The San Diego State men’s basketball team, previously absent from the AP Top 25 for four weeks, has reclaimed the No. 19 spot, setting the stage for a showdown against San Jose State in the Mountain West Conference on Tuesday night.
The attention of pollsters was recaptured by the Aztecs (13-2, 2-0) following their six consecutive victories, culminating in a 72-61 triumph over UNLV at home on Saturday. Jaedon LeDee continues to spearhead San Diego State’s efforts, achieving 20 points and 11 rebounds against UNLV for his seventh double-double of the season.
LeDee leads the conference with an average of 21.4 points per game. “They are beginning to deploy two defenders against him each time,” noted San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher. “That can be exasperating, you know? You need to become an exceptional playmaker now, Jaedon, because no one truly prevails against two defenders.
Even the most exceptional players in the NBA don’t manage it.” LeDee expressed disappointment over his four turnovers against UNLV, with merely two occurring against a double-team. “I need to return to the drawing board, continue improving,” LeDee remarked. “As Coach Dutch says, I believe they will persist in doing so throughout the year.
It’s something I have to adapt to.” Dutcher emphasized that the optimal method to capitalize on the double-team tactic is to locate an unmarked teammate, preferably one positioned on the perimeter. “This will dissuade them from double-teaming because they don’t want to concede open 3-pointers when they could give up challenging 2-pointers,” Dutcher articulated. “Jaedon will need to tread that fine line throughout the year as our standout player.”
The Aztecs’ prior encounter with San Jose State in a semifinal at the Mountain West tournament in March saw LeDee being restricted to two points off the bench on 1-of-3 shooting in the 64-49 triumph by San Diego State. Nevertheless, LeDee did not contend with double-teams last season.
“He will encounter every imaginable double-team. He has likely already encountered all of them, but he will face more,” Dutcher stated. “Their objective is to find means to prevent him from influencing the game.” San Diego State is one of three Mountain West programs to be ranked this week, along with No. 20 Utah State and No. 17 Colorado State, whom the Aztecs will confront in consecutive games in three weeks. Since the commencement of the 2010-11 season, San Diego State has been featured in the rankings for a total of 104 weeks, surpassing any other California program in that duration.
San Jose State (7-8, 0-2) suffered narrow defeats in its initial two conference games, falling to Wyoming 75-73 and succumbing to Boise State 78-69 at home. Myron Amey Jr. notched 30 points in the loss to Boise State, marking the highest-scoring game by a San Jose State player this season. The junior guard from Vacaville, Calif., nailed five 3-pointers. The Spartans also registered 14 assists, outstripping seven turnovers. “Our defensive determination to force turnovers greatly bolstered our offense,” remarked San Jose State coach Tim Miles.
San Jose State senior forward Trey Anderson, a San Diego native who spent two seasons at South Carolina before joining the Spartans for the last three, holds the joint-third position on the team in scoring with an average of 12.6 points per game, one of four San Jose State players averaging double-digit points.
