SAN DIEGO – Coming off an emotional double overtime victory on Senior Night in Viejas Arena, the San Diego State men's basketball team has a quick turnaround in playing its final regular season game at the Nevada Wolf Pack on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. PT and the game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
OFF THE BOUNCE
Having secured a fifth-straight and 26th overall 20-win season in school history, San Diego State closes out the regular season schedule with a road game at Nevada Saturday night.
This is the third of three games in seven days for the Aztecs and is the seventh game in 15 days to end the regular season.
SDSU will tip approximately 44 hours after closing out a 65-64 double overtime victory over Fresno State late Thursday evening in San Diego.
San Diego State has won three straight games and is 8-1 in its last nine games.
San Diego State is playing its best basketball of the season. The Aztecs are 9-2 in their last 11 games with just a pair of one-point road losses at NET No. 28 Colorado State (57-58) and at NET No. 30 Boise State (57-58).
Since Jan. 31, the start of the 11-game stretch referenced above, San Diego State's scoring margin of +10.5 is 25th nationally and eighth (trailing Gonzaga, Duke, Iowa, Houston, USF, Arizona, Memphis and Virginia Tech) behind teams from conferences expected to get multiple bids.
San Diego State continues to boast an impressive NCAA metric profile. The Aztecs are 27th in the NET (tops in the MWC), 22nd in KenPom (tops in the MWC), 27th in BPI (tops in the MWC) and 26th in Sagarin Rating (tops in the MWC).
San Diego State and Nevada will meet for the 30th time, with the Aztecs owning a 23-6 series lead. SDSU has won seven straight in the series, including a 65-63 decision on Feb. 6 in San Diego.
In Reno, the Aztecs are 6-5 against the Wolf Pack in Reno. In its last visit to Lawlor, SDSU, ranked 5th-nationally at the time, defeated Nevada, 83-76, on Feb. 29, 2020.
On Thursday, San Diego State claimed its 15th "Senior Day" victory in the last 16 outings with a one-point double overtime win over Fresno State. The victory was the sixth straight in the series for the Aztecs.
San Diego State has won 33 straight games when scoring at least 65 points.
Senior guard and Mountain West Conference Player of the Year candidate Matt Bradley posted his first double-double of the season with 26 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. He became the first Aztec player to produce a 25-10 game since Jalen McDaniels went for 25 and 14 against UNLV on March 14, 2019. This decade, only McDaniels (2 times) and Jamaal Franklin (5 times) and Bradley have accomplished it.
Coming off of consecutive double-digit scoring games, senior guard Trey Pulliam had nine points, four assists, two rebounds and two steals. Meanwhile, junior forward Keshad Johnson had nine points (3-of-5 field goals).
In three of San Diego State's four conference losses, the Aztecs have held a lead inside the final 64 seconds of the game (vs. Boise, at Colorado State and at Boise State). By contrast, three of San Diego State's 12 conference victories have come by at least 25 points (Colorado State, UNLV and New Mexico) and eight have been by double-figure margins.
That is a major reason San Diego State owns the league's best scoring margin in conference play at +9.7 (second is Boise State at +7.1).
Once again this season San Diego State ranks among the nation's best in defense. For the entire season, the Aztecs are 2nd in scoring defense (57.5), 4th in field goal percentage defense (37.9), 7th in effective field goal percentage (43.7) and 6th in two-point field goal percentage (42.7). In addition, the Aztecs are 1st in Kenpom adjusted defensive efficiency (86.1).
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 116-38 overall record and has already been named the national coach of the year and twice named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year. Among first time head coaches who started in the 2017-18 season, Dutcher's 116 wins are the most and he is one of two head coach in the group to reach triple-digit victories (also: Bob Richey of Furman with 109 victories).