SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's basketball team has arrived in Fort Worth, Texas and tomorrow will make final preparations for its first-round game in the NCAA tournament on Thursday. San Diego State is making its 14th appearance in March Madness and third under the direction of head coach Brian Dutcher.
OFF THE BOUNCE
San Diego State, the No. 8 seed in the Midwest Region, opens play in the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship with a first-round matchup against ninth-seeded Creighton Thursday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
San Diego State received an at-large bid into the tournament and enters Thursday's game with a 23-8 record.
The Aztecs are making their 14th appearance in the Division I event, owning a 6-13 all-time record. Head coach Brian Dutcher has been on the Aztec sidelines for 16 of the program's 19 all-time tournament games and all six of the program's victories.
This is Dutcher's third NCAA appearance for the two-time Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in his five seasons as head coach with a likely appearance in the 2019-20 canceled because of the COVID pandemic.
This is the program's ninth tournament appearance in the last 12 seasons that a champion was crowned. That total does not include the 2019-20 season when SDSU was 30-2 and ranked sixth in the AP poll when the season ended prior to the tournament.
San Diego State is 15-1 in its last 16 games immediately following a loss (SDSU lost to Boise State, 53-52, in the Mountain West Tournament Championship game).
The Aztecs have won six of their last seven games and 11 of their last 13, with both losses coming against MW Champion Boise State by one point apiece.
In fact, San Diego State's last three losses have all been by one point apiece.
San Diego State played in its fifth consecutive Mountain West Tournament title game, falling to Boise State, 53-52. The Aztecs had two good looks in the final eight seconds, but Matt Bradley's layup was long and a runner by Trey Pulliam also missed the mark. Amazingly, SDSU has made the tournament title game in eight of the last nine years and in 12 of the last 14 seasons (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022).
San Diego State and Creighton are meeting for the eighth time with the Bluejays owning a 4-3 series advantage. The Aztecs have won the last two meetings, however, including an 83-52 victory in the last game played between the two teams on Nov. 28, 2019 in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational.
Five current Aztecs played in that game against Creighton, including Aguek Arop (7 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal), Nathan Mensah (3 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, 2 steals), Adam Seiko (3 points, 2 rebounds), Trey Pulliam (3 assists) and Keshad Johnson (3 rebounds, 1 assist).
San Diego State is 7-15 all-time against the current Big East membership but has won six straight games against the conference by a combined score of 464-385 (77.3-64.2). Included in the six-game win streak against current members of the Big East are victories over No. 20 Creighton (Nov. 29, 2013) and No. 25 Marquette (Dec. 1, 2013).
San Diego State is 1-1 against current Big East programs in NCAA Tournament games, beating St. John's, 76-64, in the 2015 first round and falling to eventual national champion UConn, 74-67, in the 2011 Sweet 16.
SDSU head coach 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 119-39 overall record and has already been named the national coach of the year and twice named Mountain West Coach of the Year. Among first time head coaches who started in the 2017-18 season, Dutcher's 119 wins are the most (Furman's Bob Richey is the only other coach with 100-plus victories).
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Aztecs In Fort Worth For NCAA First Round Game
