SAN DIEGO – Returning to the friendly confines of Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena after going 1-2 at the Maui Invitational, the No. 24/24 San Diego State men's basketball team host the UC Irvine Anteaters in the first of six home games in the next seven outings in the next four weeks. Tip time is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT with the game being shown on YurView.
OFF THE BOUNCE
Returning home after a fourth-place finish in the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Invitational, the No. 17/19 San Diego State men's basketball team begins a stretch of six home games in its next seven contests starting on Tuesday night against the UC Irvine Anteaters.
After defeating the Anteaters 77-58 on Nov. 27, 2020, in just the second meeting since the 1997-98 season, the Aztecs and UC Irvine are meeting for the 19th time in the school history.
The Aztecs and Anteaters are meeting for the 19th time, but just the second since the 1997-98 campaign and against the current members of the Big West, SDSU has an overall record of 234-122 and has won 32 straight against those 10 programs.
According to the Sagarin Ratings, San Diego State's schedule to date is the sixth toughest in the nation and ESPN ranks the Aztecs strength of schedule at No. 4.
The game against UC Irvine is the team's Nike N7 game, honoring Native American and Aboriginal communities. Since its creation in 2009, the Nike N7 Fund has awarded more than $7 million in grants to Native American and Aboriginal communities and organizations, reaching more than 500,000 youths. The N7 Fund supports organizations that provide sport and physical activity programming to youth in these communities.
San Diego State remained in the Associated Press Top-25 & USA Today Coaches Poll this week, slotting in at No.24 in each. Now nationally ranked for a fourth consecutive week, the Aztecs are occupying the No. 24 ranking position for the seventh time in program history.
San Diego State is enjoying its 92nd 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 92 weeks in the top 25 are the 18th most nationally.
SDSU enters the week with a 4-2 record, with its two losses coming against No. 14/12 Arizona and No. 9/9 at the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Invitational, and the No. 4-ranked strength of schedule in the nation.
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 an 80-18 record (81.6 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That is the fifth best record in the nation, trailing only Gonzaga (94-9), Baylor (86-14), Houston (89-18) and Kansas (89-19). The 10 winningest programs since 2019-20 are listed in the box below.
In its finale at the Lahaina Civic Center, in the third/fourth place game of the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Invitational, San Diego State fell in overtime, 78-74, against No. 9/9 Arkansas.
Senior Matt Bradley led the Aztecs with a season-best matching 23 points, his second double digit scoring game in the last three. He was 9-of-20 from the floor and was successful on 4-of-5 shots from the free throw line, both season-highs. It was his 99th career double-digit scoring game and 36th time he has scored at least 20 points in 123 career games. Bradley also notched a season-high seven rebounds and three steals.
With 10 points, senior Keshad Johnson reached double-digit scoring for the second time this season. He was 4-of-6 from the field and shot at least 50.0 percent from the floor in five of the team's six games this year. In addition, his seven rebounds matched a team high and was his best effort of the campaign.
Senior Darrion Trammell finished 13 points and led the team with two assists. He added two rebounds and two steals. It is the fourth time in six games this season that he has reached double-digit points.
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 123-42 overall record, and has been named the national coach of the year and twice the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
No. 24 Men’s Hoops Host UC Irvine on Tuesday
