SAN DIEGO – Coming off its 78-66 overtime triumph over Boise State on Thursday night, the San Diego State men's basketball team can sweep the Boise State Broncos on Saturday and be one game from clinching its conference-record 13th Mountain West crown.
SCENE SETTER
Winners of nine straight games, No. 22/25 San Diego State closes out the home portion of its 2020-21 campaign with a Saturday matinee against Boise State.
San Diego State will have five seniors participating Saturday in what could be the final home game of their collegiate career. The NCAA has granted student-athletes an opportunity to continue their playing career due to the pandemic. Seniors on the current SDSU roster: Terrell Gomez (CSUN transfer, active DI ranks: 13th in scoring, 3rd in 3FGM, 6th in 3FG pct.), Matt Mitchell (one of three players in school history w/1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals), Trey Pulliam (playing best basketball of his career, last 3 gms.: 14.7 ppg; A-TO ratio this season: 2.00), Jordan Schakel (3rd in DI 3FG pct. this season, 115 career games) and Joshua Tomaic (Maryland transfer that has more points this season (111), than his first three seasons combined (83)).
San Diego State continues its quest to add to its Mountain West Conference total of 12 conference championships (including seven regular season titles). The Aztecs, who were 3-3 and tied for fifth place in the conference on Jan. 7, are alone atop the conference standings for the first time this season after the Thursday victory (MW regular season championships: 2006, 2011*, 2012*, 2014, 2015*, 2016 and 2020 / * - indicates shared title).
San Diego State has made a run for a 13th Mountain West title by winning nine consecutive games (by an average margin of 24.8 points, winning each game by at least 12 points and not trailing at any point of the second half during that stretch).
Win streaks on the line Saturday:
Category - Strk. - Note
Overall Win Streak - 9 T - 8th longest strk. in school history; T-7th longest active streak nationally
Conference Win Streak – 9 - 4th longest streak in San Diego State history (Dutcher was HC for longest streak, 13)
Home Win Streak - 8 - Since Jan. 1, 2019, SDSU is 35-4 at Viejas Arena
vs. Boise State - 5 - Tied for longest series win streak for either team (SDSU won first 5 meetings, 1976-2013)
vs. Boise State in San Diego – 4 - SDSU is 8-2 vs. Boise in San Diego; Last Boise State win in San Diego was Feb. 27, 2016
San Diego State has been one of the most impressive teams in the country over the last month. Since the start of the 9-game win streak on Jan. 22, here is a look at the Aztecs national rankings (min. 3 GP): 3rd in scoring margin (+24.8), 3rd in rebound margin (+12.6), 7th in scoring (84.0), 10th in turnover margin (+4.8), 10th in field goal percentage defense (38.0), 13th in point allowed (59.2), 14th in three-point field goal percentage (41.3 percent), 19th in field goal percentage (49.5) and 25th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.46).
The Aztecs and Broncos will meet for the 24th time, with San Diego State owning a 16-7 series lead. The Aztecs have won the last five encounters played between the teams.
San Diego State owns an 8-2 series advantage in games played in San Diego. The Aztecs are also 9-1 when facing the Broncos as an AP Top 25 team and Brian Dutcher is 6-2 against Boise. This marks the fifth straight time the Aztecs have faced Boise while ranked in the AP Poll.
San Diego State moved from No. 25 to No. 22 in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll this week and returned to the coaches poll at No. 25. Since the start of the 2010-11 campaign, the Aztecs have made 85 appearances in the poll, including four weeks this season. That ranks 19th nationally and is the highest total among California and Mountain West teams.
The Aztecs metrics continue their upward trend following the nine dominating victories. San Diego State rankings in the metrics after Thursday's games: 21st in the NET, 11th in Torvik, 13th in KPI, 16th in RPI, 18th in KenPom, 18th in BPI and 20th in Sagarin. San Diego State is one of only 12 teams in the nation to rank among the top 25 in the seven major metrics - NET, BPI, KenPom, KPI, RPI, Sagarin and Torvik. The 12 schools listed alphabetically are: Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Florida State, Gonzaga, Houston, Michigan, Ohio State, San Diego State, Texas, Villanova and West Virginia.
At 18-4, San Diego State has its second-best record after 22 games in the last seven seasons (last season the Aztecs opened 26-0). Overall, it is the fourth best 22-game start in the Division I era, trailing 2019-20 (22-0), 2013-14 (20-1), 2010-11 (20-1) and 2011-12 (19-2).
San Diego State is one of four teams in the country that averages +15.0 points, +5.4 rebounds and +3.5 turnovers per game. The other three schools are Baylor (18-0), Houston (19-3) and UC Santa Barbara (16-3).
Senior guard Jordan Schakel is third among Division I players this season in three-point field goal percentage at 45.7 percent. Schakel ranks 6th among all Division I players averaging 1.173 point per possession this season (minimum 250 possessions).