Aztecs host CA Baptist on Wednesday night after moving up one spot in the AP Top 25 Poll to No. 23

The San Diego State Aztecs are 6-2 and are seeing recognition early in the season.

Before SDSU entered the Top 25 rankings as the 24-ranked team last week, Miles Byrd was named to the Players Era Festival All-Tournament Team. Then, on Monday, Pharaoh Compton won back-to-back Freshman of the Week honors.

Head coach Brian Dutcher prepared his team well for the non-conference slate. There are just two non-conference opponents remaining. CA Baptist this week and Cal Berkeley, who SDSU will face in San Jose on December 21.

“What I love about this team is that they want to be in the gym, and they wanna get better,” Dutcher said during the USD postgame. “But they gotta know how to rest too. Rest is as important as work sometimes. So, We will take off (Sunday), practice two really hard days, and get ready for CA Baptist.”

With Mountain West play in full swing heading into 2025, Dutcher should feel proud of where his team stands in the conference. San Diego State was picked to finish fourth in the conference in the preseason polls, yet they are the only Mountain West-ranked team.

CA Baptist and SDSU will meet for the first time ever. CBU will be the final non-conference opponent to play at Viejas Arena this season.

Tomorrow, we face a new foe#GoAztecs x #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/rGC3gXAYYN

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) December 10, 2024

Getting to Know the Opponent: CA Baptist

The Lancers are 5-4 on the season and are coming off a 74-59 loss to UCF on December 1. Despite the recent loss, the team has played well this year.

In the first game of the Acrisure Holiday Invitational, the Lancers almost pulled off an upset against SMU, but they lost 79-77. The following day, they defeated Fresno State, 86-81, in double overtime to finish third in the tournament.

CBU has wins over Incarnate Word, Kennesaw State, Long Island, and Eastern Washington. San Diego State will certainly be the toughest opponent they will take on all year.

However, they could make a run for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Title and potentially earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The Lancers’ have the third best KenPom numbers in the WAC at 176, but their 199th NET ranking is eighth. SDSU hopes CBU can jump into the top 160 to make this a Quad 3 game.

The Lancers officially became eligible for the Big Dance during the 2022-23 season.

Dominique Daniels Jr. leads the team in scoring and adds 2.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game. The 5-foot-10 senior rarely leaves the court. He averages 36.1 minutes per contest.

Kendal Coleman is second on the team in scoring at 14.0 points per game. He leads the team in rebounds at 8.8, which is tied for 42nd in the country. Further, Coleman shoots 58.5% from the field, which is 47th in the nation. Daniels Jr. and Coleman are the only two who average double digits in scoring.

Martell Williams did not play against UCF and is third on the team in scoring at 9.9 points per game.

Javonte Johnson is a familiar name within the Mountain West. He spent three seasons at New Mexico and was a starter there for two seasons. Last year, he played for Colorado State before transferring again to CA Baptist. He has started three games this year.

Player to Watch: Dominique Daniels Jr.

Daniels Jr. is the player to watch out for in this contest. The senior is one of the top scorers in the country right now. He averages 21.7 points per game, which is 12th in the country.

The Compton native can score the rock. Although, he does not shoot at a high rate. The Aztecs can expose his scoring with their physical defense. Daniels Jr. shoots just 38.6% from the field and 26.7% from beyond the arc.

Despite the inconsistency with his shooting, he played very well against UCF. The guard finished with 33 points on 44% shooting, and he didn’t miss from the free-throw line. Daniels Jr. has scored at least 15 points in every game this season and is expected to take on another massive load against the Aztecs.

The Lancers won’t survive without his scoring.

Key to the Game

The Aztecs need to force turnovers against a team that protects the ball well.

CBU is leading their conference and is 30th in the nation in fewest turnovers per game at 9.9. SDSU isn’t far behind them, which is a very good sign. SDSU averages 10.3 turnovers per game, which is 43rd in the country.

In five games this year, CBU turned it over fewer than 10 times. The Aztecs grab 6.9 steals per game, so any time they are able to force the Lancers to turn the ball over, then that will give SDSU a huge advantage. Limiting turnovers is really the only thing CBU does well.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and now covers San Diego State Men’s Basketball. He also contributes regularly about the Padres. Chris is an athlete and is a huge fan of San Diego sports.