SAN DIEGO – Off to the second-best start in program history, trailing only the 2010-11 Aztecs who opened that season 20-0, the No. 7 San Diego State men's basketball team, 16-0, 5-0 in Mountain West action, host Boise State on Saturday night in Viejas Arena.
AND NOTES (through games of Jan. 9)
-San Diego State looks to extend the school's third-longest win streak and second-best start to a campaign on Saturday night when the Aztecs play host to Boise State.
-Saturday's game is sold out. It marks the 115th sellout in the venue for the Aztecs and the third straight game.
-The Aztecs, one of two undefeated Division I teams (Auburn), is off to its best start since the 2010-11 squad opened 20-0 en route to a 34-3 record and an appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16.
-The current 16-game win streak for the Aztecs is the third-longest in school history, trailing a pair of 20-game win streaks. The aforementioned 2010-11 start, of which two-time NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard was a part of, and the 2013-14 squad led by Xavier Thames. That team also advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tourney.
-San Diego State is looking for just its third 6-0 conference start of the Mountain West era on Saturday night. The Aztecs last two outright regular-season titles have come following a 6-0 start to league play.
-The Aztecs enter Saturday with a 1 1/2-game lead in the conference standings (Nevada, New Mexico and UNLV are all 3-1 in conference play).
-San Diego State is 8-0 at home this season and the Aztecs have won 17 of its last 18 contests at Viejas Arena. During that 18-game stretch, the Aztecs have outscored the opposition by 293 points and owns an average scoring margin of +16.3.
-The Aztecs are 6-2 lifetime at home against the Broncos, but the seven games played in the venue between the teams since Boise joined the league have been decided by a total of 33 points (4.7 points per game) with one game decided by more than 10 points.
-San Diego State jumped six spots in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll this week, from No. 13 to No. 7. Now nationally ranked for a fifth consecutive week, the Aztecs have their highest ranking in the poll since SDSU was ranked No. 6 on Feb. 17, 2014.
-San Diego State is enjoying its 71st 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 71 weeks in the top 25 are the 23rd most nationally.
-San Diego State's metrics continue to pace at an elite level. The Aztecs are currently 3rd in NET (San Diego State has been in the top three since the daily chart debuted Dec. 16), 1st in strength of record, 12th in Sagarin, 12th in BPI, 15th in KenPom and 16th in RPI.
-With the fast start, San Diego State finds itself ranked among the nation's elite in several statistical categories, including 3rd in scoring margin (+18.9), 3rd in three-point field goal percentage differential (+11.6), 5th in scoring defense (56.5), 6th in field goal percentage defense (36.4), 7th in three-point field goal defense (26.4), 8th in field goal percentage differential (+10.1), 13th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.39) and 27th in three-point field goal percentage (38.0).
-San Diego State improved to 16-0 overall and 5-0 in conference play on Wednesday with a 72-52 victory at Wyoming. It was the second largest margin of victory for the Aztecs in 38 all-time meetings against the Cowboys in Laramie. Malachi Flynn scored a game-high 19 points and added four assists and three rebounds, while Yanni Wetzell made all seven of his field goal attempts en route to 17 points and four rebounds.
-San Diego State did not trail in the second half marking the 13th time in 16 games this season that the Aztecs did not face a second-half deficit. The Aztecs claimed their seventh victory by 20 or more points this season.
-San Diego State has four players averaging in double figures (10.3 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 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 (16.1), assists (5.0) and steals (1.7). He is the only player in the nation to average 16 and five while owning an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.30 or better. He is currently eighth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.33 (80 assists, 24 turnovers).
-Despite coming off the bench in 13-of-16 games this season, junior forward Matt Mitchell is second on the team in scoring (11.3) and is third on the team in rebounding (4.8), while shooting 39.6 percent from three-point range. He is averaging career bests in all three of those categories.
Senior Yanni Wetzell has reached double figures in 10 of his last 13 games after doing so nine times all of last season at Vanderbilt. The transfer is averaging 11.1 points and 6.0 rebounds (second on the team), while shooting 60.2 percent from the field. In his last 13 games he is averaging 12.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and has made 66-of-103 field goal attempts (64.1 percent).
-Against the Cowboys, Wetzell was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and produced 17 points, four rebounds and two assists. He became the fourth Aztec player during the Brian Dutcher/Steve Fisher era to make at least seven field goals in a game without a miss - joining Nathan Mensah, Aerick Sanders and Billy White.
-Junior Jordan Schakel has eight or more points in nine of his last 10 games (double figure in seven of those contests). Not only is reaching double figures good for Schakel, it's good for the Aztecs. When Schakel scores 10 or more points in his career, SDSU is 18-2 with 11 straight victories. The Aztecs are 12-0 at Viejas when the he reaches double figures. The sharpshooter has made 35-of-76 attempts from bonus distance (46.1 percent).
No. 7 Men's Hoops Host Boise State On Saturday Night
