San Diego State Basketball: 2019-20 season review of the Aztecs

The highs of the season

Dominating Creighton

It took a little while for San Diego State to finally get the respect that they deserved, but their demolition of Creighton was the moment that began to change. Creighton hadn’t yet announced their own arrival on the national stage, but the way that SDSU crushed a high-major squad in the fashion they did was truly impressive.

The Aztecs went into halftime leading by 15 and extended the lead to 31 by the time the final horn sounded. They shot an impressive 55.8% from the field and a ridiculous 61.1% from 3 as they demolished Creighton in Vegas.

I think the most impressive part of this win is just how incredible of a performance it became throughout the year. Creighton was one of the most successful teams in the country when they had to play top 25 opponents on the road and finished the year in the top 10. This was also by far the most comprehensive defeat Creighton suffered all year, with their next worst loss coming at St. John’s. and that was only by 20 points.

Most people in the country hadn’t been alerted to SDSU’s talent level in November, but they quickly changed that with this performance.

Clinching Regular Season Title

After a few years without winning the Mountain West regular-season title, the Aztecs got themselves back to the top of the conference in style. Not only did they finish 5 games better than everybody else in the conference, but their win to clinch the title was also a memorable one.

New Mexico put up a good fight in the first half, only trailing the Aztecs by 2 at the half, but SDSU absolutely dominated the second half. They ended up winning the game by 23 to clinch the conference title.

The win was yet another display of how far ahead of the rest of the conference SDSU was all season and the fact that they clinched the title by demolishing the team with the conference’s 2nd most regular-season titles made it just a little bit sweeter for the Aztecs. This win was the culmination of a dominant season and was a major cause for celebration.

Winning The Las Vegas Invitational

I already highlighted the Las Vegas Invitational semifinal as one of the highs of the year and now I’m going to add their win in the final to the list. Winning this tournament was a very impressive feat early in the year as it featured last year’s national runner-up, Texas Tech, Creighton, and Iowa. The win over Iowa became especially impressive throughout the year as the Hawkeyes found success from the start of their Big 10 schedule and Luka Garza built a strong resume for National Player of the Year.

As was the case time and time again this season, the Aztecs trailed at the half, but absolutely dominated the second half to claim a 10 point win. It was a second consecutive ridiculous shooting night for the Aztecs against strong competition. They knocked down 45.8% of their 3 point attempts and 51.9% of their field goals overall.

This was the first trophy the Aztecs added to their trophy case this season and was certainly a noteworthy one. Unfortunately, they didn’t get the chance to add the most important trophy of the year to their resume this season, but winning the Las Vegas Invitational was when they announced themselves as a real contender for the national title.