San Diego State Remains the Last Unbeaten Team After Blowing Out New Mexico

It’s been an interesting college basketball season as January comes to an end. Many of the traditional powerhouse schools are having good seasons, but most have 3, 4, or 5 losses, which are more than they usually have. Baylor (17-1) is at the top of the AP Poll, not a place the program usually is at, while Gonzaga (21-1) is ranked #2, and Kansas (16-3) is third. Holding down the #4 position is surprising San Diego State. The Aztecs were 21-0 going into their game at 16-6 New Mexico on January 29th.

This looked like it could have been a reasonable challenge to the Aztecs’ unblemished record. The Lobos were unbeaten at home. But they also were missing four key players, all of whom were starters at some point this season. Leading scorer JaQuan Lyle was the latest Lobo out of action; he’s serving a two game suspension for hosting a party in which two people were shot, suffering non-life threatening wounds.

It might not have made much difference. San Diego State came out firing on all cylinders and took a 17-0 lead. The Aztecs led 48-25 at halftime on the way to winning 85-57. All five State starters scored in double figures. The Aztecs average 75 points per game, but are getting a lot of the job done with their defense. San Diego State is allowing the fourth fewest points in the country at just 57.2 per game.

San Diego State is now 22-0 overall and 11-0 in the Mountain West Conference, a conference race they are far out in front of. The Aztecs will host Utah State (17-6, 6-4) on February 1st. Utah State beat San Diego State last year in the conference tournament final last year, depriving the Aztecs of an NCAA Tournament bid. San Diego State beat Utah State 77-68 in Logan, Utah four weeks ago in the teams’ first meeting.