The No. 24 San Diego State Aztecs will travel across town for the City Championship against the University of San Diego at the Jenny Craig Pavilion (SOLD OUT). The Aztecs will enter Thursday night’s game as favorites against USD. San Diego State has won the last seven meetings against cross town rival USD. The starting five for the Aztecs will be JJ O’Brien, Josh Davis, Skylar Spencer, Winston Shepard and Xavier Thames.The players to watch in Thursday’s game are Xavier Thames, JJ O’Brien and Winston Shepard. Xavier Thames enters the game against USD averaging 17.5 points and 2.7 rebounds in six games this season. JJ O’Brien enters the game against USD averaging 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in six games this season. Winston Shepard enters the game against USD averaging 12.3 points and 4.8 rebounds in six games this season.

Game Notes:

• SDSU has won 97 straight games when leading with five minutes to play.
• SDSU has won 35 straight games against schools from the great state of California.
• SDSU has won 7 straight games against USD (most in the history of the series).

The Toreros have some height on their team with  Brandon Perry (6-7), Jito Kok (6-9), Simi Fajemisin (6-10) and Dennis Kramer (6-11). The smallest players on the USD team are Christopher Anderson (5-7) and Therone Tillett (5-11). The Toreros mediocre sized squad will be easily out rebounded by the very talented Aztec squad. However, this is one of the best Toreros teams in recent history. I believe the score of the game will be in the mid to high 60’s. San Diego State this season will live in the mid 70’s. If the Aztecs score more than 70 points they will be unbeatable.

Shepard says USD almost beat New Mexico and any team that can go in and almost win in The Pit is a good team. #AztecMBB

— GoAztecs.com (@GoAztecs) December 3, 2013

Coach Fisher says their players know that it was a one-point game at the half last time (2011) at USD. Tough to play there. #AztecMBB

— GoAztecs.com (@GoAztecs) December 3, 2013

This is the rest of the press conference for those who would like to watch it.

Keys for Victory:

Aztecs:

1) Shoot more than 45% from the floor!

2) Point’s in the paint!

2) Only shoot 3-point shot’s that are open!

3) Limit turnovers!

4) Attack the boards (Work on getting offensive rebounds)!

University of San Diego

1) Force SDSU to shoot from the perimeter.

2) Force SDSU to commit turnovers.

3) Win the defensive battle of the boards.

4) Try and get SDSU to foul out.

(We will have a more in-depth statistical game preview in a few weeks! This is a preview we wrote last season during the NCAA Tournament. All of our game previews will be this complex after the Aztecs have played 10 games … SDSU vs. Oklahoma preview)

Please follow us on Twitter for Live Coverage of the game!

Game Day Information

Game information: Tipoff 8:00 p.m. PT Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego California, California.

TV: Fox Sports San Diego 

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