Every week The Daily Aztec will help San Diego State University fans get ready for the upcoming sports schedule with the Midweek Preview. Here is the calendar of Aztec athletics events for this week, all event times are in Pacific Standard Time:
Thursday, Dec. 1
Women’s Basketball (6-1) at UC San Diego (2-4), 7 p.m.
Led by Mountain West Player of the Week senior Yummy Morris, the Aztecs’ six-game winning streak is their longest since the 2012-13 season. Morris had a season-high 19 points in the 70-36 win against Seattle on Friday. This will be the fourth meeting all-time against UC San Diego (SDSU leads the series 2-1) and the second since the Tritons joined D-I. Preseason All-Big West graduate student guard/forward Sydney Brown leads UCSD, averaging 14.7 points and 6.8 rebounds, while redshirt senior guard Emily Cangelosi earned a Big West Player of the Week nod earlier this season and is shooting 46.2% from downtown.
Friday, Dec. 2
No. 24/24 Men’s Basketball (6-2) vs Occidental College (2-1), Viejas Arena, 7 p.m.
SDSU returned to the mainland with a dramatic 72-69 win over UC Irvine on a left-corner three by junior Micah Parrish with 2.2 seconds remaining. Senior Natham Mensah had a team-high 18 points and 6 rebounds to go with Parrish’s bench-best 9 points as the Aztecs stopped a two-game losing skid. D-III Occidental College returns all five of their leading scorers from a team that went 10-16 last season and 3-13 in the SCIAC. This is the first time the teams have played since the 2010-11 season, SDSU regularly faced the Tigers during the late-1920s through early-1950s and holds the all-time series edge at 25-8.
Sunday, Dec. 4
Women’s Basketball at San Francisco (5-2), Chase Center, 2:30 p.m.
Defense has been key for San Diego State’s start as they rank top-20 in the NCAA in points allowed, field goal percent defense and steals per game. Though seniors Mercedes Staples, Morris and Sophia Ramos all average double-digits in points per game, eight different Aztecs have hit that mark in a game this season. USF is riding a three-game winning streak and will be at CSUN on Thursday before meeting SDSU at the home of the Golden State Warriors. Redshirt junior guard Ioanna Kimili is the current West Coast Conference Player of the Week and leads the Dons averaging 18.0 points while knocking down a team-best 22 threes.
Monday, Dec. 5
No. 24/24 Men’s Basketball vs Troy (6-2), Viejas Arena, 7 p.m.
The Aztecs currently have six players averaging eight or more points per game, with seniors Darrion Trammell at 13.1 and Matt Bradley at 11.5 leading the way. Trammell and junior guard Lamont Butler are both averaging 3.4 assists per game, helping the team to the Mountain West’s third best assist to turnover ratio thus far. Troy is off to their best start since the 2002-03 season, with a trio of guards leading the way in scoring. Senior Phillips Nelson averages 14.6, sophomore Duke Miles 14.0 and junior Christyon Eugene 12.1 points per game for the Trojans, who were picked to finish tenth in the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
