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No. 6 seed San Diego State (23-4, 14-3 Mountain West) will play No. 11 seed Syracuse (16-9, 9-7 Atlantic Coast) on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Aztecs and the Orange haven’t played each other since 2012, when they opened the season in a game on the deck of the USS Midway. 

The Daily Orange talked with Mark Zeigler, who covers SDSU basketball for The San Diego Union-Tribune, to learn more about the Aztecs.

The Daily Orange: How similar is this San Diego State team to the one that was headed toward a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in last year’s tournament?

Mark Zeigler: Many pieces returned from last year’s team, just not the most important ones. Three starters are gone, most notably Malachi Flynn (Toronto Raptors) and the PNR threat he brought. They also lost their starting big man and maybe the best perimeter defender on the West Coast. While maybe not as talented, this year’s team is just that: a team. They are unselfish to a fault sometimes, and coaches have to tell players to shoot more often than tell them to shoot less. The biggest similarities are that they’re old (starting four seniors and a junior), are committed to defense and have a winning culture, which sound like cliches but are genuinely part of this program’s DNA. They’re 53-6 over the last two years. Only Gonzaga has won more.

D.O.: What is San Diego State’s biggest weakness that could potentially be exploited?

M.Z.: Earlier in the season, it was the offense. But that changed in mid-January after a pair of losses at Utah State. They started to run more and attack in the halfcourt, and their offensive numbers have climbed since. According to one metric, they rank 22nd nationally in offensive efficiency during their 14-game win streak. They have struggled at times on the boards and can be susceptible to surrendering offensive rebounds. And there’s always the chance of an off-shooting night from streaky shooters. But they’re a tough, veteran team that doesn’t beat themselves.

D.O.: What’s changed for SDSU in this 14-game winning streak after its slow start to the season?

M.Z.: The big thing is they lost. Twice. That ended a 13-game, 667-day road winning streak, the longest in the nation, and then a 48-game streak of not having consecutive losses. That’s as many losses in three days as they had in 32 games last season. These guys hate losing, and that triggered a series of meetings among players and coaches. They retooled their offensive mentality. They also got good news when they learned Matt Mitchell, their top player, had not torn ligaments in his knee and would miss just two weeks instead of the rest of the season. Another factor: A soft schedule, allowing them to gain confidence that they carried into more difficult games at the end of the regular season and conference tournament. The defense was always elite. What changed most was the offensive aggression and the emergence of point guard Trey Pulliam as a scoring threat.

D.O.: How do the Aztecs matchup with the Syracuse 2-3 zone, and how have they fared against other zones this year or in recent seasons?

M.Z.: They have actually played very little against zones this season. The last (and only) team to zone them for 40 minutes was Air Force for two games in mid-January, but that was a 3-2 matchup, and Air Force doesn’t have nearly the size or athleticism of Syracuse. SDSU torched it, winning by 37 and 32. No one else has zoned them more than a possession or two, largely because of Jordan Schakel and Terrell Gomez – both of whom rank in the top 10 among active players in career 3-point accuracy. They shoot it well, and shoot it well past the line, which should force Syracuse to extend the zone farther than it wants.

D.O.: Who do you think wins on Friday night, and why?

M.Z.:I’ve learned long ago that the NCAA Tournament is an unpredictable beast. I really have no idea. The key to me might not be how well SDSU attacks the 2-3 zone. This is clearly not the (Jim) Boeheim zone of the past, and SDSU should get its points. The key might be at the other end of the floor and how well Syracuse shoots contested shots. Because they will be contested. Syracuse is bigger at most positions and will be able to shoot over the SDSU defenders. The question is whether they can still make them. Either way, I think it will be a close one.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Published on March 17, 2021 at 9:45 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo