By R.G. Mason
3 24 2024
SPOKANE, Wash. – Having advanced to the NCAA tournament for a fourth consecutive season and the round of 32 for the second straight time under head coach Brian Dutcher, fifth-seeded San Diego State will face 13-seeded Yale in an East Region second-round game at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash, on March 24 at 6:40 p.m. PT.
OFF THE BOUNCE
The Aztecs are making their 16th appearance in the Division I event, owning a 12-15 record. Head coach Brian Dutcher has been on the Aztec sidelines for 24 of the program’s 27 all-time tournament games and all 12 of the program’s victories.
This is the fifth NCAA appearance for Dutcher, the two-time Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year, in his seven seasons as head coach with a likely appearance in the 2019-20, when the Aztecs were 30-2, canceled because of the COVID pandemic.
This is the program’s 11th tournament appearance in the last 14 seasons that a champion was crowned. That total does not include the 2019-20 season when SDSU was 30-2 and ranked sixth in the AP poll when the season ended prior to the tournament.
San Diego State is competing in the East Region for the first time in program history. In first and second round games, SDSU has a 5-3 record in the South Region, a 4-5 mark in the West Region, are 0-3 in the Midwest Region and now 1-0 in the East Region for an overall record in the first weekend of 10-11.
The Aztecs come into the NCAA Tournament having played in its seventh consecutive Mountain West Tournament championship game, its 10th in the last 11 years and over all its 16th in the 25 years of the conference’s existence.
The Aztecs metrics rank among the best in the nation. Through the games of March 22, the Aztecs were ranked No. 20 in the NET, No. 16 in KPI, No. 20 in Kenpom, No. 29 in T-Rank and No. 31 in BPI. San Diego State’s NET strength of schedule is No. 25.
San Diego State owns a 133-33 record (80.1 percent) since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. That’s the THIRD-BEST record in the nation, trailing Gonzaga’s 147-20 (88.0 percent), and Houston’s 147-26 (85.0 percent), and ahead of Baylor’s 128-34 (79.0 percent) and Kansas’ 134-36 (78.8 percent) records.
San Diego State owns the SIXTH-BEST record in the nation since the start of the 2009-10 campaign, 360-115 (.758), and is 161-90 (.641) road and neutral site contests in that time frame which is the SEVENTH BEST in the nation.
San Diego State and Yale are meeting for the second time with the Bulldogs owning the lone victory in the series. The first meeting came on Jan. 2, 1992, at San Diego Sports Arena. Yale took down the Aztecs, 69-62.
San Diego State is 4-3 all-time against the current membership of the Ivy League, and lost its last game against the conference, 82-61, against Brown at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
With its win over No. 18 Utah State (March 15), San Diego State improved to 14-9 (.609) under Brian Dutcher against AP Top-25 teams. The Aztecs were 29-98 (.228) against AP Top-25 teams prior to Dutcher taking over as head coach in 2017-18. SDSU’s .609 winning percentage against AP Top-25 teams since the 2017-18 season is the highest in the country (min. 20 games). Rounding out the top 5 are Kansas (.602), Virginia (.591), Duke (.588) and Gonzaga (.587).
Seven of San Diego State’s 10 losses this season have come on the road against Quad 1 opponents, and six of those seven defeats have come by nine points or less. SDSU has lost Quad 1 road or neutral site games, eight in all, by 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 18 points. The other Quad 1 loss came in its last regular-season game, 77-79, vs. Boise State in Viejas Arena. The Aztecs lone other loss was a Quad 2 game at UNLV, 71-74, on the Rebels Senior Night.
San Diego State’s 36 conference tournament wins since the 2008-09 season are the most in the country over that span (Gonzaga is second at 33).
Senior forward Jaedon LeDee has been named a second-team All-American by The Sporting News and Field of 68, a third-team honoree by the Associated Press and an honorable mention performer by the USBWA. In addition, he is a finalist for the Karl Malone Award, which recognizes the nation’s top power forward and is on the national ballot for the John R. Wooden Award for the national player of the year, but strangely did not win the Mountain West Player of the Year as voted on by the coaches in the league.
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, seven Mountain West championship game appearances, a 176-57 (.755) 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.
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Winner advances to the East Regional Finals in Boston
No. 13 YALE vs. No. 5 SAN DIEGO STATE
Sun., Mar. 24 – 9:40 p.m. EDT
Spokane Arena
Spokane, Wash.
