SAN DIEGO – Coming off a win over Grand Canyon to move to 3-0 on the season, San Diego State men's basketball travels down Mission Valley to take on the San Diego Toreros on Wednesday night in Jenny Craig Pavilion.
NEWS AND NOTES (As of Nov. 17)
-San Diego State and San Diego, two schools separated by 9.8 miles meet for the 51st time on Wednesday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion (JCP).
-Entering Sunday, San Diego State is one of just 78 Division I teams with a perfect record (there are 351 Division I men's basketball programs).
-The Aztecs have opened the 2019-20 campaign with a 3-0 record, marking the best start for the program since the 2014-15 NCAA tournament and Mountain West Conference regular season championship team opened with a 5-0 record.
-A win would give San Diego State just its second 4-0 start in the last nine seasons (other: the aforementioned 2014-15 season).
-San Diego State is 11-2 in its last 13 encounters with San Diego, although the two losses have come recently (2015 outdoors at PETCO Park and 2018 at Viejas Arena). The teams have split the last four games.
-The Aztecs have won the last five times the series has been played at Jenny Craig Pavilion and has a six-game win streak in the venue overall (defeated Kansas State in the second round of the 2009 postseason NIT). Although San Diego State has fared well against the Toreros at the JCP, the games have been remarkably close with the following winning margins during the streak: 3, 5, 7 (ot), 12, 11 and 9. SDSU's average margin of victory during the six-game series road win streak is 7.8 points.
-San Diego State's six-game win streak at Jenny Craig Pavilion is the longest active win streak by any team in the venue and is two short of the all-time mark set by a guest (Gonzaga won eight straight games in the building, several of which were neutral site WCC tournament games, from March 3, 2001 - March 9, 2003).
-Since the start of the 2007-08 season, San Diego State is 5-0 against USD at the JCP while the rest of the nation is 78-105 (42.6 percent) and non-conference opponents are 24-59 (28.9 percent).
-Since the start of the 2008-09 season, San Diego State is 125-81 in road or neutral site games. That winning percentage of 60.7 ranks 14th nationally.
-Although early in the season, San Diego State has shown tremendous improvement offensively this season. Through three games, SDSU ranks 17th in three-point field goal percentage (43.7) and 36th in three-pointers per game (10.3). In each of its first three games, SDSU has posted an offensive efficiency rating of 104.8 or greater. The Aztecs have not done that in four consecutive games since January, 2018.
-SDSU has enjoyed a huge advantage on the glass thus far, with a +14.0 margin. That margin ranks 14th nationally. The Aztecs are 3-0 this season and 35-8 in the Brian Dutcher era when owning an advantage on the glass.
-Junior guard Malachi Flynn has wasted little time in making his presence felt on The Mesa. The Washington State transfer who was selected by the media as the preseason conference newcomer of the year, leads San Diego State in scoring (15.3 ppg), assists (6.3) and steals (5). He is shooting 45.9 percent from the field and has connected on 7-of-14 three-point attempts (50.0 percent).
-Junior guard Jordan Schakel has started the season scorching the nets from beyond the arc. Schakel, who shot 41.5 percent from beyond the arc last season, has made 10-of-14 three-point attempts (71.4 percent) through three games. He is fifth nationally in the category and is averaging 13.0 points per contest.
-Senior guard KJ Feagin has posted consecutive double-digit scoring games and is averaging 10.0 points, 3.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds in his three games as an Aztec. The Santa Clara transfer is 6-of-12 from beyond the arc (50.0 percent).
-Sophomore forward Natahan Mensah is coming off a remarkable game with 14 points, a game-high nine rebounds and a career-high six dunks in the victory over Grand Canyon. He is averaging 8.7 points and 10.3 rebounds through the first three games.
-USD marks the first game in a stretch of three games in six days for San Diego State. The Aztecs return home to face LIU on Friday night and Tennessee State on next Monday.
