# 2014–15 San Diego State Aztecs men's basketball team

The 2014–15 San Diego State men's basketball team represented San Diego State University during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Steve Fisher's sixteenth season at San Diego State. The Aztecs played their home games at Viejas Arena. They were members in the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 27–9, 14–4 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for the Mountain West regular season championship. They advanced to the championship game of the Mountain West tournament where they lost to Wyoming. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated St. John's in the second round before losing in the third round to Duke.

## Previous season

The 2013–14 San Diego State Aztecs finished the season with an overall record of 31–5, and 16–2 in the Mountain West to win regular season championship. In the MWC tournament, the Aztecs defeated Utah State and UNLV to make it to the championship game, where they lost to New Mexico, 58–64. The Aztecs received an at-large bid to the 2014 NCAA tournament as a 4-seed in the West Region. The team defeated 13-seed New Mexico State and 12-seed North Dakota State to make it to the Sweet Sixteen, where they eventually lost to 1-seed Arizona, 64–70.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Hometown | Year | Notes |
| Josh Davis | 22 | F | 6’8” | 215 | Raleigh, North Carolina | Senior | Graduated. |
| James Johnson | 12 | C/F | 6’10” | 235 | Wildomar, California | RS Junior | Elected to transfer. |
| Xavier Thames | 2 | G | 6’3” | 195 | Sacramento, California | RS Senior | Graduated/2014 NBA draft. |

### 2014 Recruiting Class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Kevin Zabo PG | Wolfeboro, NH | Brewster Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Oct 8, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 74 ||||||
| Trey Kell SG | San Diego, CA | St. Augustine HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Jan 10, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 83 ||||||
| Malik Pope SF | Sacramento, CA | Laguna Creek HS | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 10, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 86 ||||||
| Zylan Cheatham PF | Phoenix, AZ | South Mountain HS | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Oct 26, 2013 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 82 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: #13 Rivals: #12 ESPN: #16 ||||||
| 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: "2014 San Diego State Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 12, 2014. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| July 11, 2014* 7:00 pm | No. 16 | Point Loma Nazarene | W 74–45 | | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 14, 2014* 7:00 pm, FSSD | No. 16 | Cal State Northridge Maui Invitational Tournament Opening round | W 79–58 | 1–0 | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| November 18, 2014* 1:00 pm, ESPN | No. 16 | No. 25 Utah ESPN College Basketball Tip-Off Marathon | W 53–49 | 2–0 | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| November 20, 2014* 7:30 pm, FSSD | No. 16 | Cal State Bakersfield | W 51–27 | 3–0 | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| November 24, 2014* 8:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 15 | vs. BYU Maui Invitational Tournament quarterfinals | W 92–87 $^{2OT}$ | 4–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Maui, HI |
| November 25, 2014* 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 15 | vs. Pittsburgh Maui Invitational Tournament semifinals | W 74–57 | 5–0 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Maui, HI |
| November 26, 2014* 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 15 | vs. No. 3 Arizona Maui Invitational Tournament championship | L 59–61 | 5–1 | Lahaina Civic Center (2,400) Maui, HI |
| December 4, 2014* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 13 | San Diego City Championship | W 57–48 | 6–1 | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| December 7, 2014* 6:00 pm, P12N | No. 13 | at Washington | L 36–49 | 6–2 | Alaska Airlines Arena (6,199) Seattle, WA |
| December 10, 2014* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 18 | Long Beach State | W 60–59 | 7–2 | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| December 17, 2014* 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 19 | at Cincinnati | L 62–71 $^{OT}$ | 7–3 | Fifth Third Arena (9,217) Cincinnati, OH |
| December 20, 2014* 7:00 pm | No. 19 | Ball State | W 70–57 | 8–3 | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| December 22, 2014* 8:00 pm, FSSD | | UC Riverside | W 61–33 | 9–3 | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| December 27, 2014* 7:00 pm, FSSD | | San Diego Christian | W 72–50 | 10–3 | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| Mountain West regular season ||||||
| December 31, 2014 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Air Force | W 53–49 | 11–3 (1–0) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| January 3, 2015 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Fresno State | L 57–59 | 11–4 (1–1) | Save Mart Center (5,910) Fresno, CA |
| January 6, 2015 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | New Mexico | W 56–42 | 12–4 (2–1) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| January 14, 2015 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 25 Wyoming | W 60–52 | 13–4 (3–1) | Arena-Auditorium (6,178) Laramie, WY |
| January 17, 2015 3:00 pm, CBSSN | | UNLV | W 53–47 | 14–4 (4–1) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| January 20, 2015 6:30 pm, CBSSN | | at Air Force | W 77–45 | 15–4 (5–1) | Clune Arena (1,209) Colorado Springs, CO |
| January 24, 2015 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Colorado State | L 73–79 | 15–5 (5–2) | Moby Arena (8,745) Fort Collins, CO |
| January 27, 2015 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | Fresno State | W 58–47 | 16–5 (6–2) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| January 31, 2015 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | Utah State | W 62–42 | 17–5 (7–2) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| February 4, 2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Nevada | W 65–63 | 18–5 (8–2) | Lawlor Events Center (5,832) Reno, NV |
| February 8, 2015 3:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Boise State | L 46–61 | 18–6 (8–3) | Taco Bell Arena (10,511) Boise, ID |
| February 11, 2015 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | Wyoming | W 67–41 | 19–6 (9–3) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| February 14, 2015 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | Colorado State | W 72–63 | 20–6 (10–3) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| February 17, 2015 6:30 pm, CBSSN | | at New Mexico | W 63–46 | 21–6 (11–3) | The Pit (15,411) Albuquerque, NM |
| February 21, 2015 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at San Jose State | W 74–56 | 22–6 (12–3) | Event Center Arena (3,477) San Jose, CA |
| February 28, 2015 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 24 | Boise State | L 46–56 | 22–7 (12–4) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| March 4, 2015 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at UNLV | W 60–58 | 23–7 (13–4) | Thomas & Mack Center (13,454) Paradise, NV |
| March 7, 2015 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Nevada | W 67–43 | 24–7 (14–4) | Viejas Arena (12,414) San Diego, CA |
| Mountain West tournament ||||||
| March 12, 2015 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. UNLV Quarterfinals | W 67–64 | 25–7 | Thomas & Mack Center (8,655) Paradise, NV |
| March 13, 2015 8:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Colorado State Semifinals | W 56–43 | 26–7 | Thomas & Mack Center (9,199) Paradise, NV |
| March 14, 2015 3:00 pm, CBS | | vs. Wyoming Championship game | L 43–45 | 26–8 | Thomas & Mack Center (10,002) Paradise, NV |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 20, 2015* 6:40 pm, CBS | No. (8 S) | vs. (9 S) St. John's Second round | W 76–64 | 27–8 | Time Warner Cable Arena (16,945) Charlotte, NC |
| March 22, 2015* 11:40 am, CBS | No. (8 S) | vs. No. 4 (1 S) Duke Third round | L 49–68 | 27–9 | Time Warner Cable Arena (18,482) Charlotte, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region S=South. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | 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 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 16 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 19 | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 24 | RV | RV | — | Not released |
| Coaches | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 17 | 23 | 25 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 22 | RV | 25 | RV | RV |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings.