San Diego State intent on beginning, finishing strong

In lapping the Mountain West basketball field and finishing three games in front of the closest competition last season, San Diego State again asserted itself as the class of the conference.

But it’s a down conference, and the Aztecs paid the price when they failed to win the league tournament.

So even with an RPI ranking of 40th, the Aztecs were sent to the National Invitation Tournament. San Diego State advanced to the final four before finishing 28-10 record (16-2 MW).

Now as the Mountain West favorite this season, the Aztecs hope to begin (no repeat losses to schools such as San Diego) and finish strong (win the conference tournament).

“Hopefully, we will remember history and make sure we don’t repeat it and know the importance of every game, not just big games,” coach Steve Fisher said. “We won’t have to talk about it a lot, and hopefully we will circle teams that we play this year that beat us last year and circle them again and say, ‘We’re not going to let that happen.’”

San Diego State returns three starters, including 6-foot-4-inch junior guard Trey Kell, a preseason all-conference selection who averaged 12.6 points last season.

The Aztecs also picked up 6-10 center Valentine Izundu, a graduate transfer from Washington State. They also will play two Division I transfers who redshirted last season — 6-6 sophomore guard Montaque Gill-Caesar from Missouri and 6-9 sophomore forward Max Hoetzel from Indiana.

Much also is expected of 6-9 freshman forward Jalen McDaniels.

The newcomers “bring a dimension that we haven’t had in a long time,” Kell said. “They all can stretch the floor really well, shoot the ball really well. That’s one thing we can use the most is shooting and scoring, so I feel like they’ll help us a lot this year.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.