SAN DIEGO – The No. 13/12 San Diego State men's basketball team returns to Mountain West Conference play on Wednesday afternoon when it hosts the Fresno State Bulldogs in the resumption of league play. The teams faceoff on Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena with the tip scheduled for 12 p.m.
NEWS AND NOTES (through games of Dec. 29)
-Having completed the school's fourth all-time unblemished regular-season non-conference schedule and just the second in the last 89 seasons, San Diego State returns to Mountain West Conference play with an afternoon home game against Fresno State on Wednesday.
-San Diego State and Fresno State are meeting for the 119th time, with the Aztecs owning a 62-56 series lead. The Aztec-Bulldog series is the most played in SDSU history.
-The Aztecs are looking for their first regular-season victory over the Bulldogs since Feb. 4, 2017. Since that game, Fresno State has won the four regular-season meetings with SDSU claiming a 64-52 victory in the quarterfinal round of the 2018 Mountain West Tournament. SDSU went on to win its record 11th MW conference championship.
-San Diego State improves two positions to No. 13 this week in the AP Top 25 Poll. It marks the fourth straight week the Aztecs have appeared in the poll, moving from 25 to 20 to 15 to 13. At No. 13, SDSU has matched its highest ranking since March 10, 2014.
-San Diego State is enjoying its 70th appearance in the AP Top 25 Poll this week (all have occurred since the start of the 2010-11 campaign). Since the start of the '10-11 season, SDSU's 70 weeks in the top 25 are the 23rd most nationally.
-San Diego State is currently one of two unbeaten teams nationally. Auburn (12-0) is the only other undefeated team and the Tigers are off until Saturday when they play at Mississippi State (8-3).
-San Diego State's current 13-game win streak is tied for the third-longest in school history. Overall, the Aztecs have enjoyed seven win-streaks of at least 11 games, with six of those coming with Brian Dutcher on the sidelines (five as an assistant coach).
-This is the Aztecs longest win streak since a school-record tying 20-game win streak during the 2013-14 campaign (that team posted a 31-5 record and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16).
-San Diego State's metrics continue to pace at an elite level. The Aztecs are currently 1st in NET (the last time San Diego State was not at the top of this chart was Dec. 21),1st in strength of record, 7th in RPI, 9th in Sagarin, 17th in BPI, and 20th in KenPom.
-Through Dec. 28 San Diego State's 3-0 record in NCAA NET Quadrant 1 games was the second best in the nation, trailing only Duke (4-0). No other team with at least three Quadrant 1 games was undefeated in the category.
-With the fast start, San Diego State finds itself ranked among the nation's elite in several statistical categories, including 2nd in scoring margin (+20.4), 6th in scoring defense (56.3), 7th in three-point field goal percentage differential (+11.3), 8th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.50), 8th in field goal percentage defense (36.2), 14th in field goal percentage differential (+9.8), 16th in three-point field goal defense (27.0) and 26th in three-point field goal percentage (38.3).
-The Aztecs have won 12 straight non-conference games dating back to last season (does not include conference tournament games or postseason games). This is the third longest win streak in school history, trailing a 21-game stretch (2009-11) and a 15-game streak (2013-14).
-San Diego State improved to 13-0 on Saturday afternoon with a 73-57 victory over Cal Poly. The Aztecs forced a season-high 23 turnovers and limited the Mustangs to 34.6 percent shooting from the field. The 16-point margin marked the fifth smallest margin of victory this season for San Diego State.
-San Diego State has been impressive everywhere this season and that includes at home. The Aztecs are 7-0 at Viejas Arena this season and have outscored their opponents 530-378 (+152 points) in those games. In the seven home games, the Aztecs have trailed a total of 5:43 (343 seconds) of a possible 280 minutes.
-The Aztecs are dominating nearly every category at home, but a couple of the more impressive categories are on the defensive end - opponent field goal percentage (34.4 percent), opponent three-point field goal percentage (27.0 percent) and points allowed (54.0).
-San Diego State has four players averaging in double figures (10.6 points or more) and six players averaging 6.9 points or more. Six Aztec players have scored 13 or more points in a game this season.
-Junior guard Malachi Flynn enters the game having scored 992 points in his career and needs 8 to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
-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 (5.5) and steals (1.8). He is the only player in the nation to average 15 and five while owning an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.50 or better. He is currently sixth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.55 (71 assists, 20 turnovers).
-Despite coming off the bench, junior forward Matt Mitchell is third in the team in scoring (10.9) and is third on the team in rebounding (4.3), while shooting 37.5 percent from three-point range. He is averaging career bests in all three of those categories.
-Senior Yanni Wetzell has reached double figures in eight of his last 10 games after doing so nine times all of last season at Vanderbilt. The transfer is averaging 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds (second on the team), while shooting 58.8 percent from the field. In his last 10 games he is averaging 12.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and has made 52-of-82 field goal attempts (63.4 percent).
-Junior Jordan Schakel has eight or more points in seven straight games (double figure in five of those contests). 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 16-2 with nine straight victories. The Aztecs are 12-0 at Viejas when the he reaches double figures. The sharpshooter has made 29-of-62 attempts from bonus distance (46.8 percent) this season to rank 20th nationally among players with at least 29 makes.