SAN DIEGO – In possession of at least a share of the Mountain West regular season title, No. 18 San Diego State plays Boise State on Tuesday at ExtraMile Arena in Boise Idaho, a venue the Aztecs have won one game in its last five visits.
OFF THE BOUNCE
Lamont Butler's buzzer beating 3-pointer at New Mexico gave SDSU a 73-71 victory and at least a share of Mountain West regular-season title.
San Diego State has won a league record 15 regular season (nine) and tournament titles (six) and will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MW Tournament.
With one victory in its final two regular season games, San Diego State will win the regular season Mountain West title outright.
With its win at New Mexico, San Diego State has avenged both of its losses in Mountain West play and will be the No. 1 in next week's league tournament.
San Diego State has won 33 of its last 37 conference contests (33-4), since the start of the 20219-20 campaign, and overall has emerged the victor in nine of its last 10 (9-1) and 17 of its last 21 (17-4) Mountain West road games.
San Diego State has a 30-8 record (78.9 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 99-21 record (82.5 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That's the fourth best record in the nation, trailing Gonzaga's 115-12, Houston (110-20) and Baylor (102-21), and better than, among the other 359 Division 1 programs, Kansas' 107-23.
San Diego State owns the fifth-best road record in the nation, since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, 101-58 (.635) and its 355-114 (.757) overall record in that time frame is the sixth best in the nation.
The last time out, San Diego State defeated New Mexico, 73-71, on a 3-point shot from Lamont Butler as time expired. The Aztecs have beaten the Lobos in four of its last five meetings, including its last two in Albuquerque.
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 ninth toughest schedule in the nation based on its average opponent's NET rank, through the games of February 26. 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. Boise State has played the 64th most difficult schedule.
On Tuesday evening, San Diego State and Boise State will meet for the 29th time overall and for the second time during the 2022-23 campaign. SDSU lead the Broncos 18-10 in the all-time series, but Boise State has taken three of the last four matchups. In Boise, SDSU is 4-6 overall and in the last five meetings the Broncos are 4-1 on its home floor.
San Diego State's calling card is defense, and it is again playing it at a high level according to Kenpom, which, through the games of February 26, has the Aztecs ranked No. 13 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. 44 through 28 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 99 weeks since the start of 2010-11 season. SDSU's 99 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 teams with fewer than three Quad 4 games and ranked ahead of the Aztecs is No. 2 Alabama and No. 14 Arkansas which have 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. San Diego State, the most successful program in conference history, has now won all or part of nine 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 Darrion Trammell led the Aztecs in scoring against New Mexico with 18 points. It was the 13th time this season he has scored in double figures and the 62nd time in his 82 college game career. It was the fourth time in 2022-23 and 30 time in his career he has led his team in scoring.
Senior Matt Bradley finished the UNM win with 11 points. It was his 19th 10-plus point game of the season and the 116th double-digit scoring effort of his career and the fifth straight game with at least 10 points. In addition, his seven assists equals his career-high vs. a Division I opponent.
Junior Lamont Butler scored at least 10 points for the11th time this season and 23rd time as an Aztec. His 3-pointer as time expired was the game winner and gave the Aztecs at least a share of the league's regular season title.
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 142-45 (.759) 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. 18 Aztecs at Boise State Tuesday Night
