San Diego State (14-2, 3-0 Mountain West) jumped back into the Associated Press Top 25 this week, at No. 19, ahead of Tuesday’s 81-78 win over San Jose State.
But a week of challenges looms, starting with a road game against New Mexico (13-3, 1-2 MW) at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“I don’t want to look like, ‘Oh, you were overlooking San Jose for New Mexico,'” head coach Brian Dutcher said. “That’s the furthest thing from the fact.”
Good thing, because the Aztecs had a battle on their hands.
Jaedon LeDee had another double-double, scoring 31 while adding 10 rebounds. Lamont Butler followed with 16 points and Micah Parrish had 13 as Jay Pal made an impression down the stretch with a three-pointer and a key block when the Spartans had a chance to tie or win the game with seconds left.
“We have a lot of experienced guys on the team,” LeDee said. “We don’t get rattled when things get going. We just stay the course …”
New Mexico, coming off a loss to UNLV, a team SDSU beat last week, leads the conference in scoring, with an average of 82.31 points per game (the Aztecs are fifth). The teams also stand 1-2 atop the conference in offensive rebounds, with the Lobos’ 39 just ahead of San Diego State’s 38.
And their previous contest was a nail biter, as Lamont Butler saved the day with his first big buzzer beater last season to win 73-71.
It doesn’t get any easier after New Mexico, with Nevada (15-1, 2-0) to follow Wednesday at Viejas and another road game, this time at Boise State (11-4, 2-0 MW) on Jan. 20.
Meanwhile, senior forward LeDee has been added to both the Lute Olson and John R. Wooden awards mid-season watch lists.
LeDee is the nation’s fifth leading scorer, averaging 22.0 points per game, while ranking in the top 20 nationally in six additional categories, including ninth in free throw attempts (128) and 12th in points (330), free throws (94) and double doubles (8).
The list for the sport’s most prestigious honor, the John R. Wooden Award – named for the former UCLA coach, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame – includes 25 student-athletes. The winner will be announced following the NCAA Tournament in April.
The Olson award is named in honor of coach Lute Olson, who won 776 games in 34 seasons, and was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2002.
