# 2020–21 San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball team

The 2020–21 San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball team represented San Diego State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aztecs, led by fourth-year head coach Brian Dutcher, played their home games at Viejas Arena as members in the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs finished the season 23–5, 14–3 in Mountain West play to win the regular season championship. In the Mountain West tournament, they defeated Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah State to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 6 seed in the Midwest region. There they lost in the first round to Syracuse.

## Previous season

The Aztecs finished the 2019–20 season 30–2, 17–1 in Mountain West play to be regular season Mountain West champions. They defeated Air Force and Boise State to reach the championship game of the Mountain West tournament where they lost to Utah State. Although they were a virtual lock to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, on March 12 the NCAA Tournament was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Lamont Butler PG | Riverside, CA | Riverside Polytech High School | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jun 19, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Che Evans SF | Baltimore, MD | Dulaney High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Sep 12, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Keith Dinwiddie SG | Culver City, CA | Fairfax High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 10, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 San Diego St. Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. "2020 San Diego St. Player Commits". ESPN.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 25, 2020* 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | No. 22 UCLA | W 73–58 | 1–0 | 15 – Tied | 7 – Mensah | 6 – Pulliam | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| November 27, 2020* 4:00 pm, Yurview | | UC Irvine | W 77–58 | 2–0 | 14 – Johnson | 7 – Arop | 3 – Tomaic | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| December 2, 2020* 6:00 pm | | Saint Katherine | W 83–41 | 3–0 | 16 – Schakel | 7 – Mensah | 4 – Pulliam | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| December 6, 2020* 1:30 pm, Yurview | | Pepperdine | W 65–60 | 4–0 | 17 – Schakel | 6 – Mensah | 3 – Tied | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| December 10, 2020* 7:00 pm, FS1 | No. 24 | at No. 23 Arizona State | W 80–68 | 5–0 | 25 – Schakel | 15 – Mensah | 4 – Gomez | Desert Financial Arena Tempe, AZ |
| December 18, 2020* 2:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 18 | BYU | L 62–72 | 5–1 | 35 – Mitchell | 4 – Tied | 5 – Pulliam | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| December 22, 2020* 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Saint Mary's | W 74–49 | 6–1 | 18 – Mensah | 13 – Mensah | 4 – Gomez | Robert A. Mott Athletics Center San Luis Obispo, CA |
| January 2, 2021 1:00 pm, CBS | | Colorado State | L 67–70 | 6–2 (0–1) | 19 – Gomez | 7 – Mitchell | 6 – Pulliam | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| January 4, 2021 6:00 pm, FS1 | | Colorado State | W 78–65 | 7–2 (1–1) | 28 – Schakel | 9 – Schakel | 5 – Pulliam | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| January 7, 2021 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Nevada | W 65–60 | 8–2 (2–1) | 20 – Mitchell | 10 – Mitchell | 3 – Tied | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| January 9, 2021 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | Nevada | W 69–67 | 9–2 (3–1) | 20 – Mitchell | 8 – Mitchell | 3 – Tied | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| January 14, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Utah State | L 45–57 | 9–3 (3–2) | 13 – Mensah | 9 – Mensah | 2 – Tied | Smith Spectrum (1,585) Logan, UT |
| January 16, 2021 10:30 am, CBS | | at Utah State | L 59–64 | 9–4 (3–3) | 16 – Gomez | 5 – Tied | 2 – Pulliam | Smith Spectrum (1,638) Logan, UT |
| January 22, 2021 6:00 pm, FS1 | | at Air Force | W 98–61 | 10–4 (4–3) | 18 – Schakel | 7 – Mensah | 6 – Pulliam | Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO |
| January 24, 2021 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at Air Force | W 91–59 | 11–4 (5–3) | 24 – Schakel | 7 – Tied | 6 – Gomez | Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO |
| January 28, 2021 6:00 pm, FS1 | | Wyoming | W 87–57 | 12–4 (6–3) | 16 – Schakel | 7 – Tomaic | 4 – Schakel | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| January 30, 2021 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Wyoming | W 98–71 | 13–4 (7–3) | 26 – Mitchell | 5 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| February 3, 2021 8:00 pm, FS1 | | vs. New Mexico | Canceled, ruled a forfeit by New Mexico | Canceled, ruled a forfeit by New Mexico | Canceled, ruled a forfeit by New Mexico | Canceled, ruled a forfeit by New Mexico | Canceled, ruled a forfeit by New Mexico | Rip Griffin Center Lubbock, TX |
| February 5, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. New Mexico | Canceled, ruled a forfeit by New Mexico | Canceled, ruled a forfeit by New Mexico | Canceled, ruled a forfeit by New Mexico | Canceled, ruled a forfeit by New Mexico | Canceled, ruled a forfeit by New Mexico | Rip Griffin Center Lubbock, TX |
| February 8, 2021 8:00 pm, FS1 | | San Jose State | W 85–54 | 14–4 (8–3) | 23 – Schakel | 13 – Johnson | 5 – Pulliam | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| February 10, 2021 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | San Jose State | W 77–55 | 15–4 (9–3) | 24 – Schakel | 7 – Mitchell | 5 – Pulliam | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| February 18, 2021 7:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 25 | at Fresno State | W 67–53 | 16–4 (10–3) | 19 – Mitchell | 8 – Mensah | 3 – Tied | Save Mart Center Fresno, CA |
| February 20, 2021 4:30 pm, CBSSN | No. 25 | at Fresno State | W 75–57 | 17–4 (11–3) | 14 – Schakel | 8 – Schakel | 2 – Tied | Save Mart Center Fresno, CA |
| February 25, 2021 6:00 pm, FS1 | No. 22 | Boise State | W 78–66 $^{OT}$ | 18–4 (12–3) | 24 – Mitchell | 9 – Mitchell | 3 – Gomez | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| February 27, 2021 1:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 22 | Boise State | W 62–58 | 19–4 (13–3) | 17 – Schakel | 8 – Mitchell | 4 – Pulliam | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| March 3, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 19 | UNLV | W 71–62 | 20–4 (14–3) | 19 – Mitchell | 9 – Schakel | 8 – Pulliam | Thomas & Mack Center (50) Paradise, NV |
| Mountain West tournament |||||||||
| March 11, 2021 12:00 pm, CBSSN | (1) No. 19 | vs. (8) Wyoming Quarterfinals | W 69–66 | 21–4 | 20 – Gomez | 6 – Schakel | 4 – Pulliam | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV |
| March 12, 2021 6:30 pm, CBSSN | (1) No. 19 | vs. (5) Nevada Semifinals | W 77–70 | 22–4 | 24 – Mitchell | 9 – Schakel | 4 – Pulliam | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV |
| March 13, 2021 3:00 pm, CBS | (1) No. 19 | vs. (2) Utah State Championship | W 68–57 | 23–4 | 14 – Mitchell | 8 – Mensah | 3 – Pulliam | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 19, 2021 6:40 pm, CBS | (6 MW) No. 16 | vs. (11 MW) Syracuse First Round | L 62–78 | 23–5 | 17 – Tied | 8 – Mitchell | 6 – Pulliam | Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Pacific Time. |||||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | 24 | 18 | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | RV | 25 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 16 | 16 | Not Released |
| Coaches | RV | RV* | RV | 20 | RV | 23 | RV | RV | — | — | — | RV | RV | 25 | 21 | 19т | 18 | 18 | RV |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings. No coaches poll for Week 1.