San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball

The San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball team is the college basketball program that represents San Diego State University, located in San Diego, California. The school's team currently competes in the Mountain West Conference, and play their home games in Viejas Arena. The team began play in 1921 and have been to 6 NAIA tournaments winning in 1941, 3 NCAA Division II tournaments, 5 NIT tournaments, and 12 NCAA Division I tournaments. Since joining the Mountain West Conference, the Aztecs have won 5 MWC tournaments. Former players who went on to achieve notable success in other areas are Art Linkletter and Tony Gwynn.

Team history

The Aztecs first began playing during the 1921–22 basketball season as part of the Southern California JC conference. They competed in Division III until 1956. They competed in 6 NAIA tournaments. Runners up in 1939 and in 1940, the Aztecs finally prevailed and won the 1941 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. They became a NCAA Division I school in 1970 and moved to the Western Athletic Conference in 1978. In 1999 the Aztecs left the WAC and became a charter member of the Mountain West Conference. Prior to entering the Mountain West, they went to 3 NCAA Conference tournaments. During their time in the MWC, the Aztecs have won 4 conference tournaments and have been to 8 NCAA tournaments and 4 NIT tournaments. In 2010–11 season, the Aztecs were ranked as high as 4th in the nation and won their first ever games in the NCAA tournament, reaching the Sweet Sixteen.

Rivalries

The Aztecs have three major rivalries, the UNLV Rebels, the USD Toreros, and the BYU Cougars. Their primary rival is the UNLV Rebels, especially in recent years with some memorable showdowns. The USD Toreros are the Aztecs crosstown rivals and play them annually through non-conference play, also known as the City Championship. The Aztecs rivalry with the BYU Cougars is inactive since 2011 when the Cougars left the MWC for the WCC, although it is now widely recognized that the New Mexico Lobos have since filled that position.

Facilities

The Aztecs play their home games at Viejas Arena, which is located on the west side of campus. Viejas Arena opened in 1997 as Cox Arena and seats 12,414 for basketball games. In 2009, the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians purchased the naming rights for ten years. The arena features an octagonal scoreboard with video-replay system, that includes up-to-the-minute statistical information on individual players. The facility is also equipped with seven locker rooms, two of which are complete with team rooms, equipment rooms, and a shared training room.
Prior to the opening of the arena, men's basketball played its games at Peterson Gym and, for more than 30 years, at the San Diego Sports Arena.

Head coaches

As of the

Name	Seasons	Record	Percentage
C.E. Peterson	1921–1926	70–30	.700
Tom McMullen	1926–1929	23–17	.575
Morris Gross	1929–1942	190–85	.690
Don DeLauer	1942–1943	14–9	.609
Alex Alexander	1943–1945	17–26	.395
Charlie Smith	1945–1948	45–36	.563
George Ziegenfuss	1948–1969	316–229	.580
Dick Davis	1969–1974	65–67	.492
Tim Vezie	1974–1979	77–62	.554
Smokey Gaines	1979–1987	112–117	.489
Jim Brandenburg	1987–1991	52–87	.356
Jim Harrick Jr.	1992	0–7	.000
Tony Fuller	1992–1994	20–37	.351
Fred Trenkle	1994–1999	55–83	.399
*Steve Fisher	1999–2017	386–209	.648
Brian Dutcher	2017–Present	71-25	.739

Season-by-season results

A major portion of information retrieved from the San Diego State Aztecs Men's Basketball Website Archives

NAIA era

Division II era

Division I era

* Jim Harrick Jr. coached the final 7 games of 1991–92 season.

