The San Diego State Aztecs reminded everyone last Friday that they finished last season as one of the best college basketball teams in the nation.
“Just thinking about what as accomplishment it is to come in here and win,” Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said after an impressive 84-74 victory at Gonzaga. “They (Gonzaga) play a lot of good tams but none of them want to come here and play.”
San Diego State, 11-2, is No. 3 in this week’s Nevada Appeal Mountain West rankings behind No. 1 Nevada (13-1) and No. 2 Colorado State (13-1).
The Aztecs got 22 points from Reese Waters, 20 from Jaedon LeDee and 17 from Darrion Trammell to beat Gonzaga. The victory ended Gonzaga’s 59-game winning streak in home non-conference games.
“A lot of guys played with swagger, offensively and defensively,” Trammell said. “We were getting after it. We were locked in.”
It was just Gonzaga’s second loss in its last 90 home games and first since a 71-66 loss to UCLA and coach Steve Alford (now Nevada’s coach) in December 2015.
“Some of their role guys stepped up and made big shots,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few of the Aztecs. “We directed the ball (on defense) to some of those guys and they did a good job of delivering.”
Top-ranked Nevada whipped Fresno Pacific, 92-59, last Saturday in its final non-conference game of the regular season. Jarod Lucas had 22 points in 22 minutes to lead the Wolf Pack.
Nevada opens its Mountain West schedule against the two lowest ranked teams in the conference, at No. 11 Fresno State on Saturday and against No. 12 Air Force at home on Tuesday.
No. 2 Colorado State (13-1, 1-0) opened its conference schedule on Tuesday with a 76-68 home win over No. 5 New Mexico. Patrick Cartier led the Rams with 21 points while Isaiah Stevens had 18 points and eight assists.
Colorado State was 18-of-21 from the free throw line while the Lobos (12-2, 0-1) were just 4-of-11.
“We did a great job of showing our poise throughout the game,” Colorado State coach Niko Medved said. “We didn’t allow any big runs. We have a group that understands that.”
Cartier, a 6-foot-8 fifth-year player, has turned into Colorado State’s go-to player on offense. He averaged 12.3 points a game last year and is at 13.5 this year.
His scoring average is a bit misleading since he played just one minute and did not score in a win over Creighton in November. He’s had 10 or more points in 11 of his other 12 games.
“We’re looking to play through him a lot on offense,” Stevens said. “He makes a lot of decisions for us and more times than not he’s making the right one.”
No. 4 Utah State (13-1, 1-0) opened its Mountain West schedule with an 88-60 win over Air Force on Tuesday. Great Osodor had 32 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Aggies, winners of 12 in a row.
Utah State was 31-of-49 (63 percent) from the floor while Air Force missed 12-of-14 3-pointers. Just 945 fans attended the game at Colorado Springs.
No. 6 Boise State (9-4, 0-0) crushed Utah Valley, 85-63, at home last Friday. Max Rice scored 22 points and O’Mar Stanley added 20 in front of a crowd of 10,764.
“O’Mar has grown a lot,” Boise forward Tyson Degenhart said. “He had a couple games this year when he didn’t get what he wanted, and he’s just grown from that.”
Boise State opens league play at San Jose State on Friday.
“Our conference has done so well,” Max Rice said. “But I think people are definitely peaking too early this time of year.”
No. 7 UNLV (7-5, 0-0) won a pair of non-league games this past week, beating Carroll College, 87-51, on Sunday and Bethesda (Anaheim, Calif.) on Tuesday, 112-56.
Justin Webster led the Rebels with 16 points against Carroll. “The goal was simple, to come in and try to establish our identity,” Webster said. “Our first 10 games we did not establish our identity of running, guarding the ball and rebounding.”
No. 8 Wyoming (8-6, 1-0) rallied from a 47-35 halftime deficit to beat No. 9 San Jose State, 75-73, on Tuesday. Sam Griffin led Wyoming with 23 points and Akuel Akot’s jumper won the game at the buzzer.
“Welcome to conference play, where no games are easy,” Wyoming coach Jeff Linder said. “We had our hands full.”
San Jose State led by as much as 17 points. The Spartans got 21 points from Alvaro Cardenas.
“Just a difficult game to lose,” San Jose State coach Tim Miles said. “Our perimeter defense let us down.”
No. 10 Fresno State (7-6, 0-0), which hosts Nevada on Saturday, beat San Diego, 71-67, last Friday. Donovan Yap scored eight of his 10 points in the final two-plus minutes to help the Bulldogs hold off San Diego.
The Nevada Appeal Mountain West men’s basketball rankings for the week of Jan. 1:
1. NEVADA (13-1, 0-0): Last week: Nevada 92, Fresno Pacific 59 (Dec. 30). This week: Nevada at Fresno State (Jan. 6), Air Force at Nevada (Jan. 9).
2. COLORADO STATE (13-1, 1-0): Last week: Colorado State 106, Adams State 61 (Dec. 29); Colorado State 76, New Mexico 68 (Jan. 2). This week: Colorado State at Utah State (Jan. 6), Colorado State at Boise State (Jan. 9).
3. SAN DIEGO STATE (11-2, 0-0): Last week: San Diego State 84, Gonzaga 74 (Dec. 29). This week: Fresno State at San Diego State (Jan. 3), UNLV at San Diego State (Jan. 6), San Diego State at San Jose State (Jan. 9).
4. UTAH STATE (13-1, 1-0): Last week: Utah State 88, Air Force 60 (Jan. 2). This week: Colorado State at Utah State (Jan. 6), Wyoming at Utah State (Jan. 9).
5. NEW MEXICO (12-2, 0-1): Last week: New Mexico 87, Eastern New Mexico 54 (Dec. 29); Colorado State 76, New Mexico 68 (Jan. 2). This week: Wyoming at New Mexico (Jan. 6), New Mexico at UNLV (Jan. 9).
6. BOISE STATE (9-4, 0-0): Last week: Boise State 85, Utah Valley 63 (Dec. 29). This week: Boise State at San Jose State (Jan. 5), Colorado State at Boise State (Jan. 9).
7. UNLV (7-5, 0-0): Last week: UNLV 87, Carroll 51 (Dec. 31), UNLV 112, Bethesda (Calif.) 56 (Jan. 2). This week: UNLV at San Diego State (Jan. 6), New Mexico at UNLV (Jan. 9).
8. WYOMING (8-6, 1-0): Last week: BYU 94, Wyoming 68 (Dec. 30), Wyoming 75, San Jose State 73 (Jan. 2). This week: Wyoming at New Mexico (Jan. 6), Wyoming at Utah State (Jan. 9).
9. SAN JOSE STATE (7-7, 0-1): Last week: Wyoming 75, San Jose State 73 (Jan. 2). This week: Boise State at San Jose State (Jan. 5), San Diego State at San Jose State (Jan. 9).
10. FRESNO STATE (7-6, 0-0): Last week: Fresno State 71, San Diego 67 (Dec. 29). This week: Fresno State at San Diego State (Jan. 3), Nevada at Fresno State (Jan. 6).
11. AIR FORCE (7-6, 0-1): Last week: Utah State 88, Air Force 60 (Jan. 2). This week: Air Force at Nevada (Jan. 9).