SAN DIEGO - For the first time in each program’s history, the San Diego State Aztecs and Bethune-Cookman Wildcats will share a floor when they meet at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena on Wednesday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader with the Aztecs’ women’s program.
OFF THE BOUNCE
In day games, regardless of location, where the tip time is prior to 5 p.m., Brian Dutcher’s record is 39-18 (.684). SDSU’s Division I record (since the start of 1970-71) in day games is 117-111 (.513), and in available information, the program is 142-116 (.550) in day contests in its now 106-year history.
This season, SDSU is currently scheduled to play a minimum of 12 regular season day games. That will be the most in the Fisher/Dutcher era and just the second time the team will play double digit day games since the start of the 1999-00 season. (also: 10 in 2016-17)
At Viejas Arena, Brian Dutcher’s team has compiled a 15-4 record (.789) in day games, and in the facilities history SDSU is 44-21 (.677) in games which tip prior to 5 p.m. PT.
Playing Bethune-Cookman today and Texas Southern on November 18, San Diego State will play back-to-back home games against members of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). The contests mark the fourth time in program history that the Aztecs have played at least two games in a season against SWAC teams (also: 1991-92 vs. Florida A&M & Texas Southern; 2012-13 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff & Texas Southern; 2018-19 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Texas Southern & Jackson State), and it’s the second time SDSU has faced SWAC teams in back-to-back home games (also: 2018-19 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff & Texas Southern).
Junior guard Latrell Davis is shooting 56.0 percent from the field (14-of-25), 64.3 percent from the bonus distance (9-of-14), 60.0 percent from the line (6-of-10) and averaging 21.5 points per contest. Davis is one of two players in the nation with at least those combined stats (also: Cal Poly’s Hamad Mousa) through the games of November 8.
Junior guard Latrell Davis led the team with 25 points in the season opening win against Cal State Fullerton. That point total is the highest in an Aztec debut since Matt Bradley finished with 23 vs. UC Riverside on Nov. 9, 2021. Davis’ point total is tied for the third highest for an SDSU player in a season opener since the start of the 1999-00 campaign; trailing only 27 points from Jaedon LeDee in the 2023-24 opener and Marcus Slaughter’s 28 points in the initial game of the 2004-05 slate.
Sophomore Forward Tae Simmons logged his first career double-double with 14 points (one off a career high) and a career-high 11 rebounds in the team’s 102-78 victory on opening night against Cal State Fullerton. It’s the eighth double-double in a season opener since at least the 1999-00 season and first since Jaedon LeDee had 27 points and 10 rebounds in the 2023-24 lid lifter.
Chance Gladden is one of two players in the nation who has at least 11 assists and is shooting at least .545 from the field (min: 11 attempts) and .923 from the line (min: 13 attempts). (also: Ohio State’s John Mobley Jr.)
SDSU’s 102 points versus Cal State Fullerton were its highest ever in a season opener, eclipsing a 101-point outing against Fort Hays State on Dec. 1, 1979. The game marked the 46th 100-point game in program history and fifth under Brian Dutcher.
Bear Cherry is the only player in the nation 6-foot-10 or taller who has five blocked shots and on a minimum of 11 field goal attempts and 10 free throw attempts, is shooting at least 63.6 percent and 90.0 percent, respectively.
San Diego State’s roster totaled 6,725 minutes played last season. The Aztecs had three players (Reese Dixon-Waters, Sean Newman Jr. & Jeremiah Oden) exhaust their eligibility who totaled 1,884 minutes on the floor. As a sign of the times, SDSU had six players (Miles Byrd, Pharaoh Compton, BJ Davis, Taj DeGourville, Magoon Gwath & Miles Heide) leave the program through the transfer portal. As a result, the 2026-27 Aztecs return 984 minutes or 20.3 percent of their minutes from last season.
San Diego State returns just 14.5 percent of its offensive output from a year ago (374-of-2,580 points), with 370 of those 374 points coming from sophomores Elzie Harrington and Tae Simmons.
