SAN DIEGO - The No. 25-ranked San Diego State men's basketball team, in sole possession of first place in the Mountain West with a 10-2 record, faces the UNLV Runnin' Rebels on Saturday afternoon at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena, a venue where the Aztecs have defeated UNLV in seven of its last eight meetings. The game is scheduled to tip at 1 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on FOX.
OFF THE BOUNCE
Diego State has won 30 of its last 34 conference home contests (30-4), since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, and overall has emerged the victor in 12 of its last 13 (12-1) and 22 of its last 24 (22-2) Mountain West home games.
The Aztecs are battle tested having played the seventh toughest schedule in the nation based on its average opponent's NET rank, through the games of February 8. The only schools in the AP Top 25 to have played a tougher schedule than the Aztecs is No. 9 Kansas with the toughest schedule in the nation and No. 3 Alabama with the fourth most difficult slate. Today's opponent, UNLV has played the 82nd most difficult schedule.
Since the beginning of the 2009-10 campaign, San Diego State's 196-25 (.887) record in home games is the seventh best in the nation and overall the Aztecs' 351-114 (.755) record is also the sixth best in the nation.
The last time out, San Diego State completed its fifth game in a 15-day stretch (4-1) with a 63-61 victory at Utah State. The win snapped a three-game slide for SDSU in Logan, Utah. Overall it was the 17th win in 23 games (17-6) against the Aggies since it joined the league in the 2013-14 season.
SDSU is 12-1 in its last 13 Mountain West home games and 77-11 since January 8, 2013 as a host in Mountain West games.
SDSU is 51-1 in its last 52 games, and has won 39 straight games in which it has shot at least 50.0 percent from the field, which it last did against Boise State (51.0 percent) on February 3 in a 72-52 win.
San Diego State committed only three turnovers in its game against San Jose State. That is the fewest for an Aztec team, in a Division 1 game, since the start of the 1999-00 season, a span of 778 games.
On Saturday afternoon, San Diego State and UNLV will meet for the 79th time overall and the second time during the 2022-23 campaign. The Aztecs own a 41-37 series advantage. At Viejas Arena, SDSU is 15-7, and an astounding 21-16 at Thomas & Mack Center, including a 9-1 mark there since the start of the 2013-14 campaign.
The last time San Diego State played UNLV was on December 31, at Thomas & Mack Center. The Aztecs defeated the Runnin' Rebels 76-67. The 76 points for the Aztecs are the second most it has scored in the last 17 games against UNLV in Las Vegas.
San Diego State's calling card is defense, and it is again playing it at a high level according to Kenpom, which has the Aztecs ranked No. 25 nationally in adjusted defense. In addition, the SDSU offense, which ended the 2021-22 campaign ranked No. 167 in adjusted offense, slots in at No. 34 through 24 games this year and SDSU is No. 22 in adjusted efficiency margin.
San Diego State has appeared in the Associated Press' Top 25 Poll for 96 weeks since the start of 2010-11 season. SDSU's 95 weeks in the top 25 are the 18th most nationally and are the most for any California school in that time.
SDSU enters tonight's game battle tested, including having played the fewest Quad 4 games, two, among the 363 Division I schools who compete in men's basketball. The only teams with fewer than four Quad 4 games, and ranked ahead of the Aztecs are No. 2 Alabama, No. 7 Saint Mary's and No. 9 Kansas which have played three games against Quad 4 competition.
San Diego State, which in 2021-22 reached the Mountain West championship game for the fifth time in head coach Brian Dutcher's five seasons, looks for its unprecedented 15th Mountain West men's basketball title. Entering the 2022-23 season, San Diego State, the most successful program in conference history, has won eight regular season and six Mountain West tournament titles.
San Diego State has a 28-8 record (77.8 percent) in true road games since the start of the 2019-20 season. That is the second-best record in the nation trailing only Gonzaga's 27-4 record (78.1 percent).
San Diego State owns a 53-5 record (91.4 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign in home games. That's the seventh best record in the nation, trailing Gonzaga's 55-1, South Dakota State (46-2), Liberty (56-4), Kansas (56-4), Nicholls (39-3) and Houston (58-5), and better than Baylor's 52-5.
Senior Matt Bradley finished the Utah State win with a game-high 18 points. It was his 15th 10-plus point game of the season and the 112th double-digit scoring effort of his career. The 17 points are the most he has scored in the last nine games. Bradley knocked down his first seven field goal attempts and finished the night 7-of-10 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from the bonus distance.
Senior Jaedon LeDee collected his first double double as an Aztec with 14 points and 10 rebounds at Utah State. He was 5-of-8-9 from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe and four of his 10 rebounds came on the offensive glass.
Junior forward Micah Parrish scored in double figures (12 points) for the sixth time in the 2022-23 campaign. He matched his season best with six boards at Utah State and in games in which he pulled down at least six rebounds, the Aztecs are 9-2.
Junior guard Lamont Butler dished out a team-high five assists. It was the seventh time this season (6-1) and the 15th time in his career (31-2) that he paced the team in assists.
Brian Dutcher is now in his sixth season as SDSU's head coach and his 24th on the Aztec sidelines. In his five-plus seasons as head coach, he has led the Aztecs to four conference titles, five MW championship game appearances, a 138-45 (.754) overall record - eighth best in the nation, has been named the national coach of the year and twice the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
No. 25 Aztecs Host UNLV Saturday in Viejas
