FRESNO, Calif. – Following its 67-53 win over Fresno State on Thursday, the San Diego State men's basketball team will look to sweep the Bulldogs when they meet on Saturday afternoon in the Save Mart Center. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network and is scheduled to tip off at 4:30 p.m. PT.
SCENE SETTER
Owners of a 7-game win streak and a 14-game win streak against teams from the state of California, No. 25 San Diego State looks to record its fourth consecutive Mountain West Conference sweep when the Aztecs face Fresno State on Saturday.
Win streaks on the line Thursday: 7-game overall win streak, 7-game Mountain West win streak (third league win streak of at least six games in Brian Dutcher's fourth season as head coach), 14-game win streak against teams from the state of California and a 3-game win streak against Fresno State.
SDSU's 7-game overall win streak is its longest of the season, the longest active win streak in the Mountain West Conference and tied for the 11th longest active win streak nationally.
The Aztecs 14-game win streak against teams from the state of California is the longest active streak by a team in the state against Golden State competition (USC currently has a 13-game streak).
San Diego State has been nothing short of dominant during the 7-game win streak. In addition to winning every game by at least 14 points and not trailing in the second half of any game during the streak, the Aztecs have produced eye-popping numbers since Jan. 22, the first win of the streak. SDSU's national rankings since Jan. 22: 2nd in scoring margin (+27.6), 2nd in rebound margin (+14.9), 6th in assist-to-turnover (+1.82), 8th in points per game (86.1), 10th in points allowed per game (58.6), 11th in turnover margin (+5.7), T-12th in three-point field goals per game (10.3) and 15th in field goal percentage defense (37.6).
San Diego State returned to the Associated Press poll this week at number 25. This is the third week this season the Aztecs have appeared in the AP poll and the first time since Dec. 14. Since the start of the 2010-11 campaign, the Aztecs have made 84 appearances in the poll. That ranks 19th nationally and is the highest total among California and Mountain West teams.
The Aztecs metrics continue their upward trend following the seven dominating victories. San Diego State rankings in the metrics after Thursday's games: 26th in the NET, 23rd in Sagarin, 23rd in KenPom, 23rd in the BPI and 29th in the RPI.
San Diego State and Fresno State will meet for the 122nd time on Saturday. The Bulldogs represent the Aztecs most frequent opponent. The Aztecs own a 65-56 series advantage and own a three-game win streak in the series for the first time since winning eight straight from 2001-14.
In Fresno, the Bulldogs own a 33-23 advantage although the Aztecs own a 7-4 record against Fresno at the Save Mart Center.
This marks the fourth consecutive meeting with Fresno State in which San Diego State has been nationally ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll. SDSU is 3-0 in those game and is 6-0 lifetime when facing Fresno while ranked in the AP Poll.
Nationally, San Diego State ranks among the leaders this season in the following categories: 7th in scoring defense (60.0), 8th in field goal percentage defense (38.7), 13th in scoring margin (+15.1), 16th in turnover margin (+4.0), 30th in three-point field goal percentage (38.0), 38th assist-to-turnover ratio (1.30) and 39th in three-point field goals per game (92).
According to Kenpom, several of San Diego State's highest offensive efficiency rating against a Division I opponent in the 20-year history of the public ratings have come in the last couple of games. Three of the nine highest-rated games have occurred during the current win streak - No. 1 - Wyoming (Jan. 30, 2021), No. 4 - at Air Force (Jan. 24, 2021) and No. 9 - at Air Force (Jan. 22, 2021).
Aztecs Set To Finish Off Fresno State Saturday Afternoon
