Lahaina, Maui – Twenty-five and a half hours after its 88-77 victory over Ohio State in the quarterfinal of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational on Monday evening at the Lahaina Civic Center, the No. 17 San Diego State Aztecs face the No. 14 Arizona Wildcats in the tournament's semifinal round. The game is set to start at 5:30 p.m. HT/7:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on ESPN.
OFF THE BOUNCE
After opening the 2022-23 season with four consecutive victories the No. 17/19 San Diego State Aztecs play in the semifinal of the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Invitational against No. 14/12 Arizona on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at the Lahaina Civic Center at Lahaina, Maui.
The Aztecs and Wildcats are meeting for the 32nd time in school history, and the first since No. 15 San Diego State was bested 61-59 by No. 3 Arizona in the championship game of the 2003 Maui Invitational. San Diego State trails 24-7 in the all-time series, and have yet to defeat Arizona in its last four tries.
San Diego State held its spot in the Associated Press Top-25 Poll last week, remaining at No. 17. Now nationally ranked for a third consecutive week, the Aztecs are occupying the No. 17 ranking position for the fourth time in program history.
San Diego State is enjoying its 91st 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.
With its 88-77 win on Monday, SDSU has a 6-4 record in the Maui Invitational and have a second, third and sixth place finish in its three previous appearances in the event.
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 80-16 record (83.3 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That is the third best record in the nation, trailing only Gonzaga (93-8) and Baylor (85-14).
San Diego State played its first neutral site game of the season last night and defeated Ohio State 88-77 at the Lahaina Civic Center in its quarterfinal game of the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Invitational. It was the third straight win against Ohio State, including back-to-back wins in the Maui Invitational quarters. San Diego State shot over 50.0 percent for the third time this season, knocked down a campaign-best 10 3-pointers, and overcame an early 5-0 deficit to cruise to the 11-point win.
Senior Matt Bradley led the Aztecs with a season-best 18 points, his first double digit scoring game this year. He was 6-of-11 from the floor and was successful on 4-of-6 shots from the bonus distance. It was his 98th career double-digit scoring game and 27 as an Aztec (21-6).
Junior Lamont Butler reached double-digit scoring for the third time this season, 15 points, and 15th time of his Aztec career (12-3). he was 6-of-12 from the field and in games in which he shoots at least 50.0 percent the Aztecs have won 20-of-24. Butler also posted his second consecutive game without a turnover, while dishing out nine assists in the last two outings.
Junior Micah Parrish finished with a season-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and knocked down 3-of-5 from the bonus distance. His three triples are a single-game career best.
Senior Adam Seiko rounded out the double-digit scorers going 5-of-6 from the floor, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. His 14-point effort matched his career-high.
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 123-40 overall record, and has been named the national coach of the year and twice the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
No. 17 Aztecs get No. 14 Arizona in Maui Semifinal
