SAN DIEGO — The 2020 Aztecs men’s basketball team is starting off very similar to the 2019 season. In two words, on fire. The Aztecs are 5-0 and have already knocked off #22 UCLA in the opener and #23 Arizona State on Thursday night.
The Aztecs headed into the 2020 season unranked after losing Malachi Flynn, Yani Wetzel and KJ Feagin. That hasn’t stopped seniors Matt Mitchell and Jordan Shakel from picking up right where they left off in 2019. The duo is averaging nearly 30 points a game while the Aztecs as a team average nearly 76. The team's suffocating defense only is giving up 57 points a game.
The early success has not gone unnoticed. After Thursday’s dominating win over Arizona State, the official March Madness Twitter account said, “DON’T SLEEP ON THE AZTECS! No. 24 San Diego State takes the road W at No. 23 Arizona State!”
CBS Sports NCAA basketball reporter, John Rothstein said, “San Diego State now has wins over the two teams (UCLA, ASU) who were picked to finish 1st and 2nd in the Pac-12 preseason poll. Aztecs have early equity. And it's only December 11th.”
One Twitter user said the team was once again disrespected because of the lack of a national ranking preseason.
The Aztecs have a few days off before taking on BYU at home on December 18, then they will take on St. Mary’s in San Louis Obispo on December 22.
The Mountain West Conference will transition to two-game series on December 31 to help mitigate the possibility of games being canceled due to COVID. Click here to see the Aztecs full schedule.
