KenPom Rankings update: San Diego State chasing New Mexico, Utah State
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Following a week that included a win over Fresno State and a loss to Utah State, San Diego State remains at No. 42 in the KenPom college basketball rankings.
The Aztecs left no doubt in Tuesday’s blowout of Fresno State and battled back to lead multiple times at Utah State on Saturday before losing 79-71.
The KenPom Rankings continue to have New Mexico as the top team in the Mountain West Conference. The Lobos lead the conference standings by half a game ahead of tomorrow’s trip to San Diego.
New Mexico comes in at No. 37 in the KenPom Rankings while Utah State (No. 41), San Diego State (No. 42) and Boise State (No. 48) are the next closest teams in the conference. Colorado State (18-9, 12-4), who sits in third place in the league standings, comes in at No. 63 in the rankings.
Tomorrow’s game between New Mexico and San Diego State from Viejas Arena in San Diego is likely to determine the conference regular season standings. New Mexico has not won the regular season title in the Mountain West since the 2013 season while Utah State has eyes on repeating as champions. However, the Lobos are the reigning Mountain West Conference Tournament champions.
Regardless of New Mexico’s result on Tuesday night, Utah State has its own challenges to deal with over the final two weeks of the regular season. The Aggies are at Boise State on Wednesday night, where only one team has won all season. They’ll hit the road for a trip to Colorado State on Saturday where the Rams continue to fly below the radar but have shown to be competitive among the league’s best teams.
After hosting New Mexico on Tuesday, San Diego State will head to Wyoming and UNLV before closing out the regular season against Nevada on March 8 at Viejas Arena.
San Diego State (18-7, 11-5) lost standout forward Magoon Gwath to a knee injury in the early minutes of Saturday’s loss, forcing the Aztecs to switch around their rotation for the final 36 minutes of the game. The Aztecs trailed by 14 in the later part of the first half before a run that saw them take the lead in the early minutes of the second half. San Diego State grabbed a four-point lead with less than four minutes to play before Utah State posted a 14-0 run, led by senior guard Ian Martinez.
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-770033d1c5c4820fdbde4ecf2452e810.jpg "Bodie De Silva")
Bodie DeSilva has been covering sports in San Diego for more than a decade. He previously covered San Diego State athletics for Scout/Fox Sports.