SAN DIEGO – Coming off a come from behind win on Thursday night against Arizona State, the San Diego State men's basketball team hosts the UT Arlington Mavericks on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. PT in Viejas Arena.
OFF THE TOP
San Diego State continues its challenging schedule to open the 2021-22 campaign on Saturday evening at Viejas Arena when the Aztecs play host to UT Arlington.
This is the second in a stretch of five games in the final 13 days of November in which the Aztecs play.
According to the Sagarin Ratings, San Diego State's schedule to date is the third toughest among the top 65 rated teams in the nation.
The Aztecs and Mavericks are meeting for the first time, but it will be the sixth game in Viejas Arena for San Diego State against an opponent from the Sun Belt Conference. SDSU is just 2-3 at home against Sun Belt teams.
This is the first time the Aztecs have played a Sun Belt team since Nov. 21, 2015, a 49-43 loss to Little Rock. The only other meeting in the Fisher/Dutcher era came in a 93-84 defeat at the hands of Troy on Nov. 30, 2003. Overall, SDSU is 5-4 against the conference with the last win coming on Nov. 26, 1997, in a 79-57 decision over Texas State.
Following its 65-63 victory over Arizona State on Thursday, the Aztecs are 10-1 in their last 11 games immediately following a loss. In situations where a loss is followed immediately by a home game, San Diego State has won 17 consecutive games.
Last time out, San Diego State limited Arizona State to 37.3 percent field goal shooting, limited the Sun Devils to six three-point field goals and closed out the game in the final minutes for a 65-63 victory. The Aztecs have won its last four games against Pac-12 teams and has defeated Arizona State in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons.
Senior forward Nathan Mensah is off to a fantastic start. Long known for being one of the best defenders in the country, Mensah is 13-of-16 (81.2 percent) from the field through the first three games. He is averaging 12.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and has four blocked shots this season. The senior is the only player in the nation shooting 81 percent or better with a minimum of 13 field goals, an average of 9.0 rebounds per game and at least one three pointer.
Senior forward Matt Bradley is leading the Aztecs in scoring at 14.3 points. The transfer from California, had a game-high 23 points in the season-opening victory against UC Riverside. It was the most points in an SDSU debut since Nov. 18, 2006.
Senior Trey Pulliam reached double figures in San Diego State's first two games this season. He has three back-to-back double digit scoring games in his 62-game Aztec career. In addition, he has five double-digit scoring outings in his last seven games dating back to last season (11.0 ppg) after reaching that figure five times in his first 56 games.
Once again this season San Diego State is unranked in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll. That is no problem for the Aztecs. SDSU has been unranked each of the last two seasons but nonetheless have spent 22 weeks in the polls since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, climbing as high as No. 4 in 2019-20 and to No. 16 in 2020-21. Each of the last two seasons the Aztecs have ended the season nationally-ranked.
Brian Dutcher is in his fifth season as San Diego State's head coach and his 23rd season on the Aztec sidelines. In his four plus seasons as head coach, he has led the Aztecs to four conference titles, a 98-32 overall record and has already been named the national coach of the year and twice named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
Sophomore guard Lamont Butler responded when he was inserted into the starting lineup for the Arizona State game. Butler produced a career-high 14 points and added three rebounds, three assists and two steals. It was his sixth double figure scoring game and San Diego State is 5-1 in those contests.
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Aztecs Welcome UT Arlington To Viejas Saturday Night
