SAN DIEGO – Sitting at 23-0, the last unbeaten team in Division I men's basketball, and with a Mountain West record 12-0 start to the conference schedule, the San Diego State men's basketball team heads to Colorado Springs, Colo., to face off with the Air Force Falcons on Saturday night.
NEWS AND NOTES (through games of Feb. 5)
-Following its largest in-conference break of the season, San Diego State gets back to work this Saturday when the Aztecs play at Air Force.
-San Diego State, which has won a Mountain West Conference-best 11 men's basketball championships, has a magic number of 3 to clinch an outright regular-season title.
-Winning streaks that are on the line Saturday:
| Streak | No. | School | Active DI |
| Overall | 23 | record | longest active win streak |
| Road/Neutral Win Streak | 12 | record | longest active win streak |
| Road Win Streak | 9 | t-record | 2nd-longest active win streak (Gonzaga, 16) |
| Conference Win Streak | 12 | record | 3rd-longest active win streak (New Mexico State 26, Murray State 21) |
| Best Start to Season | 23-0 | record | best start by any team since Gonzaga, 29-0 (2016-17) |
| Best Start to Conference | 12-0 | record | best start by any team in Mountain West Conference history |
-San Diego State and Air Force, which are meeting for the only time this season, are meeting for the 82nd time, with the Aztecs owning a 57-24 advantage. In Colorado Springs, the Aztecs are 20-17, and have lost on two of its last three visits to Clune Arena.
-Air Force is 3-3 in its last six home games against AP Top-25 teams.
-San Diego State, which owns a nation-best 9-0 record in NET Quadrant 1 and 2 games, posted three Q2 victories in a 7-day period last week. The Aztecs became the first team in the history of the Mountain West Conference to win at UNLV and New Mexico in consecutive road games. SDSU defeated UNLV for the 16th time in 17 meetings with a 71-67 victory on Jan. 26 and posted its largest margin of victory over New Mexico in 42 all-time meetings at The Pit, 85-57, on Jan. 29. SDSU closed out the busy week last Saturday by overcoming a 10-point second half deficit en route to an 80-68 victory over unanimous preseason conference favorite Utah State.
-San Diego State is the seventh team to open a season 23-0 since the start of the 2010-11 campaign. Of the previous six teams, all reached the NCAA tournament and won at least one game, one won a national championship, two made the Final Four and three made the Sweet 16.
-SDSU's 23-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 third consecutive week. Now nationally ranked for a ninth-straight week, this ties the highest ranking in school history, originally set on Jan. 24, 2011.
-San Diego State is enjoying its 75th 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 75 weeks in the top 25 are tied for the 21st most nationally.
-San Diego State's metrics continue to pace at an elite level. The Aztecs are currently 1st in NET (for an eighth-straight day and a national-best 29th non-consecutive day this season), 2nd in strength of record, 5th in KenPom (program best), 7th in Sagarin and 9th in BPI.
-With the fast start, San Diego State finds itself ranked among the nation's elite in several statistical categories, including 3rd in scoring margin (+17.6), 3rd in three-point field goal percentage differential (+10.4), 4th in scoring defense (57.7), 5th in three-point field goal defense (27.8), 5th in field goal percentage differential (+9.8), 9th in field goal percentage defense (37.3), 9th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.41), 17th in three-point field goal percentage (38.2) and 31st in field goal percentage (47.1).
-San Diego State has four players averaging 9.7 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 (+17.57), scoring defense (57.65), field goal percentage defense (37.3), turnover margin (+3.52) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.41), and three-point percentage defense (27.8).
PLAYER TIDBITS
Junior guard Malachi Flynn - 16.5 points, 5.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 39.1 3FG pct., 3.44 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.
-13 straight double-figure scoring games and 10+ points in 22-of-23 contests this season.
-Last 9 games: 18.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 5.0 apg, 8.1 (51-106) FG pct., 93.3 (42-45) 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 48 of last 51.
-19 straight games with a trey.
-2nd in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (min. 110 assists), 3.44.
-Has 1,170 career points.
-Made 13-of-24 FGA on shots taken with four seconds or less on the shot clock. His PPP in those situations is 1.308 and ranks 2nd nationally among players with at least 25 possessions.
Senior forward Yanni Wetzell - 12.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 59.9 FG pct.
-Has 11 or more points in seven of last eight games; Last 8 games: 14.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.3 apg, 63.2 FG pct.
-Last 20 games: 12.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 62.2 FG pct.
-Double-figures in eight of his last nine games.
-16-of-25 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 - 11.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 39.7 3FG pct., 84.8 FT pct.
-Scored 28 points (second highest output of his career) last time out against Utah State (2-1-20).
-Despite coming off the bench in 13-of-23 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 six of last seven games and eight of the last 10 contests.
-Has 40 points in his last two games, 6-10 3FGs (60.0 percent).
-In 10 games as a starter: 13.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 50.0 FG pct.
Junior guard Jordan Schakel - 9.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 45.1 FG pct.,43.4 3FG pct., 90.0 FT pct.
-Reached double-figures in four of the last five games.
-Has eight or more points in 12 of his last 16 games (double figure in 10 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 22-2 with 15 straight victories.
-The Aztecs are 14-0 at Viejas when the he reaches double figures.
-The sharpshooter has made 49-of-113 attempts from bonus distance (43.4 percent). He is 29th nationally in three-point field goal percentage (min. 45 3FG made).