SAN DIEGO - Owners of the nation's eighth-best winning percentage since the start of the 2009-10 campaign and two of the last three Mountain West regular-season crowns, San Diego State opens conference play on Wednesday evening with an 8 p.m. PT tip against the Air Force Falcons at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena in San Diego.
OFF THE BOUNCE
The Aztecs and Air Force are meeting for the 87th time in school history, with San Diego State owning wins in the 62-of-86 (62-24) previous matchups in the series, including a 19-3 mark at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
SDSU has defeated the Falcons in 15 straight home games dating back to February 8, 2006 and owns a 14.7 average margin of victory in those games.
San Diego State has played and defeated the Falcons three times in its Mountain West opener: in 2002-03 at Clune Arena, SDSU defeated the Falcons, 63-48, in 2008-09 also at Clune Arena, 61-44, and at Viejas Arena in 2014-15, 53-49.
The Aztecs enter Wednesday's game winners of nine of its last 10 regular season Mountain West contests, including its last four in a row.
The last time out, San Diego State defeated UC San Diego 62-46 in Viejas Arena. The victory was the 13th straight in the series and the second with both schools competing as Division I programs.
In holding UC San Diego to 31.6 percent shooting, SDSU improved to 40-2 in the last 42 games in which it has held the opposition to 35 percent or less field goal shooting.
San Diego State outrebounded UC San Diego, 47-31, and improved to 61-3 in its last 64 games when owning an advantage in the category.
SDSU is 109-8 the last 117 times it has shot better than its opponent and the Aztecs are 68-4 the last 72 times it has held its opponent to less than 50 points.
Since SDSU defeated UC San Diego on December 20, it has had eight-day break prior to hosting its Mountain West opener against Air Force tonight, meaning it will have played once in 16 days (December 13-to-December 28). Since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, SDSU has only three instances in which it has played one game in more than a 16-day stretch. (22 days, 12/22/2011-to-1/10/12; 21 days, 12/8/18-to-12/29/18; 17 days, 12/11/10-to-1/8/11).
San Diego State's calling card is defense and it is playing it at an elite level, according to Kenpom, which has the Aztecs ranked No. 14 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. 66 so far this year and is No. 25 in adjusted efficiency margin.
According to Kenpom, through the games of Dec. 25, San Diego State (9-3) has the No. 23-ranked strength of schedule. The only teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 with a stronger strength of schedule are No. 8 Alabama (10th), No. 10 Gonzaga (5th) and No. 25 North Carolina (15th).
San Diego State, receiving votes in this week's AP poll, has appeared in the top 25 for 93 weeks since the start of 2010-11 season. SDSU's 93 weeks in the top 25 are the 18th most nationally and are the most for any California school in that time frame
SDSU enters tonight's game with a 9-3 record, with its losses coming against then No. 5 Arizona and No. 9 Arkansas at the 2022 Maui Jim Maui Invitational and Saint Mary's at the Jerry Colangelo Classic. Two of the three, vs. Arizona and Arkansas, are Quad 1 games, played on a neutral court, and all three rank among the top-120 in Kenpom rankings. In addition, the Aztecs victory over Ohio State, No. 15 in Kenpom is also a Quad 1 game. Those four games and the team's win at Stanford are Tier A games in the Kenpom rankings.
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.
San Diego State owns an 85-19 record (81.7 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That is the fifth best record in the nation, trailing only Gonzaga (100-10), Baylor (90-15), Houston (95-19) and Kansas (94-19).
Senior Darrion Trammell led the Aztecs with 18 points, including 16 in the first half in SDSU's 62-46 win over UC San Diego on December 20. He reached double-digit scoring for a team-leading seventh time this season and the 56th time in his college career (65 games). He led the team with four assists, the 10th time in 11 appearances he has done so. In addition, his five rebounds were a season-best and four made 3-pointers matched a season-high. Trammell is one of four players in the Dutcher/Fisher era to have a game with at least 18 points, four made 3-pointers, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Senior Jaedon LeDee grabbed a career-best 12 rebounds and matched a career-high with three assists also added two points and a steal against the Tritons. He is the second Aztec two grab at least 12 boards and score two or fewer points in a game since the start of the 1996-97 season (also: Josh Davis vs. Fresno State - January 15, 2014, 13 rebounds, 0 points).
Nathan Mensah, a senior, had two blocked shots against UCSD and SDSU improved to 42-12 when he has at least two blocks in a game. The Accra, Ghana native enters the Air Force game 10 blocks shy of reaching the 200-block plateau and equaling Leonard Allen (1982-85) as the only Aztecs to total 800 points, 700 rebounds and 200 blocked shots in his college career.
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 128-43 overall record, and has been named the national coach of the year and twice the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
Aztecs Open MW Play Hosting Air Force on Wednesday
