SAN DIEGO – Following its 79-57 victory at Colorado State to open the 2019-20 conference slate, the San Diego State men's basketball team returns to Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena for its Mountain West home opener against the San Jose State Spartans. The matchup will mark the end of a brief two-game foray into league play during the month of December.
NEWS AND NOTES
-Off to just the second 9-0 start in the program's 99 seasons, San Diego State opens a stretch of five consecutive games in Southern California with a home conference game against San Jose State.
-Sunday's game is slated for a noon PT start. The original game time of 6:30 p.m. PT is printed on tickets and on some early editions of the schedule. The time was moved to accommodate television and the Spartans travel schedule as SJSU is returning to San Jose Sunday night in advance of finals next week.
-Through Thursday's games, San Diego State is one of 16 unbeaten teams nationally and is the only undefeated team in the Pacific Time Zone or the Mountain West Conference.
-San Diego State has played five of its nine games thus far away from home making the Aztecs one of just two undefeated teams nationally to play at least half of its games to date either on the road or at neutral sites (also: Delaware). By comparison, Indiana has played all eight of its games this season at home.
-The Aztecs current nine-game winning streak is tied for the seventh longest in school history and matches the longest win streak of the Brian Dutcher era.
-San Diego State's metrics continue to pace at an elite level. The Aztecs are currently 2nd in strength of record, 12th in RPI, 16th in BPI, 22nd in Sagarin and 25th in KenPom.
-The Aztecs and Spartans are meeting for the 76th time on Sunday but for the only scheduled meeting of the 2019-20 season. San Diego State enjoys a 40-35 series advantage.
-The Aztecs have won four straight games in the series and are 11-1 in the last 12 encounters.
-San Diego State has won seven straight games against the Spartans in San Diego with the last San Jose State victory coming on Feb. 27, 1997at the Sports Arena. The Aztecs are 7-0 in Viejas Arena against San Jose State.
-With the fast start, San Diego State finds itself ranked among the nation's elite in several statistical categories, including 4th in three-point field goal percentage differential (+13.8), 11th in scoring margin (+19.4), 14th in scoring defense (67.6), 16th in three-point field goal defense (26.3), 16th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.43), 19th in three-point field goal percentage (40.1), 23rd in field goal percentage defense (37.0) and 25th in field goal percentage differential (+10.1).
-For the third consecutive week, the Aztecs are receiving points in the Associate Press Top-25 poll. The Aztecs last appearance in the Top-25 came in February of 2015. San Diego State, after a week's absence, is also receiving votes the USA TODAY Coaches' Poll.
-Junior forward Malachi Flynn continues his remarkable play. The Washington State transfer has scored in double figures in each of his nine games with the Aztecs and is leading the team in scoring (16.9), assists (5.4), steals (1.4) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.76-to-1). He ranks 10th nationally in ATO ratio and is one of just 11 players nationally that is currently averaging at least 16.5 points and 5.25 assists. He has scored 20 or more points in three straight games for the first time in his 71-game career.
-Junior forward Matt Mitchell is coming off his best game of the season as he scored a season-high tying best 18 points to go along with a season-high eight rebounds in the victory at Colorado State. Mitchell has scored in double figures in three straight games for the first time since the first three games of his sophomore campaign. In his last three games the junior is averaging 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, is shooting 61.5 percent from the field (16-26) and has connected on 6-of-11 three-point attempts (54.5 percent).
OPENING MOUNTAIN WEST PLAY WITH A VICTORY
-With its 79-57 win at Colorado State, the Aztecs broke a three-year slide in conference openers.
-Before this year, the last time San Diego State won its league opener was in 2015-16 in a 67-55 win over Wyoming. That victory sparked an 11-game streak.
-Since the inaugural season of the Mountain West (1999-2000) the Aztecs have won at least two games in a row to open conference play 10 times.
-Winning at least two in a row to open league play could be even more indicative of making the postseason. In eight of the 10 years SDSU has won at least its first two conference games, it has made postseason play.
-In 2014-15, 2013-14, 2012-13, 2011-12 & 2010-11 SDSU won at least its first two MW games and made the NCAA tournament.
-In 2008-09, 2007-08 & 2002-03 the team won at least its first two games and made the NIT.
-Following the 2015-16 team's 11 straight wins to open league play, the 2013-14 team reeled off nine in a row to start MW play.