@UtahMBB Turns Focus Towards #20 San Diego State

Saturday, December 21

Los Angeles, CA

4:30 PM

University of Utah

San Diego State

@UtahMBB Turns Focus Towards #20 San Diego State

12/19/2019 7:47 PM | Men's Basketball

Utah Game Notes SDSU Game Notes

The Utah men’s basketball team is headed to the City of Angels for its final non-conference game of the season against No. 20 San Diego State Saturday.

OPENING TIP
The University of Utah men's basketball team won't have much time to celebrate after toppling No. 6 Kentucky as it now heads to the City of Angels for another top-25 match up this Saturday, Dec. 21, at 4:30 p.m. (MT) against No. 20 San Diego State as part of the Air Force Reserve Basketball Hall of Fame Classic inside STAPLES Center.

Guy Haberman will have the call on the Pac-12 Network alongside Don MacLean in the 74th meeting between the Utes and Aztecs.

BACK-TO-BACK
Saturday's game will also serve as the first time the Utes have played back-to-back AP Top-25 ranked teams since playing the Arizona schools in January of 2018 twice in the same month during the regular-season.

Since the AP Poll began for the 1948-49 season, the Utes have only won back-to-back games against AP Top-25 teams once in 22 tries. That lone instance came during the National Championship run under late head coach Rick Majerus in the NCAA Tournament. The Utes first defeated fourth-ranked Arizona 76-51 in the Elite Eight before taking down top-ranked North Carolina in the Final Four 65-59.

Additionally, the Utes have yet to win three-straight games against AP Top-25 ranked teams and have gone 0-3 in the three times it has occurred in program history (1954-55, 1994-95, 1997-98).

SCOUTING THE AZTECS
San Diego State enters this Saturday's contest just 1-of-4 undefeated teams remaining in the country at 11-0 and joined by Auburn, Duquesne and Liberty through games on Dec. 18. Meanwhile, its 11-game winning-streak is second most in the country and fourth-longest in program history.

Washington State transfer Malachi Flynn has been tearing it up for the Aztecs, leading the team with a 15.5 points average to go with a 5.1 assists average and 3.1 rebounds per game. Matt Mitchell is second on the team in scoring with an 11.5 points average to go with his 4.7 rebounds per game. Yanni Wetzell is averaging 10.8 points and 5.9 boards with a team-high .613 shooting clip while Jordan Schakel rounds out the double-digit scoring list with 10.7 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game. Big man Nathan Mensah leads the team on the glass, averaging 7.3 boards to go along with his 6.5 points per game and .580 shooting clip. His 19 blocks is also good for most on the squad.

As a team, the Aztecs have outscored opponents by an average of 20.1 points while shooting 46.1-percent from the field and 39.8-percent from beyond the arc. The team has also been great at limiting turnovers, posting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.5 for the whole team through 11 games.

With scheduling in Las Vegas during conference tournament time, the Mountain West Conference moved up its league schedule and saw SDSU start MWC action 2-0 with wins over Colorado State (79-57) on the road and San Jose State (59-57) at home.

AZTECS IN THE POLLS
Since the two programs began playing in 1979, Utah holds a strong 54-19 all-time record against San Diego State. During that 73-game stretch, the Aztecs were ranked four times when playing the Utes – which have all gone in favor of SDSU, 4-0. During the three-game stretch in 2011 where they were ranked, the Aztecs were led by All-American and two-time NBA Champion Kawhi Leonard.

Date	SDSU Rank	Location (H/A/N)	Score
Jan. 8, 2011	#6	Salt Lake City (H)	L, 71-62
Feb. 8, 2011	#6	San Diego (A)	L, 85-53
March 10, 2011	#7	Las Vegas (N)	L, 64-50
Nov. 18, 2014	#16	San Diego (A)	L, 53-49

LAST TIME OUT
The youthful Runnin' Utes showed poise once again, this time with the eyes of the entire country on them against No. 6 Kentucky. Both Gach came out ready to battle and drew first blood against the Wildcats, scoring the first 10 points for Utah to take an early lead. That lead would reach double-digits thanks to fellow sophomores Timmy Allen and Riley Battin, who joined him in the scoring column. Up 35-23 with 2:36 remaining in the half, Utah had to weather an 8-0 run from Kentucky and settled with the 35-31 edge heading into the locker room.
Listen to "Utah vs. Kentucky - Full Radio Highlights - 12-18-19" on Spreaker.
Kentucky's adjustments in the second half didn't do much against the Utah offense as the onslaught continued for the Runnin' Utes as it held a double-digit lead for a majority in the second stanza. Freshman Mikael Jantunen would give the U its largest lead of the game, 54-37, to cap off a 14-1 run before UK finally had a field goal in nearly six minutes (5:58) with 11:48 left to play.

However, the Wildcats made another run at the Utes – this time to the tune of a 12-2 spurt that cut the lead down to 58-51 after a 3-point play from Nate Richards. A few possessions later, back-to-back steals in the backcourt from Kentucky saw it tie the game up at 66-66 with 1:43 left to go before a step-back floater from Allen gave the Utes a 68-66 cushion.

Two possessions later, Battin was called for a block that was later changed to a charge after review and gave Utah the ball with 22.7 ticks remaining.

Jones headed to the line with 15 seconds left in regulation and hit the second of his two free throws after the foul, giving the Utes a 69-66 lead that wound up holding despite Kentucky getting two more looks at the basket before the clock hit 0.0.

"People were sleeping on us, but we play better like that honestly." ??

Timmy Allen (@timmybuckets35) spoke with @TheAndyKatz after @UtahMBB knocked off No. 6 Kentucky in Las Vegas! #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/e8R4qf9pnZ
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) December 19, 2019

UP NEXT
The Utes will now take some time off for the holidays before returning home to kick open Pac-12 play. Utah opens with Oregon State on Thursday, Jan. 2, at 6:30 p.m. before playing host to Oregon on Saturday, Jan. 4, for a 4:30 p.m. tip-off with both games slated to air on the Pac-12 Network. J.B. Long will have the call between the Utes and Beavers alongside Matt Muehlebach. Two days later, Long is joined by Don MacLean on the call when Utah welcomes the Ducks of Oregon to the hill.

LOOKING AHEAD
Utah will get an early game against travel partner Colorado the following week with a 4 p.m. (MT) contest on ESPNU in Boulder when the Utes and Buffs duke it out on Saturday, Jan. 12, inside the CU Events Center. The three-game road swing for Utah continues as the head to the Valley of the Sun for games at Arizona (Jan. 16) and at Arizona State (Jan. 18) – both set to air on Pac-12 Network.

###