Aztecs vs. Washington
What: Continental Tire Main Event title game
When: 7 p.m. Sunday
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Line: Aztecs by 5 1/2
On the air: ESPN2, 760-AM
Records: Both teams are 3-1.
Series history: Washington leads 3-2 but SDSU has won two of the last three, most recently 93-78 at Viejas Arena in the 2016 NIT.
Aztecs update: Since 2009-10, the Aztecs rank seventh nationally on neutral floors (with a minimum of 95 games) at 65-32. The six programs ahead of them: Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Villanova, Kentucky and Michigan. Friday’s game was the sixth time in the Brian Dutcher/Steve Fisher era that the Aztecs have shot better from the field (51.8 percent) than their opponent has from the line (42.9 percent). Jaedon LeDee averages 25.0 points, which ranks sixth in Division I. Tucker DeVries of Drake leads at 28.5, but he’s played only two games. The next most by anyone over 6-7 is 22.7 by UNC’s Armando Bacot. Reese Waters is averaging 16.0 points after no one last season averaged more than Matt Bradley’s 12.6. Maybe the most overlooked part of LeDee’s numbers is he has committed only seven fouls in four games and has never been in foul trouble. The Aztecs rank 291st nationally in bench minutes at 25.8 percent of the total available. That’s down from 37.4 percent last season, which ranked 34th. The Aztecs already have halves of 46 (second, Cal State Fullerton), 47 (first, Long Beach State) and 45 (second, Saint Mary’s). They are averaging 78.8 points, up nearly eight points from 2022-23.
Huskies update: They bounced back from an 83-76 home loss against Nevada with a 74-71 win against Xavier in the late game Friday night. “We won this game because we were tough,” seventh-year coach Mike Hopkins said. “We were rebounding, we were gritty, we got stops when we had to get stops. It wasn’t perfect, but they just kept fighting.” Hopkins has a half-dozen fifth-year seniors, led by a pair of Kentucky transfers in 6-7 Keion Brooks Jr. (23.3 points, 8.0 rebounds) and 5-9 sparkplug Sahvir Wheeler (16.7 points, 5.7 assists). Another transfer, 6-11 Frank Kepnang from Oregon, had eight points, 12 rebounds and two blocks (and numerous shots altered) in 28 minutes against Xavier. They also have three Mountain West transfers: 7-1 Braxton Meah and 6-5 Anthony Holland from Fresno State, and Moses Wood from UNLV. The key for SDSU will be staying in front of Wheeler on the break and shutting down Brooks, who presents a matchup nightmare with his athleticism and aggression. “They’re probably the most talented team here,” Dutcher said. “The thing is, they’re still learning each other. You can tell that. But when they figure it out, they’re going to be hard for anybody to play with.”
Next up: vs. Cal at JSerra High School in San Juan Capistrano on Saturday (4 p.m., Mountain West Network)
