SAN DIEGO – The No. 4 San Diego State men's basketball team, with its program-record 21-game win streak on the line, is in Albuquerque, N.M., on Wednesday night to play the University of New Mexico Lobos in a matchup between the best offense and best defense in the Mountain West Conference.
NEWS AND NOTES (through games of Jan. 25)
-Fresh off a school-record breaking 21st consecutive victory to open the season, San Diego State, which set program bests on Saturday for most consecutive wins and best start in the 99-season history of the program, plays at New Mexico on Wednesday.
-This is the second of three games in three locations in seven days for SDSU. On Saturday in Las Vegas, the Aztecs opened the busy week by defeating UNLV, 71-67, for the 16th time in the last 17 meetings.
-Saturday night, the Aztecs complete the busy 7-day stretch with a home game against preseason conference favorite Utah State. Kawhi Leonard will be in attendance and have his jersey retired at halftime of the game.
-Win streaks on the line Wednesday: 21-game win streak overall (longest in the nation, longest in school history), 10-game conference win streak (3rd longest win streak in the nation, T-2nd longest win streak in school history), 10-game road/neutral win streak (tied for second-longest win streak in school history), 8-game road winning streak (2nd longest win streak in the nation).
-San Diego State is the lone remaining undefeated team in the nation at 21-0 and broke the school record for best start in school history last Sunday. The Aztecs opened the 2010-11 campaign 20-0 led by Leonard (the team finished the season 34-3 and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16).
-SDSU also broke the school record for consecutive wins (was 20, now 21), set by the aforementioned 2010-11 team and equaled by the 2013-14 team led by Xavier Thames that also advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
-This is the 89th meeting between the teams, with the Lobos owning a 48-40 series lead. The Aztecs are 11-30 lifetime against the Lobos in Albuquerque. The Aztecs are looking for their first victory in The Pit since March 1, 2016.
-San Diego State is looking to become the first program in the Mountain West Conference era (since 1999-2000), to win at UNLV and at New Mexico, regardless of the order of games, in consecutive regular-season contests. In fact, the 11 previous teams that played these teams in consecutive road games all lost the first game of the series (0-11) and went 3-19 overall.
-San Diego State is 4-0 in NET Quadrant 1 games and 7-0 in NET Quadrant 1 and 2 games. Both records are tops in the country.
-The Aztecs are a perfect 10-0 in road/neutral games this season. SDSU is the only unbeaten team in road/neutral wins and the 10 victories in the category are tied for the most in the nation. Seven of the 10 road wins fall into either the NET Q1 or Q2 category.
-San Diego State is the eighth team to open a season 21-0 since the start of the 2010-11 campaign. Of the previous seven teams, all seven reached the NCAA tournament and won at least one game, one won a national championship, two made the Final Four, three made the Elite Eight and four made the Sweet 16.
-SDSU's 21-game unbeaten streak to open the season is the longest by an NCAA team since Gonzaga started the 2016-17 campaign 29-0 (advanced to the national championship game).
-San Diego State remained at No. 4 in the AP Poll for a second consecutive week. Now nationally ranked for an eighth consecutive week, this ties the highest ranking in school history, originally set on Jan. 24, 2011.
-San Diego State is enjoying its 74th 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 74 weeks in the top 25 are the 22nd most nationally.
-San Diego State's metrics continue to pace at an elite level. The Aztecs are currently 2nd in NET, 2nd in strength of record, 8th in KenPom, 11th in Sagarin, 11th in BPI and 16th in RPI.
-San Diego State is looking to match the school record for best start to a conference campaign. The 2015-16 team opened Mountain West play with an 11-0 record, before finishing with a 16-2 record.
-With the fast start, San Diego State finds itself ranked among the nation's elite in several statistical categories, including 3rd in scoring margin (+17.3), 4th in scoring defense (57.2), 6th in three-point field goal percentage differential (+9.6), 6th in three-point field goal defense (27.6), 7th in field goal percentage defense (37.1), 8th in field goal percentage differential (+9.4), 9th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.41) and 32nd in three-point field goal percentage (37.2).
-San Diego State has four players averaging 9.8 points or more and six players averaging 6.9 points or more. Six Aztec players have scored 18 or more points in a game this season.
-San Diego State leads the Mountain West Conference in many team stats, including scoring margin (+17.33), scoring defense (57.19), field goal percentage defense (37.1), turnover margin (+4.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.41), and three-point percentage defense (27.6).
PLAYER TIDBITS
Junior guard Malachi Flynn - 16.8 points, 5.0 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 39.7 3FG pct., 3.15 A/TO
-Only player in the nation averaging 16.5 points, 5 assists and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of at least 3:1.
-Eleven straight double-figure scoring games and 10+ points in 20-of-21 contests this season.
-Last 7 games: 19.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 4.6 apg, 48.3 (42-87) FG pct., 94.9 (37-39) FT pct.
-Leads the Mountain West Conference in assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio.
-The Sporting News midseason second-team All-American.
-Made 30 consecutive free throw attempts, streak was broken, currently made 43 of last 45.
-17 straight games with a trey.
-4th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (min. 100 assists), 3.15.
-Has 1,143 career points.
-Made 12-of-22 FGA on shots taken with four seconds or less on the shot clock. His PPP in those situations is 1.333 and ranks 1st nationally among players with at least 24 possessions.
Senior forward Yanni Wetzell - 12.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 59.6 FG pct.
-Has 14 or more points in five of last six games; Last 5 games: 15.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.7 apg, 62.9 FG pct.
-Last 18 games: 13.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 62.0 FG pct.
-Double-figures in six straight games (longest streak of his career) broken at UNLV (8 points) Sunday.
-14-of-23 double-digit scoring games have come this season.
-Was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field and produced 17 points, four rebounds and two assists (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).
-2-time Mountain West Player of the Week (1 of only 2 players this season; also: New Mexico's Joquan Lyle).
Junior forward Matt Mitchell - 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 36.8 3FG pct., 84.3 FT pct.
-Despite coming off the bench in 13-of-21 games this season, Mitchell is third on the team in scoring and is third on the team in rebounding.
-He is averaging career-bests points, rebounds, three-point field goal percentage, steals and blocked shots.
-Scored 10+ points in four of last five games and six of the last eight contests.
-In eight games as a starter: 11.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 46.8 FG pct.
-Junior guard Jordan Schakel - 9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 45.0 FG pct.,43.1 3FG pct., 90.0 FT pct.
-Reached double-figures in career best three straight games.
-Has eight or more points in 111 of his last 14 games (double figure in nine 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 21-2 with 14 straight victories.
-The Aztecs are 14-0 at Viejas when the he reaches double figures.
-The sharpshooter has made 44-of-102 attempts from bonus distance (43.1 percent). He is 38th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (min. 40 3FG made).
-SDSU-
Nation’s Longest Winning Streak on the Line at UNM
