Preview: How San Diego State matches up with No. 1 Arizona entering Saturday’s game

SDSU vs. No. 1 Arizona

When: 7:30 PST Saturday

Where: Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix

TV: ESPN2

Radio: 760-AM

Records: SDSU is 6-3, Arizona is 10-0

Series history: Arizona leads 27-5 and has won five straight and 12 of the last 14, most recently 87-70 in the semifinals of the 2022 Maui Invitational. The Wildcats are 5-0 when ranked in the top five.

Wildcats update: This is the 41st week they have been No. 1 in the history of the AP poll. One reason is their torrid form, winning their last five games by 20 or more points, which includes wins over No. 20 Auburn (97-69) and No. 12 Alabama (96-75). Even more impressive about their early-season dominance is they’re doing it with three freshmen starters: 6-foot-8 Koa Peat (14.3 points), 6-4 Brayden Burries (13.8 points) and 6-7 Ivan Kharchenkov (8.1). Burries started slowly and has caught fire, averaging 19.8 points in his last five games. The other two starters are 6-3 Jaden Bradley (13.9 points, 4.1 assists) and 7-2 center Motiejus Krivas (10.7 points, 7.9 rebounds). Seniors Anthony Dell’Orso and Tobe Awaka (9.2 points, 10.1 rebounds) come off the bench with another freshman, 6-8 Dwayne Aristode. The Wildcats don’t rely on the 3, averaging just 6.4 makes per game behind the arc (ranking 305th nationally). But they don’t need to, crashing the boards, crushing teams in the paint and getting easy baskets in transition. They’re averaging 90 points while allowing 67.4. The roster, typical for a Tommy Lloyd-coached team, has players from the Netherlands, Australia, Germany, England, Lithuania, Senegal, South Sudan and France.

Aztecs update: Officially, the game is part of the Naismith Hall of Fame Series organized by Jerry Colangelo. Colorado and Stanford play in the early game. SDSU has fared well in neutral-site games, going 74-39 since 2009-10, which ranks 10th nationally and one spot behind Arizona (78-41). The Aztecs had a season-high 27 assists on 31 baskets in Wednesday’s 81-58 win against Air Force, their most since 2019. They are now assisting on 60.2% of their baskets, their highest rate since 2000-01. The bench has contributed at least 40 points in five straight games and is averaging 43.0, which ranks second in Division I. That calculates to 52.6% of their total points, which is also second in the nation behind Tarleton State’s 55.3%. A big chunk of those bench points are from guard BJ Davis, who leads the team in scoring at 13.3 and ranks sixth nationally in free-throw accuracy at 94.7% (for players with at least 38 attempts). Usually, the Aztecs are favored and trying to cover computer projections to maintain their metrics. The script is flipped here, with Kenpom projecting an 86-72 Arizona win, meaning even with a close loss, the Aztecs could climb. The last SDSU win in the series was 61-57 in Tucson in 2011, when Tim Shelton famously drew six charges.

Next up: Monday vs. Division III Whittier (1 p.m., KUSI-TV)

–MARK ZEIGLER