SAN DIEGO - In sole possession of first place in the Mountain West, No. 22 San Diego State plays New Mexico on Saturday at the Pit in Albuquerque, N.M., a venue the Aztecs have not competed in since the 2019-20 season.
OFF THE BOUNCE
San Diego State has won 32 of its last 36 conference contests (32-4), since the start of the 20219-20 campaign, and overall has emerged the victor in eight of its last nine (8-1) and 16 of its last 20 (16-4) Mountain West road games.
San Diego State has a 29-8 record (78.4 percent) in true road games since the start of the 2019-20 season. That is the second best record in the nation trailing only Gonzaga's 29-4 record (87.9 percent).
San Diego State owns a 98-21 record (82.2 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That's the fourth best record in the nation, trailing Gonzaga's 113-12, Houston (109-20) and Baylor (101-21), and better than, among the other 359 Division 1 programs, Kansas' 105-23.
San Diego State owns the fifth-best road record in the nation, since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, 100-58 (.633) and its 354-114 (.756) overall record in that time frame is the sixth best in the nation.
The last time out, San Diego State defeated Colorado State, 77-58, to sweep the regular season series against the Rams. It improved the Aztecs record in Viejas Arena to 20-4 against CSU and moved SDSU to 9-2 in its last 11 against Colorado State, regardless of location.
SDSU is 14-1 in its last 15 Mountain West home games and 79-11 since January 8, 2013, as a host in Mountain West games.
SDSU is 52-1 in its last 53 games and has won 40 straight games in which it has shot at least 50.0 percent from the field, which it last did against UNLV (51.7 percent) on February 11 in its 82-71 win.
The Aztecs are battle tested having played the 13th toughest schedule in the nation based on its average opponent's NET rank, through the games of February 22. There are five schools, which are ranked higher in the AP Top 25 that have a tougher schedule than San Diego State, but SDSU is the only program from a men's basketball non-power conference. New Mexico has played the 64th most difficult schedule.
On Saturday evening, San Diego State and New Mexico will meet for the 93rd time overall and for the second time during the 2022-23 campaign. SDSU trail the Lobos 43-49 in the all-time series. New Mexico is only program in the Mountain West which holds a lead over San Diego State in its all-time series. At The Pit, SDSU is 12-30 overall and in the last 10 meetings the teams are 5-5 on New Mexico's home floor.
The last time San Diego State played New Mexico was just over five weeks ago, on January 14, 2023, at Viejas Arena. The Lobos defeated SDSU 76-67. The loss snapped a 16-game win streak at Steve Fisher Court as well as a three-game win streak against the Lobos in Viejas Arena.
San Diego State's calling card is defense, and it is again playing it at a high level according to Kenpom, which has the Aztecs ranked No. 17 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. 43 through 27 games this year and SDSU is No. 16 in adjusted efficiency margin.
San Diego State has appeared in the Associated Press' Top 25 Poll for 98 weeks since the start of 2010-11 season. SDSU's 98 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 battle tested, including having played the fewest Quad 4 games, one (1), among the 363 Division I schools who compete in men's basketball. The only team with fewer than three Quad 4 games, and ranked ahead of the Aztecs is No. 2 Alabama which has played two (2) games against Quad 4 competition.
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 committed only three turnovers in its game against San Jose State. That is the fewest for an Aztec team, in a Division 1 game, since the start of the 1999-00 season, a span of 781 games.
Senior Jaedon LeDee led the Aztecs in scoring against Colorado State with 14 points. It was the third time this season he has done it, the sixth time he scored in double figures in 2022-23 and the 14th time in his college career.
Senior Matt Bradley finished the CSU win with 13 points. It was his 18th 10-plus point game of the season and the 115th double-digit scoring effort of his career. It was his fourth straight game with at least 10 points.
Junior Micah Parrish scored in double figures for the 40th time in his career and seventh time this season. He also had multiple 3-pointers for the 11th time this season (10-1).
Senior Darrion Trammell & junior Lamont Butler combined for 22 points, 10 assists and just three turnovers in 53 minutes of action.
Brian Dutcher is now in his sixth season as SDSU's head coach and his 24th on the Aztec sidelines. In his five-plus seasons as head coach, he has led the Aztecs to four conference titles, five MW championship game appearances, a 141-45 (.758) overall record - eighth best in the nation, has been named the national coach of the year and twice the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
No. 22 Men’s Hoops At New Mexico on Saturday Night
