SAN DIEGO – San Diego State men's basketball released the initial version of its 2022-23 Mountain West Conference schedule on Wednesday: the first phase of a two-part scheduling process. The schedule features 18-games (nine home and nine road games) with each team playing eight opponents twice (home-and-home) and two opponents once. For the Aztecs, league games are scheduled to begin on Dec. 28 and wrap up on March 4.
National television partners, CBS Sports and Fox Sports, will shift some games from the current dates for broadcast purposes. All national television selections and date changes are expected to be completed by mid-September. Game times will be set once the broadcast networks finalize their selections.
League play begins on Wednesday, Dec. 28, with the Aztecs hosting Air Force in Viejas Arena. SDSU holds a 34-6 home record against the Falcons, which includes a 19-3 mark in Viejas. The Scarlet and Black are currently riding a six-game win streak in the series and have not lost to Air Force on its home court in 15 consecutive games. The last time the Falcons downed SDSU on The Mesa was in the 2004-05 season.
After playing UNLV in Thomas and Mack Center on New Year's Day to kick off the 2021-22 league campaign, the teams will meet in Las Vegas on Saturday, Dec. 31, for the Aztecs first conference road test. San Diego State is 19-2 in its last 21 meetings with the Rebels, regardless of location, and 12-1 in its last 13 games in Las Vegas against UNLV.
Following a bye on Jan. 3, the Aztecs return to the road with a game in Laramie, Wyo., on Saturday, Jan. 7. SDSU went to Wyoming last season and handed the Cowboys a 73-66 defeat, which halted its 14-game home win streak in the Arena-Auditorium, at the time the 13th longest streak in the country. San Diego State was the only visiting team to win in that building in the 2021-22 campaign. SDSU has won back-to-back games in Laramie and is 4-1 against the Cowboys on their home floor since the 2014-15 season. In the Mountain West Conference era, the Aztecs own a 30-17 series advantage and have won nine consecutive games against Wyoming, regardless of location, and are 11-1 in the last 12 games played between the teams.
A two-game homestand opens on Tuesday, Jan. 10 against Nevada and closes on Saturday, Jan. 14 versus New Mexico.
With a 65-63 home win against the Wolf Pack last year, San Diego State is in the midst of a 10-game win streak against Nevada in Viejas and has beaten UNR eight consecutive times, regardless of location. On its home floor, SDSU is 12-1 all-time against the Wolf Pack, which includes a 10-1 mark in Viejas Arena.
The Aztecs hold a 15-7 record against New Mexico since the opening of Viejas Arena for the 1998-99 season and a 28-13 advantage in the all-time series on San Diego State's home floor. Including wins of 85-57 and 82-59 in the 2019-20 season, the Aztecs 72-47 decision over the Lobos last year, marked the first time in 42 seasons that a team defeated New Mexico by 20 or more points in three consecutive meetings.
The next two games find San Diego State on the road starting on Tuesday, Jan. 17 in Fort Collins, Colo., to face Colorado State. Moby Arena has not been particularly kind to the Aztecs who have a 14-27 record in the building. That mark includes a rally from a 20-point second half deficit last year only to endure a heartbreaking 57-58 loss, which snapped a three-game win streak for SDSU on the Rams home floor.
The road trip wraps up on Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Air Force Academy. San Diego State, which is 23-17 all-time in the Falcons' Clune Arena, has won four of the last five at Air Force and overall has beaten the Academy in nine of its last 10 meetings, including the last six in a row. The last two matchups in Colorado Springs were a pair of Aztec blowouts, 98-61 and 91-59 on Jan. 22 & 24, 2021, and combined with an 89-74 win in the 2019-20 season, the three-game win streak in Clune Arena matches the program record for consecutive wins at Air Force.
On Tuesday, Jan. 24, the Utah State Aggies are scheduled to be in Viejas Arena for the first of two games between the programs over a three-week period. In Viejas, SDSU holds an 8-1 advantage in the all-time series having won each of the last eight games on its home floor, which includes a 75-56 victory last season. That win was the Aztecs first regular-season win in the series since an 80-68 victory at Viejas on Feb. 1, 2020 (Kawhi Leonard jersey retirement game).
The first half of the league season closes when San Jose State comes to America's Finest City on Saturday, Jan. 28 for the Aztecs and Spartans lone matchup of the regular season. San Diego State has never lost to SJSU in Viejas, holds a 31-8 lead in games played on SDSU's home floor, and regardless of location, has won the last nine meetings between the programs. The last time the Aztecs fell to the Spartans at home was in the 1996-97 season, a game which was contested at the Sports Arena.
The back half of the Mountain West schedule starts with the Aztecs in Reno, Nev., to face Nevada on Tuesday, Jan. 31. San Diego State has won 11 of the last 12 games against the Wolf Pack regardless of location, including each of the last eight meetings. In Reno, where SDSU has played its regular season finale in three of the last four years, the Aztecs are 7-5 overall, which includes a 6-4 record in Lawlor Events Center. Last year, blocks by Nathan Mensah and Keshad Johnson in the final seconds secured the team's 79-78 win in the self-proclaimed "Biggest Little City in the World."
