ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Looking for its first win over a ranked opponent away from Viejas Arena since a 65-56 victory over the No. 14 Nevada Wolf Pack in the semifinal game of the 2019 Mountain West Championship in Las Vegas, the San Diego State men's basketball team faces the No. 24 Michigan Wolverines on Saturday afternoon in Crisler Center.
OFF THE BOUNCE
Owners of the nation's third-best winning percentage since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, San Diego State plays its first game at a Big Ten Conference school since Dec. 3, 1996, when the Aztecs played at Northwestern in an 82-70 victory.
The game is a homecoming of sorts for Brian Dutcher. The Aztec head coach helped the Wolverines win 239 games in 10 seasons as an assistant from 1988-89 through 1997-98. Dutcher, the 2021 USA Today National Coach of the Year and the two-time reigning Mountain West Coach of the Year, was an assistant on the 1989 UM national championship team and was an assistant for every game Steve Fisher won as a head coach, at both Michigan and San Diego State.
San Diego State is 7-2 in its last nine games against "major conference" competition, including victories over Arizona State (Pac-12) and Georgetown (Big East) this season.
The Aztecs are 18-3 in its last 21 road wins and own a scoring margin of +12.4 during that stretch.
Since the beginning of the 2019-20 campaign, San Diego State's 17-3 road record is second nationally (Gonzaga is 17-1).
San Diego State is 4-2 in its last six games against Big Ten competition.
Once again this season, the Aztecs appear to be an elite defensive team. The Aztecs are 4th in three-point field goal percentage defense (22.8), 23rd in scoring defense (57.9) and 27th in field goal percentage defense (40.7 percent). San Diego State has held six of its seven opponents to less than 39.3 shooting from the field.
San Diego State will be without sophomore guard Lamont Butler. Butler, who had 11 points, three assists and three steals in the victory Tuesday, suffered a wrist injury and will miss the contest in Ann Arbor. For the season, the sophomore is averaging 9.7 points (3rd on the team), 2.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
The last time out, San Diego State defeated Long Beach State, 72-47. The 25-point margin was the second largest for the Aztecs over The Beach since 1976 (SDSU had won the previous three encounters by a total of nine points).
SDSU held Long Beach State without a three-point field goal (0-11) in a game for the first time since Dec. 5, 2014.
The Aztecs posted season highs with seven three-point field goals (tied), 15 assists, 13 steals and eight blocked shots (tied).
Senior guard Trey Pulliam scored a game-high and season high 16 points (7-9 field goals) and added five assists and two steals. It marked his fifth double-digit scoring game of the season and the 13th of his career.
Senior guard Matt Bradley scored 10 of SDSU's first 12 points en route to a 12-point, 7-rebound performance. The senior has 28 rebounds in his last five games (5.6 rpg).
Senior forward Nathan Mensah had a rather strange game against Long Beach State. He was held scoreless, but pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds and added two blocked shots. He has multiple blocks in four straight games (12 total) and now has 116 for his career (5th on the school's all-time list).
Sophomore guard Keith Dinwiddie Jr., who entered the game with 11 points this season, tallied 12 points on the strength of a pair of three-point field goals. It marked the third double-digit scoring game of his career.
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 101-33 overall record and has already been named the national coach of the year and twice named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
-SDSU-
Aztecs Set To Battle No. 24 Michigan On Saturday
