SAN DIEGO – San Diego State senior Matt Bradley is the Mountain West men's basketball Player of the Week, for the week ending on Sunday January 1. The announcement was made Monday Morning from the league office in Colorado Springs, Colo.
A native of San Bernardino, Calif., Bradley shot 57.7 percent from the field (15-of-26), 64.7 percent from beyond the arc (11-of-17) and sank 69.2 percent of his free throws (9-of-13) in a home win over Air Force and a road victory at UNLV last week. In addition, he averaged 3.4 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.0 assists in 33 minutes of action per game.
Last Wednesday, the 6-4 guard opened the 2022-23 MW slate with a season-high 27 points against Air Force. He was 9-of-12 (75.0 percent) from the floor, including 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) from distance, and 3-of-5 from the line without turning the ball over once. In doing so, he became the eighth Aztec since at least the 1996-97, the ninth time overall, to score at least 25 points without committing a turnover. Out of those eight players and nine occasions, he accomplished it in the fewest minutes, 31.
Against the Falcons, Bradley hit 5-of-7 from the field (71.4 percent), including going 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the first half to stake the Aztecs to 13-point lead at the break.
With that same 13-point lead at the 15:51 mark of the second half, Bradley knocked down a three, had a steal on Air Force's next possession, took it the other way, and drained his fifth triple of the game. With 5:47 to go he grabbed an offensive rebound, went the length of the court again and scored on a layup to give SDSU a 62-44 advantage. He cemented the 71-55 win with a 4-point play, getting fouled on a successful 3-point shot and converting the free throw with just over four minutes to play.
With 23 points in a 76-67 victory at UNLV on Saturday, Bradley became the eighth active player in Division I to surpass 2,000 career points.
He finished the game shooting a comparatively pedestrian 6-of-14 from the floor (42.9 percent), including 5-of-10 from long range (50.0 percent) and was successful on 6-of-8 free throws (75.0 percent). He added four rebounds, three steals and an assist in the 76-67 win at Thomas & Mack Center.
Knocking down his first shot of the game, a 3-pointer, Bradley had a successful heat check from the Air Force contest, and then stole the ball, was fouled, and made both free throw attempts to give SDSU an 8-4 lead after three and a half minutes.
Down by a game-high seven points midway through the first half, Bradley made three of his final five shots of the half, all threes, to lead the Aztecs to a 44-33 advantage at the break.
UNLV cut the lead to seven points midway through the second half, but Bradley responded with a free throw and another 3-pointer to push the advantage back to double digits, 54-43 with 9:05 to play.
The Rebels got back to within five points with 4:08 to go, but Bradley made a pair of free throws to give San Diego State some more breathing room and from there SDSU cruised to a nine-point win.
This is the first Mountain West men's basketball Player of the Week award for Bradley during the 2022-23 campaign, the third of his SDSU career, and the second for an Aztec this season.
San Diego State's next game is at Wyoming on Saturday, January 7. The tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on CBS.