SAN DIEGO - Competing in its fourth of four contests in 11 days, the San Diego State men's basketball team returns to Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena on Monday to play Kennesaw State in the team's 2022-23 penultimate non-conference game.
OFF THE BOUNCE
The Aztecs and Kennesaw State are meeting for the first time in school history, and the Owls are just the fourth ASUN team the program has played (2-1).
According to the Sagarin Ratings through the games of Dec. 10, San Diego State ranks No. 35 and its schedule strength, which includes three games against top-25 opponents, is seventh-ranked in the nation while the Owls bring in a No. 213 ranking and have the 133-ranked strength of schedule.
After the Aztecs complete a four-game in 11 days stretch with its game against Kennesaw State, SDSU can take a breath with just one game in the succeeding 16 days, vs. UC San Diego on Dec. 20.
Once again the San Diego State defense is playing at an elite level, according to Kenpom, which has the Aztecs ranked No. 23 nationally in adjusted defense. In addition, the SDSU offense, which ended the 2021-22 campaign ranked No. 167 in adjusted offense, slots in at No. 52 so far this year and is No. 31 in adjusted efficiency margin. The adjusted defense ranking leads all Mountain West programs with adjusted defense ranked second and adjusted offense ranked third in the league through the games of Dec. 10.
San Diego State remained in the Associated Press Top 25 & USA Today Coaches Poll this week, slotting in at No. 22 in each of the polls released on Dec. 5. Nationally ranked for a fifth consecutive week, the Aztecs are occupying the No. 22 ranking position for the fifth time in program history.
San Diego State is enjoying its 93rd 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 93 weeks in the top 25 are the 18th most nationally.
SDSU enters tonight's game with a 7-3 record, with its losses coming against then No. 14 Arizona and No. 9 Arkansas at the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Invitational and Saint Mary's at the Jerry Colangelo Classic. All three are currently Quad 1 games, played on a a neutral court, and all rank among the top-25 in Kenpom rankings
in ESPN's men's basketball power index, SDSU has the No. 22 strength of schedule, SDSU is ranked No. 40 in strength of record and No. 37 in BPI.
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 93 weeks, more than any program in the state of California; ahead of UCLA (72 weeks), Saint Mary's (44 weeks), Southern California (35 weeks) and California (11 weeks).
San Diego State owns a 83-19 record (81.4 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That is the fifth best record in the nation, trailing only Gonzaga (97-10), Baylor (88-15), Houston (92-19) and Kansas (92-19). The 10 winningest programs since 2019-20 are listed in the box below.
In its 14th game in the series against Saint Mary's, the Gaels evened the all-time record between the programs at 7-7. The loss for SDSU snapped a three-game win streak against Saint Mary's which included victories on neutral floors in the last two years.
Senior Matt Bradley led the Aztecs with 13 points. It was the fourth time this season he has paced SDSU in the scoring column and the 66th time in his college career. In 127 career games, Bradley has reached double figure scoring 102 times.
With 12 points, senior Keshad Johnson reached double-digit scoring for the fourth time this season and the third time in his last five games. He was 5-of-6 from the floor with a 3-pointer, four rebounds and a steal and is the second Aztec this year to shoot at least 80.0 percent on a minimum of six field goal attempts, with one being a made three pointer, and to grab four rebounds in a game. (also: Adam Seiko vs. Ohio State).
Junior Lamont Butler set career-bests with eight free throw attempts and five makes and totaled 11 points. He finished in double figures for the fourth time in 2022-23 and the 16th time in his college career.
Senior Aguek Arop, dished out a career-high four assists to lead the team in the category for the fourth time as an Aztec and has played at least 20 minutes in three of his last four appearances (21:03 vs. Saint Mary's).
Jaedon LeDee, a senior, posted a season best and career-high matching eight rebounds. It was the second time this year and eighth time in his college career he's led his team in rebounds.
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 126-43 overall record, and has been named the national coach of the year and twice the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.