SAN DIEGO – Riding its initial ranking in the AP top-25 poll, No. 24, the San Diego State men's basketball team takes to the road for the first time this season for a matchup at No. 23 Arizona State on Thursday night. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. PT and will air on FS1.
SCENE SETTER
-Off to a 4-0 start for the second consecutive season, but just the third time in the last 10 years, No. 24/rv San Diego State faces its second nationally-ranked team of the season at No. 23/23 Arizona State Thursday night.
-San Diego State makes its season debut in the AP Top 25 Poll this week at No. 24. The Aztecs are in the poll for the 82nd week, all since the start of the 2010-11 campaign. That is tied for the 19th most appearances in the poll during the last 10 seasons.
-For just the 15th time in school history, San Diego State is involved in a game in which both the Aztecs and their opponent are ranked in the AP poll. This is the first such game in that category since Nov. 26, 2014 and SDSU is 5-9 in those match-ups.
-Since the start of the 2017-18 season, San Diego State is 6-4 against teams that were ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll at the time of the game. That is the eighth best record in the nation (chart leaders listed below).
-Of the 351 Division I teams, 296 have played at least one game. Of those, 73 have yet to lose a game. Last season, the Aztecs were the last team in the nation to suffer a loss, winning the first 26 games of the season before finally putting a one in the loss column on Feb. 22.
-San Diego State has won its last two games against Pac-12 opponents - 80-52 vs. Utah at the Staples Center on Dec. 21, 2019 and 73-58 over UCLA at Viejas last month (Nov. 25). The Aztecs are 13-11 against members of the league since Dec. 8, 2010. Ten of those 24 encounters have come against a nationally-ranked Pac-12 opponent.
-San Diego State win streaks on the line Sunday: 16-game win streak in non-conference regular-season, 12-game road win streak (longest active streak in the nation; Kansas and Stephen F. Austin are tied for second at 10), seven-game win streak in games played in December.
-The Aztecs, owners of the nation's longest road winning streak (12), own the nation's seventh best road winning percentage over the last 11 seasons. Arizona State is 8-1 in its last nine home games and is 17-3 in its last 20 home games. The Sun Devils are 3-1 in their last four home games against AP Top 25 teams, with wins over No. 1 Kansas, No. 22 Arizona and No. 14 Oregon.
-On Sunday afternoon, San Diego State overcame a 16-point second half deficit for just the fourth time in the last 25 seasons to defeat Pepperdine, 65-60. The Aztecs ended the game on a 34-13 run to complete the rally. The Aztecs, who were never tied (after 0-0) and never had a lead until the 6:17 mark of the second half.
-Senior guard Jordan Schakel helped spark the Aztec comeback with season-highs in points (17) and rebounds (five). The sharpshooter, who had never made more than three two-point field goals in his career, went 5-for-6 inside the arc as the Aztecs improved to 10-1 when he scores at least 15 points.
-Senior forward Joshua Tomaic scored a season-high 10 points, added five rebounds and a career-high three steals. Tomaic scored eight of his 10 points after intermission and now has more points this season (24) than he did in his entire junior campaign at Maryland (18).
-The Aztecs have outscored their opponents this season, 298-217, for a scoring margin of +20.2.
-San Diego State's turnover margin of +7.2 ranks sixth nationally among teams that have played at least four times and 17th nationally overall.
-San Diego State owns a 34-2 record since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That is tied with Gonzaga for the best mark nationally.
-Through Monday's games, the Aztecs were ranked 10th in Strength of Record, 17th in Sagarin Ratings, 28th in BPI, 30th in RPI and 38th in KenPom.
-The Aztecs rank among the national leaders in a number of categories, including 8th in scoring defense (54.2), 17th in turnover margin (7.2), 28th in steals per game (9.8), 39th in turnovers per game (11.0), 39th in turnovers forced per game (18.3) and 49th in scoring margin (+20.2).