SAN DIEGO - san Diego State and the New Mexico State Aggies will face off on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. PT at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California, in third day game in as many contests for the Aztecs.
OFF THE BOUNCE
San Diego State holds a 5-3 lead in the all-time series heading into the game and in neutral site contests, the Aztecs are 1-0 against New Mexico State with its 73-69 overtime victory in its last meeting in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, in Spokane, Wash.
Brian Dutcher has guided the Aztecs to a 6-3 record in regular season neutral site day games, including the team’s 77-66 victory over Colorado at Pechanga Arena on November 7.
In day games, regardless of location, where the tip time is prior to 5 p.m., Brian Dutcher’s record is 40-18 (.689). SDSU’s Division I record (since the start of the 1970-71 season) in day games is 118-111 (.515), and in available information, the program is 143-116 (.552) 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)
Brian Dutcher has compiled a 16-4 record (.800) in day games at Viejas Arena, and in the facility’s history SDSU is 45-21 (.682) in games which tip prior to 5 p.m. PT.
Junior guard Latrell Davis is shooting 62.5 percent from the field (25-of-40), 57.9 percent from the bonus distance (11-of-19), 66.7 percent from the line (8-of-12) and averaging 23.0 points per contest. Davis is the only player in the nation with at least those combined stats through the games of November 12.
Latrell Davis, a junior guard, is the fourth Aztec since at least the start of the 1996-97 season with a game with a minimum of 15 shot attempts and a field goal percentage of at least .733 (vs. Bethune-Cookman) and if you factor in his height, 6-foot-3, he is the only SDSU player to accomplish that in the same timeframe.
Senior guard Isaiah Sy is one of eight active 6-foot-6 or taller players in the nation, who since the start of the 2024-25 season, has gotten at least 67.9 percent of his baskets from long distance (110-of-162) on a minimum of 162 field goals made.
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.
Sophomore guard Chance Gladden is one of three players in the nation who has at least 14 assists and is shooting a minimum of .500 from the field (min: 16 attempts) and .850 from the free throw line (min: 20 attempts).
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, a senior forward, is 1-of-2 players in the nation, 6-foot-10 or taller who has at least seven blocked shots and on a minimum of 18 field goal attempts and 16 free throw attempts, is shooting at least 72.2 percent and 75.0 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.
Junior guard Latrell Davis led the team with 25 points in the season opening win against Cal State Fullerton. It’s the highest point total in an Aztec debut since Matt Bradley had 23 vs. UC Riverside on Nov. 9, 2021.
Brian Dutcher has compiled 223 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 Zeigenfuss and Fisher 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 528-191 (73.4 percent) and a 294-40 mark (88.0 percent) at Steve Fisher Court. Those are the SIXTH and FOURTH 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, 436-148 (.747), and is 241-31 (.886) in home contests in that time frame which is the FIFTH BEST mark 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 897 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 302 games and has limited the opponent to 40.0 percent shooting or less 156 times (156-of-302; 51.7 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 41.7 percent (126-of-302) 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 (.636), No. 2 Arizona (.625), No. 3 Gonzaga (.583), No. 4 Kansas (.575), 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-302) 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.