TV: TBS
Video | Live Stats
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Yale men’s basketball team has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history after knocking off Auburn on Friday. The road doesn’t get any easier as the Bulldogs, the No. 13 seed in the East Region, meet No. 5 San Diego State on Sunday at 9:40 p.m. EDT. The Aztecs were the national runner up a year ago, falling to UConn in the NCAA Championship game. The Yale-SDSU winner advances in the East Region to Boston and plays the winner of the UConn-Northwestern game.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
• Yale (23-9) won a thriller over the Tigers in Friday’s first round game. John Poulakidas scored 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field to lead the Bulldogs. Six of Poulakidas’ field goals came from three-point range, which ties the most by an Ivy Leaguer in the NCAA Tournament, and 16 of his points came in the second half. The Bulldogs trailed by 10, 68-58, with 7:27 remaining. Yale, though, fought back and a Poulakidas three-pointer put them in front, 73-72, with 2:10 left. Yale never relinquished the lead, but there were some anxious moments in the final seconds. Auburn had a chance to tie with under 10 seconds left, but Samson Aletan blocked Jaylin Williams’ shot. The rebound deflected to K.D. Johnson, whose desperation three-pointer as the final horn sounded missed.
• The victory over Auburn was Yale’s second in the NCAA Tournament. The first came over Baylor, 79-75, in 2016 when the Bulldogs were a No. 12 seed. Yale is making its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth under the direction of Jones. The Bulldogs have an all-time tournament record of 2-7.
• The Bulldogs’ 23 victories are tied with the 2019-20 team for the modern-day school record. Yale won 30 games in 1906-07. The Bulldogs have now won 20 or more games in four of the last five seasons and seven times in Jones’ tenure as head coach. Prior to Jones’ arrival, Yale had won 20 or more games in only four of the previous 107 seasons.
• The Bulldogs (22-9, 11-3 Ivy) earned the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Ivy Tournament in thrilling fashion. Matt Knowling’s baseline floater off a feed from Bez Mbeng as time expired lifted second-seeded Yale to a 62-61 victory over No. 4 Brown last Sunday at Columbia’s Levien Gym. The Bulldogs had trailed by six with 27 seconds remaining.
• Danny Wolf was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. He had nine points, 13 rebounds, two assists and four blocks in the championship game after tallying 19 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in the semifinal win over No. 3 Cornell. Wolf, a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection, is the Ivy League’s leading rebounder (9.8 rpg.) and led Yale in scoring (14.3 ppg.). Wolf has posted 14 double-doubles on the season.
• Poulakidas, who scored a team-high 18 points, including a couple of big, late three-pointers against Brown, was named to the all-tournament team.
• Knowling, who hit the shot that put Yale in the tournament, has a career .594 field goal percentage, which is the fourth best in school history.
• August Mahoney is averaging 15.3 points over his last four games while shooting 13-of-24 (54.2 percent) from three-point range. Mahoney hit a big three-pointer in the final minutes in the come-from-behind win over Brown in the Ivy championship game. He finished with 15 points after scoring 16 in the semifinal win over Cornell.
• Bez Mbeng is a two-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year honoree. His 62 steals are the second most in a season in school history and his 140 career steals are the fourth most in Yale history. He had five steals in Friday’s win over Auburn. In addition, Mbeng, a second team All-Ivy selection, has an Ivy League leading 132 assists, including the one on Knowling’s winning shot against Brown last Sunday.
• All five Yale starters average double figures in scoring.
• Yale head coach James Jones‘ three guiding principles are rebounding, defense and sharing the ball, and his team has excelled in all areas this season. The Bulldogs lead the Ivy League in field goal percentage defense (.417) and rebound margin (+4.5) and were third in assists (15.1 per game).
• Yale is 20-3 when it outrebounds its opponents and 2-6 when it is outrebounded. The Bulldogs are 19-4 when they lead at halftime.
• The Bulldogs are making their second trip to Spokane this season. Yale fell to Gonzaga 86-71 back on Nov. 10 in a game that was closer than the final score indicated. The Bulldogs raced out to a 16-6 early lead and the first half featured eight lead changes and eight ties.
• Yale also played a competitive game at Kansas in December before falling 75-60. The Bulldogs had an 11-point first-half lead and led 33-32 at halftime.
• Five of Yale’s nine losses have come by five points or less and a sixth came in overtime – 75-65 to Weber State.
HISTORY LESSONS
Yale and San Diego State are playing for just the second time. The first meeting was a 69-62 victory for the Bulldogs in San Diego back in 1992. Ironically, Yale traveled to San Diego after playing in the Shootout Spokane Tournament. The Bulldogs beat Vermont and fell to Gonzaga before their game with the Aztecs.
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE
The fifth-seeded Aztecs (25-10) advanced to the second round with a 69-65 win over No. 12 UAB on Friday. Third-team All-American Jaedon LeDee scored 32 points to pace SDSU. He was 11-of-18 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line and also grabbed eight rebounds. The Aztecs earned an at-large bid to the tournament after falling to New Mexico 68-61 in the championship game of the Mountain West Tournament. LeDee leads the team in scoring at 21.4 ppg. Reese Waters (10.0 ppg.) is the only other double figure scorer. SDSU was the national runner up last season, falling to UConn 76-59 in the NCAA championship game. The Aztecs were also a five seed last year and beat the College of Charleston, Furman, Alabama, Creighton and Florida Atlantic on their way to the national title game. Brian Dutcher is in his seventh season as the head coach at SDSU.
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