SAN DIEGO – Preparations are well underway for the 2021 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Men's Basketball Championship Tournament, and with it award season underway. For the second day in a row, members of the San Diego State men's basketball team have been honored for their play and coaching. Three players and head coach Brian Dutcher have been included in the Mountain West's postseason awards, which are based on the conference's regular-season schedule and are voted on by the league's 11 head coaches.
Senior forward Matt Mitchell was named the Mountain West Player of the Year and a first-team All-Mountain West performer. Senior guard Jordan Schakel is a second-team All-Mountain West selection and junior forward Nathan Mensah is an honorable mention All-Mountain West honoree. In addition, Mitchell and Mensah are members of the Mountain West All-Defensive Team and head coach Brian Dutcher is the Steve Fisher Mountain West Coach of the Year Award winner.
A native of Riverside, Calif., Mitchell is the fifth Aztec in the Mountain West era to earn league player of the year distinction, joining Brandon Heath (2006), Jamaal Franklin (2012), Xavier Thames (2014) and Malachi Flynn (2020). With five conference players of the year, San Diego State ties Brigham Young for the most in league history and is the first school to win the Player of the Year award in consecutive seasons since Keena Young (2007) and Lee Cummard (co-2008) of Brigham Young earned the honors.
Mitchell finished the regular season averaging 15.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 44.7 percent from the floor, 38.0 percent from long range, and 81.6 percent from the line. In league games, he matched his season total of 15.4 points but improved in all three shooting percentages, going 45.0 percent from the floor, 40.0 percent from the bonus distance and 85.1 percent from the charity stripe. In addition, he averaged 1.9 assists and 1.6 steals, and upped his rebounds to 6.3 per game in league play. Earning a starting assignment in each of the 21 games in which he appeared, Mitchell scored in double figures 19 times, led the team in scoring eight times, in rebounding nine times and in assists three times.
During the season, Mitchell joined Winston Shepard and Trey Kell as just the third Aztec to score 1,000 points, grab 500 rebounds, dish out 200 assists and have 100 steals in his career. He ranks in the top-10 of nine of the program's career categories including No. 6 in points (1,408) and No. 3 in conference victories (51). He is in the top-15 of 14 categories and in the top-20 of 18. At the end of the regular season, he ranked No. 8 in scoring in the Mountain West, No. 4 in free throw percentage, No. 4 in steals, No. 10 in defensive rebounds and No. 13 in total rebound. He won the Mountain West Player of the Week on Nov. 30, 2020 and was included on the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year Preseason Watch List as well as its Midseason Final 10.
This is the second time in as many years Mitchell has been named a first-team All- Mountain West performer. He is the first Aztec to do that since Jamaal Franklin did in 2012 and 2013. Other Aztecs who have garnered multiple first-team All-Mountain West honors are Brandon Heath (2006 & 2007) and Kawhi Leonard (2010 & 2011). Yesterday, Mitchell picked up first-team All-Mountain West designation from the media who regularly cover the conference.
Fourth-year head coach Brian Dutcher has led the Aztecs to back-to-back, outright Mountain West regular-season titles, No. 1 seeds in the Mountain West Tournament and Coach of the Year honors. Dutcher joins Dave Rose (2006 & 2007), Steve Alford (2009 & 2010) and Steve Fisher (2011 & 2012) as the only coaches to win the honor in consecutive seasons. A San Diego State coach has won the Coach of the Year honor in six of the last 11 seasons: Steve Fisher in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016 and Dutcher in 2020 and 2021.
This season his team posted a 14-3 record in league action, and in the last two seasons he has led San Diego State to a 31-4 record in conference play. His 50 total victories in the last two seasons are the eighth most of that span of years in SDSU's Division I era (since 1970-71).
Dutcher's team was again amongst the elite defensive programs in the nation. The Aztecs rank No. 4 in scoring defense (60.1), No. 7 in field goal percentage defense (.387), No. 10 in scoring margin (+14.3), No. 19 in turnover margin (+3.6), and No. 26 in total steals (199). Among the Mountain West teams, San Diego State led the league in turnovers forced (15.33), steals per game (8.3), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.22:1), three-point field goal percentage (.380), field goal percentage defense, scoring defense, scoring margin, turnover margin and total steals. The team's current 11-game win streak is tied for the fifth longest in school history and it is the third of at least nine games under Dutcher and is tied for the second longest conference winning streak for the program.
Schakel, was twice named Mountain West Player of the Week, which was tied for the most this season, and led the league in three-point percentage (46.4 percent), three-point field goals per game (2.96) and total three pointers made (71), and was the No. 15 scorer in the league. Schakel averaged 14.4 points (47.2 percent from the floor, 46.4 percent from long range, and 90.2 percent from the line), 4.2 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.0 assists in the 2020-21 season. The Torrance, Calif., native's three-point field goal percentage this year is the highest for a senior season in Mountain West history.
The 6-6 guard ranks fifth nationally and first in the Mountain West in points per possession at 1.194. Nationally, his three-point percentage ranks No. 3, his 71 treys are No. 16 and his 2.96 threes per game are No. 21. Schakel sank eight threes against Colorado State (Jan. 4) which are the most in a game by any Mountain West player this year and a career high. He hit a three in every game (24) this season, recorded multiple three pointers in 17 games and in those contests SDSU was 15-2. Schakel made three or more treys in 13 games, four or more in nine games and five or more in four games. He is the fifth player in program history to reach and pass 200-career three pointers. Schakel scored in double figures in 18 games (SDSU was 16-2 in those contests), and in 12 games scored 15-or-more points (SDSU was 12-0 in those games). He enters the Mountain West Tournament 22 points from 1,000 for his career, and if he reaches the milestone will be the 35th player in program history to do so. This is the second second-team All-Mountain West recognition in as many days for Schakel, who picked up the same award yesterday from the media who regularly cover the conference.
Mensah led the team with 6.3 rebounds per game and had career-highs in points (8.8) and blocks (1.4) in 2020-21. The 6-10 forward is the anchor of the best defensive team in the Mountain West, which also ranks fourth nationally (60.1 points per game) and is seventh in defensive field goal percentage (38.7 percent). A native of Labadi, Accra, Ghana, Mensah has 95 career blocked shots and ranks No. 10 in the category in the program's record book. He ranks second in the conference in blocks (1.42 per game), eighth in rebounds (6.25) and offensive rebounds (2.08), 12th in defensive rebounds (4.17) and fourth in rebounds per 40 minutes (11.8). Earlier this season he scored a career-high 18 points in a win over Saint Mary's (Dec. 22), and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds in a victory at No. 23 Arizona State (Dec. 10). He is the only Aztec in the last 25 years to record 18 points, 13 rebounds and block six shots in a game (vs. Saint Mary's on Dec. 22). He had eight double-digit scoring efforts and two double doubles this season. Mensah's two postseason honors are the first of his college career.
San Diego State returns to action on Thursday, March 11 as the No. 1 seed at the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. The Aztecs will face the winner of the matchup between eighth-seed Wyoming and ninth-seed San Jose State. The game tips at 12 p.m. PT at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
Aztecs Earn Eight Honors From MW Coaches
