SAN DIEGO – Having opened the conference slate 3-0 for the seventh time since the start of the 2007-08 season, San Diego State looks to move to 4-0 in Mountain West play when it plays at New Mexico on Saturday at noon MT/11 a.m. PT at The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M.
OFF THE BOUNCE
The Aztecs and Lobos are meeting for the 94th time, with New Mexico owning a 49-44 advantage in the all-time series. In the Mountain West era, SDSU owns a 27-23 lead in the series, including a 10-12 record at The Pit.
In the midst of a seven-game win streak, including a victory at Gonzaga which has lost just twice in the last 92 home games, San Diego State jumped back in both national polls at No. 19/19. It is the 104th week the Aztecs have been ranked since the start of the 2010-11 season, the most for any Division I program in the state of California.
Since the start of the 2019-20 season, SDSU has a 33-11 (.750) record in Mountain West road games, easily the best in the league in the time frame. Utah State ranks second with a 23-21 (.523) mark.
Once again San Diego State's metrics rank among the best in the nation. Through the games of January 10, the Aztecs were ranked No. 21 in the NET, No. 27 in T-Rank, No. 22 in Kenpom, No. 18 in KPI and No. 39 in BPI. San Diego State RPI strength of schedule is No. 5 and its strength of record is No. 11.
The Aztecs are among the elite programs in the country and that includes winning on their opponent's floor. Since the beginning of the 2009-10 campaign, SDSU has the fifth best road record in the nation, 104-61 (63.0 percent). Since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, SDSU has lost just 11 times in 44 road games (33-11, 75.0 percent), which is tied for the second fewest in the nation trailing only Gonzaga (5 losses) and tied with Baylor (11 losses) in that time frame.
The last time out, San Diego State defeated San Jose State at Provident Credit Union Event Center in San Jose. It was the Aztecs' 12 straight win against SJSU and has won 18 of the last 19 (18-1) in the series.
Five of SDSU's last six victories have been by double-digits (the two previous San Diego State wins were by one point apiece), the Aztecs' longest streak of double-digit wins inside a winning streak since a nine-game stretch from Jan. 22-Feb. 25, 2021 (SDSU won 12 straight games overall from Jan. 22-Nov. 9, 2021).
SDSU is 137-9 the last 146 times it has shot better than its opponent and the Aztecs have won 30 straight games when scoring between 80-89 points.
San Diego State, which won both the 2022-23 Mountain West regular season and tournament titles and reached the league tournament championship game for the sixth time in head coach Brian Dutcher's six seasons, looks for its unprecedented 17th Mountain West men's basketball title. Entering the 2023-24 season, San Diego State has won nine regular season and seven Mountain West tournament titles.
San Diego State owns a 122-25 record (83.0 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That is the third best record in the nation trailing only Gonzaga (132-17, 88.6 percent) and Houston (130-22, 85.5 percent).
At San Jose State, senior forward Jaedon LeDee recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 31 points and 10 rebounds. It was also the second time this season that the Houston native has totaled at least 30 points and at least 10 rebounds in a game. LeDee and Kansas' Hunter Dickinson are the only Division I players with two games of at least 30/10 this year. LeDee joins Jamaal Franklin as the only Aztecs to have multiple 30/10 games and those two make up half of the number of times an Aztec has accomplished the feat.
At SJSU, senior guard Lamont Butler reached double figure scoring for the fifth time in the last 10 games with 16 points. It was the sixth 10-plus point effort of the year & 32nd of his career. Butler made multiple three-pointers for the 22nd time in his career (17-5) and fifth time this season (5-0).
Senior wing Micah Parrish finished the San Jose State game with 13 points and led the team with three assists and added a rebound, steal and block. He reached double figure scoring for the 11th time in 15 appearances this year and for the 53rd time in his college career.
Senior forward Jay Pal scored 10 points at SJSU, his third double digit game of the year and 30th of his college career. In addition to his scoring, the senior from Omaha, Neb., pulled down a season-best nine boards and blocked two shots for the fourth time on the season and 23rd time in his career.
Brian Dutcher is in his seventh season as San Diego State's head coach and his 25th season on the Aztec sidelines. In his six-plus seasons as head coach, he has led the Aztecs to five conference titles, six Mountain West championship game appearances, a 165-49 (.771) overall record, the 2023 NCAA national championship game, has been named the national coach of the year, and twice the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
No. 19 Aztecs at New Mexico on Saturday
