SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's basketball team travels to Laramie, Wyo., for its lone regular season game against the Wyoming Cowboys on Monday evening. The game will have a major impact on seeding in the upcoming Mountain West Tournament.
OFF THE BOUNCE
Two of the Mountain West Conference best meet for the only time in the final week of the regular season when San Diego State plays at Wyoming on Monday night.
The game is the first of three games in seven days for the Aztecs and is the fourth game in a stretch of seven games in 15 days to end the regular season.
San Diego State is playing its best basketball of the season. The Aztecs are 7-2 in their last nine games with just a pair of one-point road losses at NET No. 27 Colorado State (57-58) and NET No. 29 Boise State (57-58).
Since Jan. 31, the start of the nine-game stretch referenced above, San Diego State's scoring margin of +12.0 is 15th nationally and fourth (trailing Gonzaga, Duke and Iowa) behind teams from conferences expected to get multiple bids.
San Diego State continues to boast an impressive NCAA metric profile continues to improve. The Aztecs are 30th in the NET (3rd best in MWC), 23rd in KenPom (tops in the MWC), 29th in Sagarin Rating (tops in the MWC) and 29th in BPI (tops in the MWC).
San Diego State and Wyoming will meet for the 89th time Monday night, with the Aztecs owning a 47-41 series advantage. The Aztecs have won the last seven games played between the teams and are 10-1 in the last 11 encounters.
The Aztecs have struggled in Laramie, owning just an 11-27 all-time record in games played at Wyoming (11-23 in Arena-Auditorium). The Aztecs won on their last visit to the venue, a 72-52 decision on Jan. 8, 2020. On game day, it will be 782 days since SDSU last played at Wyoming.
SDSU responded from Tuesday's gut-wrenching 58-57 loss to Utah State with a 77-52 victory over San Jose State at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs never trailed, shot 50.8 percent from the field, limited San Jose State to 39.6 percent shooting, forced 19 Spartan turnovers and owned a +11 rebound margin in picking up the 18th victory of the season and the 14th by at least 10 points.
The Aztecs continued to show improvement on offense, shooting 50.8 percent from the floor. San Diego State has won 30 straight games overall and 90 straight home games when connecting on at least half of its shots. In its last six games, SDSU is averaging 69.7 points and is connecting on 50.3 percent of its field goal attempts and 43.5 percent from three-point range.
According to KenPom, San Diego State's has had four of its best seven highest offensive efficiency games of the season have come in its last five outings - Utah State 124.0, Air Force 120.7, San Jose State 116.9 and at Fresno State 110.5 (highest offensive rating away from home this season).
Sophomore guard Chad Baker-Mazra scored a team-high 16 points and added four rebounds and tied a career-high with three steals in the victory. Baker-Mazara, just two games removed from a season-high 20-point effort, is averaging 14.3 points in his last three games and is 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) from three-point range during that span.
Senior guard and Mountain West Conference Player of the Year candidate Matt Bradley produced 15 points, three assists and no turnovers in the win. Amazingly, it was his 92nd career double-digit scoring game for the senior that is averaging 18.6 points and has connected on 27-of-49 three-point attempts (55.1 percent) over his last 11 games.
Junior forward Keshad Johnson reached double figures for the fourth time in five games with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists against the Spartans. In his last four games, he is averaging 11.5 points and he has connected on at least of his shots from the field in seven straight games.
In three of San Diego State's four conference losses, the Aztecs have held a lead inside the final 64 seconds of the game (vs. Boise, at Colorado State and at Boise State). By contrast, three of San Diego State's 10 conference victories have come by at least 25 points (Colorado State, UNLV and New Mexico) and eight have been by double-figure margins.
That is a major reason San Diego State owns the league's best scoring margin in conference play at +10.5 (second is Boise State at +7.2).
Once again this season San Diego State ranks among the nation's best in defense. For the entire season, the Aztecs are 2nd in scoring defense (56.9), 5th in field goal percentage defense (38.0), 6th in effective field goal percentage (43.6) and 8th in two-point field goal percentage (43.1), 16th in three-point field goal percentage defense (29.5). In addition, the Aztecs are 1st in Kenpom adjusted defensive efficiency (86.4).
SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher is in his fifth season as San Diego State's head coach and his 23rd season on the Aztec sidelines. In his four plus seasons as head coach, he has led the Aztecs to four conference titles, a 114-37 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 114 wins are the most and he is the only head coach in the group to reach triple-digit victories.
-SDSU-