SDSU Yearbook: MW Championship Highlights Unforgettable Year for Men's Basketball
The Aztecs fought their way to the No. 4 national ranking and finished the year with 30 wins.
蘑菇视频网 takes a look back to celebrate all the accomplishments of the past year in an SDSU NewsCenter series titled 鈥淪DSU Yearbook.鈥� SDSU is an educational leader and a growing research powerhouse with top athletics programs and exceptional, diverse students who lead.
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As the men鈥檚 basketball team continued one of the most successful seasons in 蘑菇视频网 athletics, it entered its showdown against the University of New Mexico on a 24-game winning streak and an opportunity to clinch the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship and remain the only undefeated team in NCAA Division I basketball.
Junior forward Matt Mitchell had 22 points and 12 rebounds as the No. 4 Aztecs defeated New Mexico 82-59 on Tuesday, February 11, in front of a sellout crowd at Viejas Arena.
鈥淚 couldn't be more proud of a team,鈥� head coach Brian Dutcher said when the team clinched the regular-season championship with four games yet to play. 鈥淭he hardest thing in basketball, obviously other than winning the final four is winning a regular season conference title because you have to do it over the whole season.鈥�
The win clinched a MW-record 12 regular-season and tournament championships for the Aztecs. They also won outright regular-season titles in 2006, 2014 and 2016. The shared regular-season titles in 2011, 2012 and 2015.
Unranked at the beginning of the season, the Aztecs were the only remaining undefeated men鈥檚 team in NCAA Division I for more than a month, as a hot-selling t-shirt featuring the .
SDSU finished the year ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, following five straight weeks at No. 4, matching the highest ranking in program history.
Alas, memories of the 26-game winning streak in 2019-20鈥攁 school record鈥攁nd a Mountain West Conference regular-season championship will have to endure and those who packed the student section of Viejas Arena鈥攖hey call them 鈥淭he Show鈥濃�攕till have unforgettable impressions of a 30-2 year that brought a community together.
Dutcher was USA Today鈥檚 national coach of the year, and a finalist for the 2020 Werner Ladder Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Award among other honors.
Guard Malachi Flynn was recognized as an NCAA Consensus All-American and Associated Press second team All-American honors. His three-point buzzer-beater in a Dec. 8 home game against San Jos茅 State was a delirious high point, with just 10 games under the team鈥檚 belts at the time.
Champions The Aztecs have won a MW-record 12 regular-season and tournament championships. (All photos courtesy of GoAztecs.com)
