SAN DIEGO – Following San Diego State's 73-56 victory over Georgetown in the semifinal game of the Paycom Wooden Legacy, its sixth straight win over a Big East opponent, the Aztecs play Southern California in the championship game on Friday night at 8:30 p.m. PT at the Anaheim Arena, in Anaheim, Calif.
San Diego State, winners of 16 of its last 21 regular season neutral site games, takes aim at another exempt championship when it plays No. 24 Southern California in the championship game of the Paycom Wooden Legacy on Friday evening in Anaheim, Calif.
Fifth-year head coach Brian Dutcher earned his 100th career win in his 132nd game. He is the fastest Aztec coach to 100 victories (by comparison, Steve Fisher earned his 100th victory on The Mesa in his 205th game).
Since the 2014 campaign, San Diego State has claimed three exempt event championships - the 2013 DirecTV Wooden Legacy, 2016 Hawaii Airlines Diamond Head Classic & 2019 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.
On Friday, San Diego State and Southern California meet for the 14th time, and the first since the then No. 25-ranked Aztecs defeated the Trojans 66-60 on Nov. 25, 2012. James Rahon was 6-of-7 from the field, including a perfect 3-of-3 from the bonus distance, in sharing the game-high 17 points with Jamaal Franklin.
San Diego State is 7-1 against teams from "major conferences" since the start of the 2019-20 season. During that stretch, the Aztecs have four wins over Pac-12 teams, two wins over Big East teams and a win over a Big 10 member.
San Diego State has been one of the best neutral site teams nationally. Since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, among teams that have played at least 10 neutral site games, San Diego State's 10-2 record (83.3 percent) is the fifth best mark in the country. See chart below
Since Nov. 29, 2013, San Diego State is 14-11 against AP Top 25 teams, with eight of those wins coming away from Viejas. Since the previously mentioned date, the Aztecs are 8th nationally in winning percentage (min. 20 games played) against AP Top 25 teams. The list of teams in front of the Aztecs? In order, Villanova, Duke, Kansas, Gonzaga, Virginia, Michigan State and Arizona, and directly behind SDSU is Oregon, Kentucky, Baylor, North Carolina and Michigan.
San Diego State has won three consecutive games against teams ranked in the AP Top 25, at the time of the game. That is one shy of the school record.
Last time out, San Diego State put together another strong defensive effort, limiting Georgetown to 35.1 percent field goal shooting en route to a 73-56 victory on Thursday night in the semifinal game of the Paycom Wooden Legacy. The Aztecs are 44-2 the last 46 times it has held the opposition to 40 percent or less from the field.
San Diego State scored a season-high 73 points vs. Georgetown (the Aztecs have won 40 straight games when scoring at least 70 points).
The Aztecs improved to 6-1 all-time in the Wooden Legacy tournament (does not include games prior to the event changing to a MTE).
The Aztecs improved to 185-34 (.845) in game played in California since the start of the 2010-11 season.
Sophomore guard Lamont Butler scored a career-high 16 points in the Georgetown victory, becoming the first SDSU player in at least 26 seasons to post a perfect night shooting from the field with at least six field goal attempts and at least three 3-point field goal attempts. He is the only player in the nation this season to have gone 6-6 FGs, 3-3 3FGs, and three assists in a game with at least three steals.
Senior guard Matt Bradley scored a team-high 18 points and added a team-best seven rebounds and three assists. This marked the 75th time, in 90 career games, that he has scored in double figures. He has now reached double-digit scoring for the fourth time in five outings this seasons (SDSU is 4-0 in those games).
Senior guard Trey Pulliam equaled a career-high with eight assists, without committing a turnover, and added seven points and three steals.
Senior forward Tahirou Diabate posted season bests with eight points (4-of-4 FG) & three rebounds. He entered the game with two points and five rebounds for the season.
Senior forward Nathan Mensah had four points, six rebounds and a game-high four blocked shots in the victory. Mensah has at least one block in 11 straight contests and 14 of his last 15 games. Mensah has a total of 111 blocks, ranking seventh on the program's career list, and is two rejections from equaling Malik Pope for No. 6 on the school's all-time list (113).
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 100-32 overall record and has already been named the national coach of the year and twice named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
Aztecs Play Southern California For Wooden Title
