SAN DIEGO – Off to a 2-0 start and ranked No. 17/19 in the latest polls, the San Diego State men's basketball team travels to the Bay Area to face the Stanford Cardinal on Tuesday evening. The game is set to tip at 6 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network.
OFF THE BOUNCE
After opening the 2022-23 season with a pair of home wins, 80-57 over Cal State Fullerton and 82-75 over Brigham Young, the No. 19/20 San Diego State Aztecs open four games away from home, with its first road game at Stanford on Tuesday evening.
The Aztecs and Cardinal are meeting for the fifth time in school history, and the first since the 1997-98 campaign, with Stanford holding a 4-0 advantage in the all-time series.
San Diego State jumped two spots in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll this week, from No. 19 to No. 17. Now nationally ranked for a second consecutive week, the Aztecs are occupying the No. 17 ranking position for the fourth time in program history.
San Diego State is enjoying its 90th appearance in the AP Top 25 Poll this week (all have occurred since the start of the 2010-11 campaign). Since the start of the '10-11 season, SDSU's 90 weeks in the top 25 are the 18th most nationally.
SDSU has won its last two true road games, is 23-7 in its last 30 and 83-40 in its last 123 road games vs. non-AP top 25 teams.
San Diego State, which in 2021-22 reached the Mountain West championship game for the fifth time in head coach Brian Dutcher's five seasons, looks for its unprecedented 15th Mountain West men's basketball title. Entering the 2022-23 season, San Diego State, the most successful program in conference history, has won eight regular season and six Mountain West tournament titles.
For the fourth time since the start of the 2010-11 season, San Diego State entered a season ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll. The Aztecs No. 19 ranking in the initial poll is the second highest in program history, trailing only the 2014-15 preseason poll in which it was No. 16. Since the start of the 2010-11 and at the conclusion of last week's action, SDSU had appeared in the AP poll for 89 weeks, more than any program in the state of California; ahead of UCLA (68 weeks), Saint Mary's (44 weeks), Southern California (35 weeks) and California (11 weeks).
San Diego State owns a 78-16 record (83.0 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That is the third best record in the nation, trailing only Gonzaga (91-7) and Baylor (81-13). The 10 winningest programs since 2019-20 are listed in the box below.
San Diego State wrapped up its season opening homestand with an 82-75 victory over Brigham Young on Friday night. The Aztecs overcame two double-digit deficits enroute to the victory. Trailing 68-65 with 5:26 to play, San Diego State closed the contest on a 17-7 run to edge the Cougars by seven points. SDSU is 69-9 at home in the Brian Dutcher era, including 52-5 in the team's last 57 games in Viejas Arena.
Senior transfer Jaedon LeDee scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-16 from the floor and 7-of-11 from the line; two of his 10 career double-digit scoring games have come in his first two games as an Aztec. His driving layup with 56 second remaining gave the Aztecs a 78-73 lead which was the beginning of the end for Brigham Young's hopes to escape Viejas with a win.
Senior transfer Darrion Trammell reached double-digit scoring for the second consecutive game since joining the Aztecs. His 21 points marked the 23rd time in 56 collegiate games he has scored at least 20 in a game. In 35 minutes, he added a game-high four assists, two rebounds and a steal. For his efforts, he was named the Mountain West men's basketball Player of the Week.
Senior forward Nathan Mensah recorded his first double double of the season, 14 points and 10 rebounds, and seventh of his Aztec career. In 27 minutes, he was 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from the line. His game-high 10 boards marked the 16th time he has reached double digit rebounds. The 2021-22 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year added three blocks and four steals to his stat line.
Brian Dutcher is now in his sixth season as San Diego State's head coach and his 24th season on the Aztec sidelines. In his five-plus seasons as head coach, he has led the Aztecs to four conference titles, five Mountain West championship game appearances, a 121-40 overall record, and has been named the national coach of the year and twice the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
No. 17 Men's Hoops at Stanford in Tuesday Night Tilt