Brian Dutcher is the only San Diego State head men’s basketball coach to accumulate at least 21 wins in each of his initial nine seasons and has averaged 24.4 wins per season during his tenure.
Brian Dutcher has compiled 222 victories in his now 10th season at the helm of the Aztecs’ program. He is just the third Aztec head coach with at least 200 wins. The other two are George Ziegenfuss (1949-69) with 316 wins and Steve Fisher (2000-17) with a program record 386. Both men have been honored with induction into the Aztec Hall of Fame.
Since the start of the 2005-06 campaign, San Diego State owns an overall record of 527-191 (73.4 percent) and a 293-40 mark (88.0 percent) at Steve Fisher Court. Those are the SIXTH and FIFTH best records in the nation, respectively, in that timeframe.
The Pac-12 announced its Preseason Impact List and sophomores Elzie Harrington, a guard, and forward Tae Simmons, the only two regular rotations players back from the 2025-26 squad, earned inclusion among the 18-player list (two players from each team in the league).
San Diego State owns the SEVENTH BEST record in the nation since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, 435-148 (.746), and is 240-31 (.886) in home contests in that time frame which is the SIXTH BEST in the nation.
With defense as its calling card, San Diego State has been a menace to opposing offenses. Since the start of the Fisher/Dutcher era, the 1999-00 season, SDSU has held its opponent to 40.0 percent or less from the field 406 times in 896 games (45.3 percent), recording 354 wins in those 406 games (87.2 percent). Under Brian Dutcher, since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, the Scarlet and Black has played 301 games and has limited the opponent to 40.0 percent shooting or less 156 times (156-of-301; 51.8 percent) and won 139 of those games (139-17; 89.1 percent).
San Diego State was 9-0 last season when it held its opponent to 60 or fewer points. In the Brian Dutcher era, his Aztecs have held their opponent to 60 points or less 126 times and have won 119 of those games (119-7, 94.4 percent). Overall, Dutcher’s Aztecs have held their opponent to 60 or fewer points in 41.9 percent (126-of-301) of the games he has coached.
San Diego State, one of the most dominant defensive teams in the nation, has ranked in the top 25 in Kenpom’s Adjusted Defensive Efficiency in 12 of the last 16 years, in the top 10 in seven of the last 16 campaigns, the top five in five seasons since the start of the 2010-11 season, and finished last season at No. 16 in that ranking.
Entering the season, San Diego State is 16-13 (.552) under Brian Dutcher against AP Top-25 teams. The Aztecs were 29-98 (.228) against AP Top-25 teams prior to Dutcher taking over as head coach in 2017-18. SDSU’s .552 winning percentage against AP Top-25 teams since the 2017-18 season is tied for the fifth highest in the country (min. 20 games). The top 5 consists of No. 1 Duke (.645), No. 2 Arizona (.635), No. 3 Gonzaga (.583), No. 4 Kansas (.571), and No. 5 San Diego State & Houston (.552).
In the Brian Dutcher era (since the start of the 2017-18 season), San Diego State has held over 50.0 percent of its opponents (156-of-301) to less than 40.0 percent field goal shooting, 24.7 percent to less than 35.0 percent from the field, and on 14 occasions limited the opposition to less than 30 percent shooting from the floor. The top defensive efforts, based on opponent field goal percentage, under Dutcher was a 14-of-62 (.226) defensive gem versus Texas Southern (Nov. 5, 2019) and a 14-of-57 (.246) effort at Fresno State (Feb. 24, 2024).
Brian Dutcher is in his 10th season as San Diego State’s head coach and his 28th on the Aztec sidelines. In his nine previous seasons as head coach, he has led the Aztecs to five conference titles, eight league championship game appearances, a 220-79 overall record and 120-44 mark in conference games, has been named the national coach of the year, twice the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year and led this team to back-to-back Sweet 16s including a run to the 2023 NCAA national championship game.