Aztecs notes: Extra COVID precautions for trip to Las Vegas

After San Diego State plays at UNLV on Wednesday night, players and coaches will board buses for the lonesome five-hour ride home through the desert.

That’s right. Buses, plural.

With their ranking in The Associated Press poll up to No. 19 and their computer metrics all in the top 20, the Aztecs seemingly have done enough on the court to warrant an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Now the task is to make sure they’re not left out for off-the-court reasons.

Already, SDSU has some of the most stringent COVID-19 protocols in its conference and maybe any conference. The Aztecs didn’t go home for Christmas. They eat in their hotel rooms on the road. They double-mask on flights. They’re careful whom they associate with outside the program. And they’ve gone since September without a positive case and not being the cause of any missed games.

But the regular-season finale in Las Vegas is a week before the conference tournament, and that’s a week before the NCAA Tournament. An outbreak now could wipe out both.

“We’re doing a lot more from that standpoint,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “We know in (less than) two weeks, Selection Sunday is here. So we’re going to do everything in our power not to risk a pause, because the big picture is the NCAA Tournament.

“We want to do everything we’re capable of doing to keep these kids safe, healthy and ready for the NCAA Tournament.”

It is why Dutcher was critical of the Mountain West playing makeup games this week, putting eight of the 11 teams on the road and potentially increasing their exposure to the virus.

Busing home from Las Vegas saves them a night in a hotel, since there aren’t flights that late and the Aztecs generally don’t charter. The two buses put 12 people on each, allowing more than 6 feet of distancing and reducing the chances of others being quarantined by contact tracing if someone tests positive.

They’ll also give players their own rooms in Las Vegas instead of two to a room.

Starting Saturday, they’ll test every day instead of three times per week — part of the NCAA Tournament’s requirement before arriving in Indianapolis, where the entire 68-team event will be based. The Aztecs will stay in Las Vegas after the Mountain West Tournament and fly directly to Indy from there.

“There’s a lot of hard work that’s been put into this year, especially this year,” senior Jordan Schakel said. “It’s been extremely hard on everyone involved. The fun comes in winning this year, so we just have to keep that going.”

Aztecs climb to No. 19

Six weeks ago, after SDSU was swept at Utah State and received no votes in The Associated Press basketball poll, a return to its mid-December high of 18th seemed unlikely.

The Aztecs are almost there. Ten straight wins later, they are No. 19 in the latest Top 25 released Monday morning (and No. 21 in the USA Today coaches poll). They are 18th in the NCAA’s NET and Sagarin ratings, and 20th in both Kenpom and ESPN’s BPI.

“Over the past two years, we’ve been really hard to beat,” Dutcher said Saturday after a 62-58 win against Boise State. “We’re 49-6 over the past two years. As much as everybody loved last year’s team, this year’s team is very special. They’re a joy to coach, and hopefully our best basketball is ahead of us.”

Only two of the 63 voters left the Aztecs off their ballots. Two put them at No. 13, two at 14 and two more at 15.

It helped that the previously No. 22 Aztecs swept a two-game series from Boise State, which entered the week in first place in the Mountain West. It also helped that 18 teams above them lost a combined 21 times in an absolutely wild week for the Top 25. Fifteen came against unranked opposition.

The Aztecs passed USC, which lost twice and fell from 19th to out of the Top 25; Virginia Tech, which went from 16th to 22nd after losing to unranked Georgia Tech; and Virginia, which tumbled from 15th to 21st following a home loss against unranked North Carolina State.

They also passed Loyola Chicago, which was one spot above them last week. Oklahoma State was the only team to leapfrog them, going from unranked to 17th after a pair of wins over ranked teams in the Big 12.

Starting five

Dutcher started all five seniors in their final home game Saturday, although all five could return next season under the NCAA’s offer to grant everyone an extra year of eligibility. That means Maryland grad transfer Joshua Tomaic started for the first time this season in place of Nathan Mensah.

Looks like it was a one-game deal, even as well as Tomaic played (seven points, 3-of-3 shooting, three key offensive rebounds and two blocks in 19 minutes).

“I think I’ll move Nathan back into the lineup (at UNLV) because he’s been there all year,” Dutcher said, “and I think Josh is comfortable coming off the bench. It’s a reversal of roles, so I don’t want to have that drastic a reversal right now down the stretch.”

KJ in Bulgaria

Former SDSU guard KJ Feagin has played two games, and played well, after signing his first pro contract with Bulgaria’s BC Beroe.

He had 11 points and three assists in 25 minutes last Wednesday in an 87-83 win at Macedonia’s TFT Skopje in the Balkan League. Three days later in the Bulgaria’s national league, he had 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a team-high 31 minutes of an 87-72 home win against Spartak Pleven.

The regular season finishes April 17, followed by playoffs. Beroe last reached the finals in 2017.