The San Diego State Aztecs finished their historic 2019-20 season with an astonishing 30-2 record. After starting the season 26-0, the final six games were a bit rough, nevertheless, this was a season Aztecs fans will never forget.
After making the NCAA Tournament in coach Brian Dutcher’s first season, the Aztecs had higher expectations for a team that definitely underperformed in 2018-19, finishing 21-13 and losing in the Mountain West Championship game to Utah State, falling short of the tournament.
It all changed in the offseason after the crushing loss when the Aztecs picked up two grad-transfers in Yanni Wetzell from Vanderbilt and KJ Feagin from Santa Clara, along with the Washington State transfer who sat the bench in 2019, Malachi Flynn.
These three ended up being the three most productive players on the 2019-20 team, and combined, were responsible for over 51% of the team’s scoring. Flynn finished a finalist for Player of the Year Award and a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, along with many first and second-team All-American honors. Each of these three made either Mountain West first or second-team and played a huge part in the Aztecs’ success.
After a Mountain West regular-season record-setting divisional 17-1 regular-season record, who knows how far this special team could have gone into the tournament? They finished with a 30-2 record, no. 6 in the AP Poll, and first-place in the Mountain West regular season before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the season to come to an abrupt halt.
Many say that San Diego State had its best season in the 99-year basketball history of the school, but others say that the 2010-11 team was better. Well for one, this Aztecs team had far more depth and more of a well-rounded skill set compared to the 2011 season which was, for the most part, the Kawhi Leonard show.
The 2020 Aztecs team even broke a few more records than the famed 2011 team. The 2020 team started off 26-0 compared to the 2011 team that started 20-0, which until this year was a school record. They also tied for the highest AP ranking with no. 4 and suffered even fewer losses than the 2011 team.
After an absolutely outstanding season, the team’s hopes of playing in the NCAA Tournament were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and gave a very bitter ending to the players that had their last season cut short in what could have been a very special run.
With coach Brian Dutcher a favorite to win the National Coach of the Year Award, and All-American Malachi Flynn on the court for nearly the entire game, who knows how far the team could have gone into the tournament.
With the seniors unlikely to get another year of eligibility and no chance of March Madness being played at a later date, the 2019-20 San Diego State basketball squad will ultimately be remembered for what could’ve been, instead of what did happen.