Postseason

NCAA Division I tournament results

The Aztecs have appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament 12 times, with a combined record of 6–12. They have reached the Sweet Sixteen twice, in 2011 and 2014. Additionally, at 30-2 and ranked in the Top 10 they were considered a virtual lock for the 2020 NCAA Tournament, which was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

1975		Round of 32	#16 UNLV	L 80–90
1976		Round of 32	#5 UCLA	L 64–74
1985	13 W	Round of 64	#9 UNLV	L 80–85
2002	13 M	Round of 64	#13 Illinois	L 64–93
2006	11 W	Round of 64	Indiana	L 83–87
2010	11 M	Round of 64	#15 Tennessee	L 59–62
2011	2 W	Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen	Northern Colorado Temple #9 Connecticut	W 68–50 W 71–64 ^2OT L 67–74
2012	6 M	Round of 64	NC State	L 65–79
2013	7 S	Round of 64 Round of 32	Oklahoma Florida Gulf Coast	W 70–55 L 71–81
2014	4 W	Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen	New Mexico State North Dakota State #4 Arizona	W 73–69 ^OT W 63–44 L 64–70
2015	8 S	Round of 64 Round of 32	St. John's #4 Duke	W 76–64 L 49–68
2018	11 W	Round of 64	#21 Houston	L 65–67

NCAA Tournament seeding history

The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1979 edition.

Years →	'85	'02	'06	'10	'11	'12	'13	'14	'15	'18
Seeds →	13	13	11	11	2	6	7	4	8	11

The * represents overall number one seed which began with the 2004 Tournament.

NIT results

The Aztecs have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament six times, with a combined record of 8–6.

1982	First Round	UC Irvine	L 69–70
2003	First Round Second Round	UC Santa Barbara Texas Tech	W 67–62 L 57–48
2007	First Round Second Round	Missouri State Syracuse	W 74–70 L 64–80
2008	First Round	Florida	L 49–73
2009	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals	Weber State Kansas State Saint Mary's Baylor	W 65–49 W 70–52 W 70–66 L 62–76
2016	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals	IPFW Washington Georgia Tech George Washington	W 79–55 W 93–78 W 72–56 L 46–65

NCAA Division II tournament results

The Aztecs appeared in the NCAA Division II Tournament three times, with a combined record of 5–3.

1957	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight	Chapman Regis Cal State Los Angeles	W 75–56 W 81–78 L 55–57
1967	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals Elite Eight	Portland State Nevada Southern Illinois State	W 101–73 W 88–71 L 76–77 ^3OT
1968	Regional Semifinals Regional Finals	UC Irvine UC Davis	L 69–78 W 79–72

NAIA tournament results

The Aztecs have appeared in the NAIA Tournament six times. Their combined record is 15–5. They were NAIA National Champions in 1941.

1939	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship	Northern State East Texas State Manchester Peru State Southwestern	W 49–25 W 41–36 W 49–41 W 49–39 L 31–32
1940	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship	Central State Appalachian State Pittsburg State Delta State Tarkio	W 36–35 W 48–46 W 32–30 W 30–28 L 42–52
1941	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship	Western Montana Culver-Stockton Texas Western West Texas State Murray State	W 46–29 W 46–41 ^OT W 44–42 W 43–40 W 36–34
1942	First Round Second Round	Chadron State Bemidji State	W 36–29 L 32–41
1954	First Round	Pasadena	L 87–90
1956	First Round Second Round	Alderson-Broaddus Gustavus Adolphus	W 77–64 L 60–69

Retired numbers

On January 16, 2020, the Aztecs announced that they would be retiring former small forward Kawhi Leonard's number 15 on February 1, 2020. Leonard is the first player in Aztecs history to have his number retired.

No.	Player	Position	Career	Year retired
15	Kawhi Leonard	SF	2009–2011	2020

Team records

All-time record vs. current MWC teams

Official record against all current MWC opponents as of the completion of the 2018–2019 season:

Opponent	Games Played	Won	Lost	Percentage	Streak	First Meeting
Air Force	82	58	24		Won 2	1973–74
Boise State	21	14	7		Won 3	1976–77
Colorado State	86	45	41		Won 5	1961–62
Fresno State	120	64	56		Won 2	1939–40
Nevada	25	19	6		Won 3	1956–57
New Mexico	90	42	48		Won 2	1975–76
San Jose State	76	41	35		Won 5	1936–37
UNLV	74	37	37		Lost 1	1965–66
Utah State	18	13	5		Won 2	1962–63
Wyoming	85	44	41		Won 4	1978–79
Totals	677	377	300

Career Leaders (DI Era)