SAN DIEGO - Looking to keep its momentum going following a 13-point victory on Monday, the San Diego State men's basketball team opens a two-game Mountain West series against the Nevada Wolf Pack on Thursday night in Viejas Arena. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
SCENE SETTER
-The programs that have won the last two Mountain West Conference regular season championships open a two-game series Thursday when Nevada (co-2018-19 champs) faces San Diego State (outright 2019-20 champs).
-The teams meet on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT and on Saturday at 6 p.m. PT.
-The Aztecs a 19-6 series advantage, including a 9-1 home record against the Wolf Pack (Nevada's lone win over SDSU in San Diego came an Nov. 14, 1998). San Diego State has won the last three meetings between the teams and six of the last seven encounters.
-San Diego State has handed Nevada six of its last 23 losses. Since March 3, 2018, San Diego State is 6-1 against Nevada, while the rest of the country is 17-58.
-San Diego State responded from an immensely disappointing loss on Saturday (Colorado State rallied from 26 points down to win a game in which it led for 39 seconds) by routing the Rams on Monday night. SDSU settled for a 78-65 victory, but never trailed, raced out to a 21-6 lead, expanded the advantage to 42-13 and led 50-24 at intermission. The Aztecs led by double digits the final 34:14 of the game.
-The Aztec response from Saturday's game was strong and immediate. SDSU's 67.9 percent field goal shooting in the first half was its highest in a first half in nearly eight years (Feb. 19, 2013) and the 26-point halftime advantage matched Colorado State's largest deficit at intermission in the last 25 seasons.
-Senior guard Jordan Schakel scored a career-high 28 points, made a career-high eight three point field goals (on 8-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc) and tied a career-high with nine rebounds. The eight treys were the most by an Aztec player since Chase Tapley drained eight three-pointers against UNLV on Jan. 15, 2011.
-After his outburst Monday, Schakel is now averaging 14.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He now leads the Mountain West Conference in three-point field goal percentage (45.9)and free throw percentage (95.8).
-Senior guard Terrell Gomez reached double figures for the third consecutive game with 13 points and four assists on Monday. The transfer has 1,723 career points (10th among all active players), 313 career three-point field goals (second among all active players) and has made 43.7 percent of his career three-point field goal attempts (first among active players with at least 260 career makes).
-In his last three games, Gomez has averaged 15.0 points and made 11-of-19 three-point field goal attempts (57.9 percent), with 10 assists and six steals.
-Junior forward Nathan Mensah reached double figures for the third time in five games and the 13th time in his career with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and eight rebounds against the Rams. He had three blocked shots and now has a rejection in seven straight games and 16 in his last five games. His 80 career blocks are 10th in school history.
-SDSU leading scorer this season, senior forward Matt Mitchell had an efficient game with 12 points, five rebounds, two assists and was 4-of-5 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range. Mitchell has reached double figures in all nine games this season and is averaging 14.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game this season.
-The Aztecs are currently 13th in Sagarin Ratings, 13th in RPI, 30th in the NET, 30th in BPI, 30th in Kenpom and 39th in Strength of Record.
-San Diego State's 7-2 record is particularly impressive when considering the Aztecs eight Division I opponents are a combined 47-15, 75.8 percent (when factoring out 2-6 against San Diego State). All eight Aztec Division I opponents own a .500 or better record when factoring out the game against SDSU.
-San Diego State ranks among the national leaders in several categories including: 15th in scoring defense* (60.1), 22nd in Kenpom adjusted defensive efficiency* (91.7), 32nd in field goal percentage defense (38.7), 44th in turnover margin (+3.9), 37th in steals per game* (8.8) and 65th in turnover per game (12.0). * - indicates leads Mountain West Conference in category