OFF THE BOUNCE
Coming off a hard fought victory on Tuesday night over the UC Irvine Anteaters, 72-69, the No. 24/24 San Diego State Aztecs host its second of three games in a seven day span when it welcomes the Occidental College Tigers to Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
The Aztecs and Occidental are meeting for the 34th time in school history, but for just the second time since the 1953-54 season. In the most recent matchup, on Dec., 31, 2010 in Viejas Arena, saw the No. 7/7 Aztecs defeat the Tigers 93-50.
SDSU has an overall record of 25-8 against Occidental and has won 10 straight against the Tigers.
According to the Sagarin Ratings, San Diego State's schedule strength to date is the 11th toughest in the nation and ESPN ranks the Aztecs strength of schedule at No. 6.
Once again the San Diego State defense is playing at an elite level, according to Kenpom, which has the Aztecs ranked No. 15 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. 37 so far this year. Both rankings lead all Mountain West programs.
San Diego State remained in the Associated Press Top-25 & USA Today Coaches Poll this week, slotting in at No.24 in each in polls released on Nov. 28. 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 tonight's with a 5-2 record, and its two losses coming against No. 14/12 Arizona and No. 9/9 at the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Invitational. The Aztecs have the No. 6-ranked strength of schedule in the nation.
In addition to its No. 6 strength of schedule, SDSU is No. 24 in strength of record, No. 26 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 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 81-18 record (81.8 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That is the fifth best record in the nation, trailing only Gonzaga (95-9), Baylor (86-15), Houston (90-18) and Kansas (90-19). The 10 winningest programs since 2019-20 are listed in the box below.
In its first game after competing in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, San Diego State suffered the "Maui hangover," needing a late 3-pointer from Micah Parrish to secure its 72-69 win over UC Irvine on Tuesday night in Viejas Arena. The win was the program's 33rd straight against team's from the Big West Conference.
Senior Nathan Mensah led the Aztecs with a season-best 18 points, his third double digit scoring game in the last seven. He posted season highs in going 7-of-11 from the floor and was successful on 4-of-6 shots from the free throw line. It was his 30th career double-digit scoring game and SDSU is 25-5 when he scores at least 10 points in a game. In addition, he tied for the team lead with six rebounds, added a steal and a block.
With 14 points, senior Matt Bradley reached double-digit scoring for the third time in the last four games and 100th time in 124 college games. He tied for the team lead with six rebounds and added a steal and two assists, his last to Micah Parrish who hit the game winner with 2.4 seconds to play.
Senior Keshad Johnson finished with 10 points for the second game in a row and was in double figures for the third time in the last five contests. He added four rebounds, a steal, block and an assist. Johnson, who was 3-of-5 from the floor against UC Irvine, has shot 50.0 percent or better in each of the team's last six games.
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 124-42 overall record, and has been named the national coach of the year and twice the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
No. 24 Aztecs Host Occidental Friday Night
