SAN DIEGO - Making its first appearance in LionTree Arena in the history of the program, the San Diego State Aztecs take on the UC San Diego Tritons in La Jolla, Calif., on Friday evening.
OFF THE BOUNCE
The Aztecs and Tritons are meeting for the 14th time, with San Diego State owning an undefeated record in the all-time series. In a series which began in the 1969-70 season, SDSU, which has defeated UC San Diego by an average of 26.1 points in the previous 13 matchups, has never played on UCSD's home floor. The game in La Jolla is SDSU's first at a Big West opponent's arena since a 76-72 win at Long Beach State on Dec. 1, 2015. Since that Long Beach State game, San Diego State is 12-0 against Big West schools...all at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
When San Diego State tips off at LionTree Arena it will have played three of four games this season against teams in the Big West. (also: vs. Cal State Fullerton, W, 83-57; vs. Long Beach State, W, 88-76 and will also play UC Irvine on Dec. 9)
Once again San Diego State's metrics rank among the best in the nation. Through the games of November 28, the Aztecs were ranked No. 21 in Kenpom, No. 11 in T-Rank, No. 15 in Sagarin, No. 6 in KPI and No. 51 in BPI. The first NET rankings for the season will be published on Dec. 4.
The Aztecs are among the elite programs in the country and that includes winning on its opponent's floor. Since the beginning of the 2009-10 campaign, SDSU has the fifth best road record in the nation, 101-60 (62.7 percent). Since March 14, 2019, SDSU has a 31-10 road record (75.6 percent), which is the second best in the nation trailing only Gonzaga which has won 87.9 percent of its road contests (29-4) in that time frame.
San Diego State, which won both the 2022-23 Mountain West regular season and tournament titles and reached the league tournament championship game for the sixth time in head coach Brian Dutcher's six seasons, looks for its unprecedented 17th Mountain West men's basketball title. Entering the 2023-24 season, San Diego State has won nine regular season and seven Mountain West tournament titles.
For the fifth time since the start of the 2010-11 season, San Diego State opened the season ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll. The Aztecs No. 17 ranking in the initial poll is the second highest in program history, trailing only the 2014-15 preseason poll in which it was No. 16. Since the start of the 2010-11 campaign, SDSU has appeared in the AP poll for 102 weeks, more than any program in the state of California, ahead of UCLA (86 weeks), Saint Mary's (53 weeks), Southern California (37 weeks) and California (11 weeks).
San Diego State owns a 114-24 record (82.6 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That is the third best record in the nation, trailing only Gonzaga (126-14, 90.0 percent) and Houston (123-22, 84.8 percent).
In its 71-51 win against Point Loma Nazarene on Monday night at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena, San Diego State limited the Sea Lions to just 29.3 percent shooting (17-of-58) from the field, including 27.3 percent from the bonus distance (9-of-33). Coming into the game PNLU was shooting 43.5 percent from the floor and 38.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Junior wing Reese Waters finished the PLNU game with his seventh 10-plus point effort (14 points) in as many games this season. He was 3-of-3 from the free throw line, is 30-of-30 on the year, and is one of eight players who qualify and lead without a miss from the charity stripe. However, Waters is the only player on that list with more than 23 free throws made without a misfire.
Senior guard Lamont Butler returned to the double-digit scoring column with 10 points, his best game since a 14-point effort against Long Beach State (11/14).
Senior forward Jaedon LeDee recorded his fourth double double of the season finishing with 15 points and 13 boards. The Houston native reached his double double in the first half and scored in double figures for the seventh straight game to open the season. In seven games, he has drawn 62 fouls, an average of 8.9 per game, and ranks No. 2 in both free throw attempts (68) and free throws made (52).
Darrion Trammell, a senior guard, scored eight points and added season-highs of five assists & three steals and matched season-best with three rebounds.
Brian Dutcher is in his seventh season as San Diego State's head coach and his 25th season on the Aztec sidelines. In his six-plus seasons as head coach, he has led the Aztecs to five conference titles, six Mountain West championship game appearances, a 157-48 (.766) overall record, the 2023 NCAA national championship game, has been named the national coach of the year, and twice the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.