NCAA Basketball: Purdue, Marquette rise in latest top 25 power ranking
By Joey Loose
24. San Diego State (5-1)
It’ll be hard for San Diego State to top what they accomplished last season, advancing to the national championship game, but the early weeks of this season have certainly been filled with drama. The Aztecs dropped a game at BYU in the opening week but have seen Jaedon LeDee emerge into one of the nation’s best player in recent games, which included a blowout of Saint Mary’s and more drama these past seven days.
Way back on Sunday the Aztecs secured the Continental Tire Main Event championship with a 100-97 overtime win against Washington. LeDee led the way with 34 points and 17 rebounds while fellow forward Elijah Saunders had 16 points and 8 rebounds. They needed overtime again on Saturday, surviving a thriller against Cal in the SoCal Showdown with a 76-67 victory. Reese Waters had 24 points and 7 rebounds while LeDee added 19 in another close win.
This past week wasn’t pretty, but the Aztecs pounded out a few more wins, and both over power conference opposition. They’ve done great work to this point in the season, though the defense still has some work to do to get back to recent levels of dominance. For now, these Aztecs have done enough and face Point Loma and UC San Diego in the week ahead, with their next big challenge a few weeks away.