).
-San Diego State has played 31 times in those events and has compiled a 26-5 record.
-San Diego State has been crowned champion in seven of the 11 MTEs its competed in since 2010-11, including the 2019 Continental Tires Las Vegas Invitational late last month.
No. 20 Men’s Hoops Faces Utah In STAPLES Center On Saturday
