The Aztecs Host Arizona’s Thursday Night

CITY OF SAN DIEGO – After a tough game at Brigham Young last week, the San Diego State men’s basketball team returned to play Thursday night at Viejas Arena against the Arizona State Sun Devils. The match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT and will air on CBS Sports Network.

OFF JUMP

San Diego State continues its challenging schedule to open its 2021-22 campaign Thursday night at Viejas Arena as the Aztecs play against Arizona State.

This ushered in a period where the Aztecs would play five matches over the last 13 days of November.

According to Sagarin Ratings, San Diego State’s fixture schedule is by far the toughest of the 65 highest rated teams in the nation.
The Aztecs and Sun Devils meet for the 30th time, with Arizona State leading the 18-11 series. SDSU just lost 8-6 at home to ASU, including 1-2 at Viejas Arena.

This is the second consecutive season the two teams have met. Last season in Tempe, Ariz., Jordan Schakel score 25 points and Nathan Mensah 17 points and 15 rebounds as SDSU beat Arizona State No. 23, 80-68.

San Diego State recorded three straight wins over members of the Pac-12 Conference. All three hit double digits and have faced nationally ranked opponents twice. The combined score in those three games is 233-178 (+55).

The Aztecs are 9-1 in the last 10 matches right after a loss. In situations where losing right after the home game, San Diego State has won 16 games in a row.

Last time, San Diego State limited Brigham Young to 38.6% on target, keeping the Cougars to four three-pointers but failed to score enough in a 66-60 defeat at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah. Second time in his career Nathan Mensah lead the Aztecs in scoring with a career-high 18 points (6-7 FG) and a top eight rebounds overall.

Senior striker Nathan Mensah off to a great start. Long known as one of the best defenders in the country, Mensah featured 10/11 (90.9%) in two matches. He is averaging 13.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and has three shots blocked this season. The striker is the only player in the nation to shoot 90% or higher with a minimum of 10 on-field goals and averaging 9.0 rebounds per game. His 90.9% shot to goal rate ranks third nationally.

Senior striker Matt Bradley is leading the Aztecs in points with 15.5 points. The transfer, from California, had a 23-game-high in his season-opening win over UC Riverside. That’s the highest score in an SDSU launch since November 18, 2006.

High level Trey Pulliam hit double figures in both San Diego State games this season. He has three straight doubles in 62 games of his Aztec career. Additionally, he has five double-digit goals in his last six games since last season (12.2 ppg) after hitting that number five times in his first 56 games.

Once again this season, San Diego State failed to rank in the pre-season AP Top 25 Poll. That was not a problem for the Aztecs. SDSU hasn’t been ranked in the previous two seasons but has nonetheless spent 22 weeks in the polls since the start of the 2019-20 campaign, climbing as high as 4th in 2019-20 and up to No. 16th place in 2020-21. In each of the last two seasons, Aztec finished the national ranked season.

Brian Dutcher is in his fifth season as head coach of San Diego State and his 23rd season on the Aztec sideline. During his four seasons as head coach, he led the Aztec team to four league championships, a 97-32 overall record and has been named national coach of the year and twice honored. was Coach of the Year at the Mountain West Conference.

Thursday’s Aztecs game will be on CBS Sports Network, its second home ground, since the start of the 2019-20 season, SDSU has played on CBS Sports Network 25 times and has a 24-1 record in those games and won in the end. eight online games. The team’s only loss in a game broadcast on CBS Sports Network since the start of the 2019-20 season, was a 57-45 defeat to Utah State on January 14, 2021.

-SDSU-