The San Diego State men's basketball team set school records for longest winning streak and best start to a season Monday with a 71-67 victory over UNLV in Las Vegas.
The Aztecs improved to 21-0, breaking the records set by the 2010-11 Kawhi Leonard-led team that advanced to the Sweet 16. San Diego State also won 20 consecutive games in the 2013-14 season.
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The Aztecs led 34-28 at halftime, but were outscored 12-4 to open the second half. The Runnin' Rebels (11-11) took the lead — their first since the game's first basket — with 13 minutes, 28 seconds left when Cheikh Mbacke Diong's basket gave them a 40-38 lead.
San Diego State responded with a 15-7 run to take a 55-47 lead with 4:54 remaining.
"It's college basketball, everyone has a run in them and (UNLV coach) TJ (Otzelberger) has done a great job with his team," Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said.
"We knew they were ready for this moment, cause we'd seen it many times with TJ's club, they get better and better. They played the right way, they were rewarded for it, but at the end of the day we made enough timely plays and important plays to get out of here with the win."
Malachi Flynn scored a game-high 21 points for San Diego State while fellow junior guard Trey Pullman added a career-high 18.
The Aztecs have the longest current winning streak in Division I. They are also the last remaining undefeated Division I team.
San Diego State also extend three other streaks — their 10-game winning streak in Mountain West Conference play, tied for second-longest in school history; a 10-game winning streak in road and neutral-court games, also matching the second-longest in school history; and a eight-game road winning streak.
The Aztecs' 21-game winning streak to start a season is the longest in Division I since Gonzaga began the 2016-17 season 29-0 before advancing to the national championship game.
San Diego State has won 16 of its past 17 games against UNLV and lead the all-time series that began in 1966, 37-36. This the first time the Aztecs have led the series.
