LAS VEGAS - San Diego State looks to add to its Mountain West Conference record 15 league titles, including a conference-high six tournament championships when the top-seeded Aztecs face third-seeded Utah State in the championship game.
OFF THE BOUNCE
This marks the sixth consecutive season the Aztecs are in the title game (all six seasons Brian Dutcher has been head coach), the ninth time in the last 10 seasons and a league-high 15th time SDSU has played in the event (UNLV has the second most championship game appearances among current members with eight).
This marks just the seventh time since joining the Mountain West Conference that the Aztecs have been the No. 1 seed (2006, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2021, 2023). The Aztecs are 16-4 in the event on the first line.
San Diego State has won this event a record six times (2002, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021).
San Diego State has won the event as the one seed (twice), two seed, four seed and five seed (twice).
Amazingly, San Diego State has played for the tournament title in nine of the last 10 years and in 13 of the last 15 seasons (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023)
San Diego State has opened conference tournament play with a victory in each of its last 16 league tourney appearances. That is tied for the third longest active win streak nationally (see below).
Overall, San Diego State is 41-17 in the Mountain West tournament for a winning percentage of 70.7 percent. The Aztecs' 41 tournament wins are the most by any team - current or former - in league history. This is particularly impressive because 10 of SDSU's 58 tournament games have been played on the road (8-2 at UNLV), while UNLV has played 42 of its 49 tournament games at home.
San Diego State owns 44 victories in Thomas & Mack Center since the start of the 2008-09 campaign. That is the most victories by any school in any venue in which it has not played a home game in the past 15 seasons. What is particularly impressive is that 18 of those 44 victories came as the road team playing at UNLV. Villanova is second with 37 victories at Madison Square Garden (see below).
San Diego State won its 21st game at Fresno State on February 15, marking the sixth straight season the Aztecs have reached that milestone (every year under Brian Dutcher). The game was one of a league-best seven road wins in conference play for SDSU.
San Diego State closed the regular season 7-1 in its last eight games and is now 9-1 in its last 10.
San Diego State is playing its best basketball of the season. The Aztecs are 12-2 in their last 14 games with just a pair of Quad 1 road losses at NET No. 39 Nevada (66-75) and at NET No. 26 Boise State (60-66).
San Diego State continues to boast an impressive NCAA metric profile. The Aztecs are 16th in the NET, 15th in KenPom, 27th in BPI, 30th in Sagarin Rating, and ninth in KPI and ninth T-Rank: all tops in the Mountain West.
San Diego State owns a 102-22 record (82.3 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That's the third best record in the nation, trailing Gonzaga's 118-12 (90.7 percent), Houston's 113-20 (85.0 percent) and ahead of Kansas' 110-24 (82.1 percent) and Baylor's 103-23 (81.7 percent) records.
San Diego State owns the sixth-best record in the nation, since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, 358-115 (.757), and is 159-90 (.639) road and neutral site contests in that time frame which is the seventh best in the nation.
SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher is 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 five conference titles, a 145-46 (75.9 percent) overall record and has already been named the national coach of the year and twice named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year. Among first time head coaches who started in the 2017-18 season, Dutcher's 145 wins are the most in the nation.