SAN DIEGO - Following a pair of setbacks in its first Mountain West road trip, the San Diego State men's basketball team will get a chance to get back in the win column with a pair of games at Air Force this weekend starting with the opener on Friday night in Clune Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.
SCENE SETTER
San Diego State continues its longest stretch of consecutive road games in nearly 18 years when the Aztecs travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to face Air Force on Friday and Sunday.
The Aztecs are playing the third and fourth games of a current stretch of four consecutive road games. San Diego State last played four straight road games in March, 2003.
San Diego State and Air Force are meeting for the 84th time (this is the sixth most played series in San Diego State history). The Aztecs lead the series 59-24 and have won the last three encounters between the teams. The Aztecs own a 21-17 advantage in meetings at Clune Arena.
San Diego State had a 48-game streak without suffering consecutive losses broken last Saturday, in a 64-59 setback at Utah State. Playing without senior forward Matt Mitchell, who had played in 111 consecutive games, the Aztecs jumped to a 10-point halftime advantage and limited the Aggies to 37.3 percent field goal shooting and forced 16 turnovers in the contest. SDSU's stellar defense could not overcome a 19-7 scoring disadvantage at the free throw line in the contest.
The Aztecs have gone 96 games without suffering a three-game losing streak and this marks just the third time SDSU has entered a game following consecutive losses. In the previous two occasions SDSU has responded with impressive wins, defeating Wyoming, 87-77 (the Aztecs led by 23 early in the second half), on Feb. 14, 2018 and defeating Cal State Dominguez Hills, 99-46, on Dec. 12, 2019.
San Diego State is 13-2 in its last 15 road games and is 10th nationally in road winning percentage since the start of the 2010-11 season (74-45, 62.2 percent).
The Aztecs are currently 20th in RPI, 33rd in Sagarin Ratings, 37th in BPI, 46th in Kenpom, 46th in the NET and 56th in Strength of Record.
San Diego State's 9-4 record is particularly impressive when considering the Aztecs' Division I opponents are a combined 103-37, 73.6 percent (when factoring out 3-9 against San Diego State). Twelve of the 13 Aztec Division I games are against teams that own a .500 or better record when factoring out the game against SDSU.
San Diego State's next 10 games are against teams that are a combined 46-72, 39.0 percent.
San Diego State ranks among the national leaders in several categories including: 13th in scoring defense (60.7), 19th in Kenpom adjusted defensive efficiency (91.7), 31st in field goal percentage defense (39.3), 55th in turnover margin (+3.0) and 62nd in steals per game (7.9).
Last Saturday, San Diego State held Utah State to a season-low 19 field goals, outshot the Aggies (41.1-to-37.3), owned a turnover advantage (12-to-16) but could not overcome a 19-to-7 discrepancy at the free throw line in a 64-59 loss at Utah State.
Also on Saturday, senior guard Terrell Gomez broke a three-game scoring slump during which he scored six points total with a 16-point performance on the strength of 4-of-7 three-point shooting. Gomez has 1,745 career points (11th among active DI players), 319 career three-point field goals (3rd), 43.6 career three-point field goal percentage (7th) and 89.3 carer free throw percentage (1st).
True freshman guard Lamont Butler had a breakout game with a career-high 13 points and a career-high five steals. He is one of only three freshmen to post a 13 and five game in those categories this season, he is one of only three Aztec freshmen to do it in the last 25 seasons (also Kyle Spain and Richie Williams) and is the only Aztec player - regardless of class - to post those numbers off the bench in the last 25 seasons.
Senior guard Jordan Schakel scored 11 points and added three rebounds in Saturday's game in Logan. The senior reached double figures for the eighth time this season and the 38th time in his career. He was a perfect 4-for-4 inside the arc, marking the first time he has gone perfect inside the arc with at least four two-point field goal attempts in 106 career games.
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Aztecs Head To Air Force For A Friday Matchup
