SDSU vs. Nevada
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Viejas Arena
On the air: Fox Sports 1; 760-AM
Records: SDSU is 20-8 (13-6); Nevada is 16-14 (8-11)
Series history: SDSU leads 27-8, 22-5 in the Mountain West era (12-1 at Viejas Arena). The Aztecs won the first meeting, 69-50 in Reno on Jan. 25.
Aztecs update: Six seniors will be honored before tip-off. Three are running out of eligibility: Jared Coleman-Jones, Wayne McKinney III and Kimo Ferrari. Three more have eligibility left but are not guaranteed to return: Demarshay Johnson Jr. and walk-ons Ryan Schwarz and Desai Lopez. It amounts to a must-win for the Aztecs to preserve their teetering at-large NCAA Tournament chances. A win in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament on Thursday might be as well. The Aztecs are headed to the 4-5 game, most likely against the loser of Friday night’s Colorado State at Boise State game — two teams breathing down their neck on the bubble. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm both have SDSU as an 11 seed among their final four teams in. Magoon Gwath continues rehab his hyperextended right knee, but coach Brian Dutcher considers him “doubtful” for Saturday. A more realistic return is Thursday in the conference tournament. Miles Heide has started the last three games without Gwath. Free throw shooting has been an issue all season, but it’s become worse in recent weeks. Over the last three games, they’re shooting 59.7% (43-72). The season rate of 67.2% ranks 326th in Division I. Their opponents are shooting 69.7%.
Wolf pack update: In many respects, they are the biggest disappointment of the Mountain West this year, picked third in the preseason poll and now locked into the No. 7 seed and guaranteed a losing conference record. To make matters worse, senior starter Tre Coleman, Nevada’s all-time starts leader with 131, broke his hand on Feb. 18 and hasn’t played since. Fellow starter Daniel Foster has missed the past six games with an ankle injury. That reduced Steve Alford’s team to essentially a seven-man rotation, although UNLV used only seven players on Tuesday and beat SDSU 74-67. It’s still a tall Wolf Pack team, starting players who stand 6 feet, 6-5, 6-9, 6-10 and 6-10. The offense revolves around Christian High School alum Kobe Sanders and forward Nick Davidson, who each average 15.7 points per game. Fifth-year senior guard Xavier DuSell, who had previous stops at Wyoming and Fresno State, is one 3-pointer shy of tying Boise State Justinian Jessop at 325 for the Mountain West career record. Alford has been stuck on 699 career coaching victories for two games. The Wolf Pack are 76th in both the NET and Kenpom. The latter projects a 69-62 Aztecs win.
Next up: Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament in Las Vegas.
–MARK ZEIGLER
