The San Diego State Men’s Basketball Team was ranked 7th in the NCAA Division 1 standings posted March 7th.
The Aztecs enter the Mountain West Championship semifinals with an overall record of 31-2 and MW conference record of 14-2. San Diego State faced UNLV in the semifinals and won the close game 2 points.
The Aztec’s Season
The win over UNLV advances San Diego State to the MWC championship game for the third consecutive year and fifth time in school history. This win is also beats the school record for most wins in a season with 31.
The Aztecs and BYU’s Cougars shared the MWC regular-season crown this season and put San Diego State at the No. 2 seed. An interesting note is that the Aztecs are great closers and have won 43 straight games when leading at the 5-minute mark. They can create a lead and keep it, which will be beneficial when they face BYU in the Championship game on March 12.
BYU has given the Aztecs the only losses of their season. Steve Fisher leads the Aztecs as Head Coach but depends on D.J. Gay and Kawhi Leonard, and Malcolm Thomas to get wins.
About The Team
Head Coach Steve Fisher is in his 12th season at San Diego State. Fisher has guided the Aztecs to three NCAA Tournament appearances, 5 postseason NIT, and six 20-win seasons.
In addition to this, while coaching at Michigan, Fisher coached one of the most famous groups of players in modern NCAA history who would later be known as the “Fab Five” (Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, and Chris Webber). Fisher was selected as MWC Co-Coach of the Year along with BYU’s Head Coach Dave Rose.
Senior D.J. Gay and Sophomore Kawhi Leonard were named to the All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive Squad. Gay has started all 16 conference games and averaged 11.6 points per game, 3.6 assists per game, a 3.87 assist-turnover ratio, 1.5 steals per game, and 36.4 minutes played per game.
It is noted that he went 177 minutes without committing a turnover and had 23 assists in that same time frame. Sophomore Kawhi Leonard averages 14.8 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game, 1.5 assists per game, and 1.5 steals per game.
He set a single-season record with 12 double-doubles and was also named FOXSports.com Second-Team All-American. Senior Malcolm Thomas was voted to the All-Conference Second Team and averages 11.4 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game. He is 50% from the field, has blocked at least one shot in all 16 conference games, and scored double figures eight times.
About The School
San Diego State University is located in San Diego, CA and is a nationally ranked research university providing education to over 35,000 students each year. Students can choose from over 85 undergraduate majors, 75 master’s programs, and 14 joint doctoral degree programs and two independent doctoral degree programs.
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