-San Diego State is looking for its first 4-0 start to a campaign since the 2014-15 NCAA Tournament season. Since the inaugural year of the Mountain West (1999-00), San Diego State has started the season 4-0 four times. The 2010-11 team, which reached the Sweet-16 in the NCAA Tournament, reached No. 4/4 in the national rankings and had the best start going, 20-0, before a 68-55 loss at BYU on Jan. 19, 2011.
-The Aztecs have opened the 2019-20 campaign with three consecutive victories, and with one of the first two wins coming on the road, for the first time since the 2010-11 season. That season, SDSU opened the year with wins at Long Beach State and at No. 11/12 Gonzaga en route to a 20-0 start, a 34-3 final record and the school's first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.
-With the win over Grand Canyon (86-61 on 11/13), SDSU now has five Division I programs it has played at least three times without coming away with a victory. The list includes Tennessee & Villanova (0-3), Duke & Stanford (0-4) and Washington State (0-6).
-Prior to the Aztecs 86-61 victory over Grand Canyon (11/13), GCU had won the previous two game on SDSU's home court and had defeated San Diego State by an average of 12.5 points per game (86-68 on 2/23/80 & 52-45 on 12/18/15).
The Aztecs led 40-24 at the half against Grand Canyon. In the Brian Dutcher era, SDSU is 41-8 when leading after 20 minutes, 3-0 this season and have won nine straight when leading at intermission.
-Against Grand Canyon, Nathan Mensah had a career-high six dunks, last year he totaled 15 dunks in 34 games.
The Aztecs sank their first seven field goal attempts against GCU with six assists on each of the first six buckets.
San Diego State has outrebounded each of its first three opponents by a total of 142-to-100, an average of 14 rebounds per game.
-The Aztecs next game will be at 7 p.m., on Nov. 22 against LIU on Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
THE SERIES
San Diego State leads in the series with San Diego, 31-19. San Diego defeated the Aztecs 73-61 on Dec. 5, 2018, in the last meeting between the teams.
The Aztecs are 10-8 against the Toreros on USD's home court, including a 6-2 mark in Jenny Craig Pavilion (JCP) which opened prior to the 2000-01 season.
In the last five meetings in JCP, all San Diego State wins, the Aztecs' average margin of victory is 6.8 points.
In the 2017 game, guard Matt Mitchell, then a freshman, was one of three Aztecs to score in double figures. He finished with four rebounds and 13 points on 4-of-4 FG shooting, including 1-of-1 from the three-point line and 4-of 5 from the line.
San Diego State is 134-155 against the current members of the West Coast Conference, which includes a 76-71 win at BYU on Nov. 9.
LAST TIME OUT
SAN DIEGO STATE 86, GRAND CANYON 61
Nov. 13, 2019 | Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena
SAN DIEGO - First a win at BYU and then finally, a win against pesky Grand Canyon. It's been a big five-day stretch for San Diego State, which dominated inside and outside against Grand Canyon to win 86-61 Tuesday night. Malachi Flynn and Nathan Mensah each scored 14 points. KJ Feagin added 13 points for SDSU (3-0), which was coming off a big 76-71 win at former conference rival BYU on Saturday.
Grand Canyon (0-3) had won its previous two games against the Aztecs in San Diego, plus the most recent game in the series, a 76-72 victory in Phoenix on Dec. 7, 2016.
Leading 15-14, SDSU got hot from inside and outside and raced to a 30-18 lead. Matt Mitchell hit a 3-pointer and a fall-away jumper during the big run. The Aztecs twice hit consecutive 3-pointers in the first half. Feagin and Mitchell did it early on and then Adam Seiko and Keshad Johnson did it to give SDSU a 36-22 lead with six minutes before halftime. GCU went scoreless for the final five minutes of the first half as SDSU jumped to a 40-24 lead and never looked back.
The Aztecs are off to their first 3-0 start since 2014-15. It has advanced to the NCAAs each of the last three times it started 3-0.
-SDSU-
Men’s Hoops At USD On Wednesday Night
