2023 Final Four: San Diego State rides formula of defense, physicality, toughness

HOUSTON — The sweat was sliding down Nathan Mensah's face. He was in a daze, trying to figure out when it would end. The former four-star recruit out of Findlay Prep in Nevada had never experienced anything like his first practice as a San Diego State Aztec.

"When we first came in, we were told that we had practice at 12," Mensah said when recalling his freshman year in 2018. "We had 30 minutes of defensive practice before the seniors joined us, which made me think, ‘are we going to do this the whole day? Just defense?' Lo and behold, we did 90 minutes of defense, and I was like, I've signed up to something different."

That "something" is what led Mensah and his teammates to the podium inside NRG Stadium in Houston on Thursday, as San Diego State addressed the media ahead of the program's biggest moment, the Aztecs' first appearance in the Final Four.

That "something" is a relentless defensive nature set by sixth-year head coach Brian Dutcher, who was previously the right-hand man to head coach Steve Fisher at SDSU since 1999 before taking over for his boss in 2017. In three of the last four years, the Aztecs have ranked in the top 10 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency. It's led to no shortage of winning.

"I got here a while ago, and I can tell you my first practice was stressful and hard," said Adam Seiko, a 25-year-old guard in his sixth year at San Diego State. "We were practicing for two and a half hours per day, and when I first got to this school, you could tell the message was defense, physicality and toughness. From day one, when we started the preseason, that's our identity. It's been that all along, and it gets you prepared for the games."

It's an identity that has helped the Aztecs come out on top in close games. Three out of their four victories in the Big Dance have come by seven points or fewer, the latest being a dramatic 57-56 victory over Creighton on a last-second foul call and Darrion Trammell's game-winning free throw. San Diego State is unflappable. The outside noise is that they win ugly, or that it's not aesthetically pleasing basketball. But hey, much like Tony Bennett and Virginia in 2019, the Aztecs don't care about that because all it's done is led to winning.

The gutsy DNA of this program originates inside the Aztecs' facility, in sharp contrast to the sunshine of San Diego.

Leading scorer Matt Bradley, a fifth-year senior guard who transferred into SDSU in 2021 after three seasons at Cal, learned that the hard way.

"At my last school, I was throwing my weight around and thinking I could just bully everybody, but coming here, there's a bunch of other grown men," the 23-year-old said. "They put me in check instantly, coming to play against guys like Keshad and Nate and Darrion, we get into little tie-ups here and there. Transferring here was an adjustment as far as physicality and understanding nothing is personal."

An error occurred while retrieving the Tweet. It might have been deleted.

Dutcher's goal? To pull no punches, and establish what the program is the moment he meets with his players.

"It starts when you recruit them," said the 63-year-old, who entered this NCAA Tournament looking for his first win in the dance in his six years at the helm. "If you don't want to play defense, then we're not the place for you. But if you do defend, we'll let you play with great freedom offensively. That's what we are. So when they get there, they're not having success, even though they're scoring, it's like, ‘Hey, we told you, defense first. And you have to defend in order to earn an opportunity to play offense. It's a culture. It's something we've always preached. And I think we're pretty good at it."

The Aztecs, who have gone underappreciated nationally, are now getting their due. Since the start of the 2009-10 season, San Diego State is 363-115 (.759), owning the fifth-best record in the country. Since 2019-20, the Aztecs are 107-22, a record that trails only Gonzaga and Houston, and is ahead of the last two national champions, Baylor and Kansas.

While defense has always been the constant, offensive freedom has come to fruition this season because of the impact of transfers like Trammell (Seattle), Bradley (Cal), Jaedon LeDee (TCU) and Micah Parrish (Oakland). The best reflection of the different options for this SDSU team: The Aztecs have had four different leading scorers in the four tournament victories.

Dutcher utilized the portal really well, and by not over-relying on one piece of the puzzle, it has led to this team evolving and having multiple ways to win. The vision that he and Fisher had when they arrived in 1999 is now coming to fruition.

"From the day we stepped on campus, we believed if we did what we were supposed to do, we could make a Final Four, that we could win a national championship," Dutcher said. "We believed it could happen. Some people might say it was a fantasy, but obviously we're sitting here today. Culture is 24 years in one place. That's where I've been. That's culture."

An error occurred while retrieving the Tweet. It might have been deleted.

With 9-seed Florida Atlantic standing between the Aztecs and a national championship game appearance, the mentality remains the same.

"If you think you're good enough now and you can't get any better, don't get off the bus," Dutcher said. "We have another level to go. And even today, the message was "if you don't think we can get better at practice today, then don't practice."

Bradley and his teammates did practice, and are ready for what lies ahead on Saturday.

"We face a lot of adversity in practice just battling with each other, trying to get better," Bradley said. "When it does come to game time, it's like we go so much harder because it's an opponent we don't have to hang out afterwards or be friends with."

Instead of making friends, the Aztecs have been winning those wars, and sending people home.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.

Read more: