A pair of Mountain West Conference powers square off Saturday, when No. 20 San Diego State hosts Utah State in each team’s second conference game.
The Aztecs (8-2, 1-0 MWC) climbed three spots in this week’s poll and have a five-game winning streak. Head coach Brian Dutcher’s squad is ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the fifth time in six seasons and is chasing a fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
Dutcher believes the difficult nonconference slate the Aztecs battled through will serve his team well ahead of Saturday’s matchup with the Aggies (11-1, 1-0).
“I’m really pleased with the effort I’ve gotten from these guys,” Dutcher said. “We had as good a nonconference as we could have had with the schedule we played. A loss to Gonzaga, a loss to Oregon, that’s nothing to hang your head over. Wins over Creighton, Houston, Cal and UC San Diego — who’s 11-2. I thought that we put a good resume together.”
Leading his new team in scoring at 13.4 points per game is senior Nick Boyd, who transferred from Florida Atlantic, where he faced San Diego State in the 2023 Final Four. Miles Byrd follows with 13.0 points per contest, up from just 4.0 a season ago, and BJ Davis adds 11.2 points per game.
Saturday marks the first of two regular season games between the Aggies and Aztecs, with a third meeting in the conference tournament a strong possibility. Either San Diego State or Utah State has appeared in every MWC championship game since 2018, with the teams facing each other in four of the last six finals.
Utah State only has one blemish on the season, a two-point loss to UC San Diego on Dec. 17. The Aggies won their first 10 games of the season prior to the defeat, marking the best start to a season in program history.
First-year head coach Jerrod Calhoun’s roster is a bit of a rarity in today’s college basketball landscape. The Aggies’ three leading scorers are all returned from last year’s team coached by Danny Sprinkle.
Mason Falslev (17.3 points per game), Ian Martinez (17.0) and Karson Templin (10.3) spearhead a Utah State group that looks to build off last year’s NCAA Tournament first-round win over TCU. It was the Aggies’ first tournament victory since 2001.
“I’ve said all along, (Utah State) is a place that you can win at a high level consistently,” Calhoun said. “They’ve shown that year after year, but these guys have the ‘it factor.’ … It’s about getting better each day. It’s about enjoying the process. The outcomes will be there if you really take the process to heart.”
The Aggies will look to avenge last season’s 86-70 loss to San Diego State in the MWC tournament semifinals.
San Diego State and Utah State will meet again on Feb. 22 in Logan, Utah.
–Field Level Media