Back home on Tuesday, Feb. 4, Boise State, the reigning league champion, is in town for the first of two meetings in the regular season. Last year the teams combined for just 79 points in a 42-37 win for the Broncos in Viejas. The loss snapped a 16-game home court win streak for San Diego State, which is tied for the fifth longest in program history. Despite the loss, the 42 points allowed were the teams fewest given up against a Division I opponent since also allowing 42 against Texas Southern on Nov. 5, 2019, and the fewest allowed against a Mountain West opponent since giving up just 38 vs. Air Force on March 1, 2017. It was the first time in the last five meetings in Viejas that Boise State escaped San Diego with a victory.
The Utah State series wraps up on Tuesday, Feb. 7, in Logan, Utah. The Aggies have taken the last three meetings on its home court to even the series at 4-4 in games in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The last Aztecs win at Utah State was a 77-68 victory on Jan. 4, 2020, which snapped a then 15-game win streak for the Aggies at home and was the 15th straight win for San Diego State on its way to a program record 26 consecutive victories to open the 2019-20 season.
Back home on Saturday, Feb. 11, SDSU hosts the UNLV Rebels. The Aztecs have won seven of the last eight games against UNLV in Viejas, including last year's 80-55 victory. The Rebels lone win in San Diego in that time frame came on Feb. 22, 2020, a 66-63 final, which was the lone regular-season loss for the 2019-20 Aztecs.
The only meeting between SDSU and Fresno State is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 14 in Fresno, Calif. Overall, San Diego State is 25-33 on the Bulldogs home floor, but has a 9-4 mark in Save Mart Center and has won the last four times the teams have played in the Central Valley. The Aztecs have won each of the seven meetings since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, regardless of location, and in the last five games in Fresno State's Save Mart Center, SDSU has defeated the Bulldogs by an average of 14 points.
Following the second bye of the league schedule, the Aztecs return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 21 hosting Colorado State. SDSU is 19-4 against the Rams on its home floor, including wins in 14 of its last 16. Last season SDSU took two of three from CSU which included a 63-58 victory in the semifinal of the Mountain West tournament and a 79-49 victory in Viejas. That 30-point win over then No. 20 Colorado State was its largest margin of victory against a nationally ranked school. San Diego State's previous largest wins were 21 points against New Mexico on Jan. 26, 2013, and against Air Force on Feb. 6, 2007.
SDSU will be in Albuquerque, N.M., for the first time since the 2019-20 season, on Saturday, Feb. 25 to play the New Mexico Lobos in The Pit. The Aztecs are just 12-30 in games played at New Mexico, but in its last trip there, on Jan. 29, 2020, dismantled the Lobos 85-57. San Diego State's 28-point victory is its largest in its 42 games against the Lobos in the Pit and the 28-point margin of victory was the largest for a New Mexico opponent in that building since a 30-point loss to Utah on Jan. 21, 2002.
The penultimate game of the regular season has the Aztecs traveling to Boise, Idaho, to play Boise State on Tuesday, Feb. 28. On the Broncos home floor, San Diego State is 4-6 all time, including a one-point, 57-58, loss last season. The game was the second of last season in which SDSU lost after rallying from a double-digit second half deficit to take the lead and it was the third time it failed to hold a lead in the final 66 seconds of a game.
The regular season wraps up at home on Saturday, March 4 against Wyoming. It will be the 42nd meeting on the Aztecs home floor between the schools, with San Diego State owning a 30-11 overall record, including a 17-5 mark in Viejas. SDSU has won 14 in a row over the Cowboys in San Diego, which goes back to the 2007-08 season. The last matchups on The Mesa came in the 2020-21 season, when the Aztecs handed Wyoming back-to-back losses by scores of 87-85 and 98-71.
A limited number of season tickets for games in Viejas Arena are currently on sale. Available for purchase are bench reserve seating and a limited number of chair backs, starting at $199 per season ticket. San Diego State faculty and staff can purchase ticket packages at a discount and student admission is free. Fans interested in purchasing season tickets can do so online at https://www.GoAztecs.com/MBBSeasonTix or by calling the Aztec Ticket Office at (619) 283-7378.
Of the 350 Division I institutions which play men's basketball, San Diego State is one of 15 to have won at least 245 contests in the last 10 years and its 73.5 percent winning percentage (247-89) since the start of the 2012-13 season is the 13th highest among Division I schools.
San Diego State returns fifth-year seniors Nathan Mensah, Adam Seiko, Aguek Arop, and Matt Bradley in 2022-23, and four-fifths of its starting line up from a team that went 23-9 last year. In 2021-22, San Diego State appeared in the championship game of the Mountain West tournament for the fifth consecutive year and competed in the NCAA tournament for the second straight season.
In addition to the aforementioned players, San Diego State returns starters Lamont Butler and Keshad Johnson as well as Jaedon LeDee, who sat out the 2021-22 season due to NCAA transfer rules. Newcomers to the program are Darrion Trammell, a transfer from Seattle U., Micah Parrish, a transfer from Oakland, and freshmen Miles Byrd and Elijah Saunders.
SDSU's complete non-conference schedule will be announced at a later date.
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Men’s Hoops Mountain West Schedule Revealed
