No. 22 UCLA at SDSU
Records: Season opener
Series history: UCLA leads 16-6, but only seven have come in SDSU’s Div. I era and only one since 1991: a 78-69 Aztecs win on a neutral court in Anaheim in 2012.
Bruins update: They return all five starters from the back half of last season, when they closed 11-3 following a shaky start to the Mick Cronin era in Westwood. They also have three key bench players back, plus the addition of Kentucky transfer Johnny Juzang and a pair of highly rated freshmen. Total scoring returning: 88.8 percent. Rebounding: 86.2 percent. Assists: 91.3 percent. The biggest name is G Chris Smith, who, like SDSU’s Matt Mitchell, tentatively entered the NBA Draft before returning for his senior season. Smith was first team all-Pac-12 last season after averaging 13.1 points and shooting 45.8 percent. The rest of last year’s starters: 5-11 Tyger Campbell, 6-4 David Singleton, 6-6 Jaime Jaquez Jr. and 6-10 Jalen Hill. The bench is filled with 6-6 athletes. Cronin’s teams aren’t known for their thick playbook but mental toughness and defensive tenacity, going 18-1 last season when holding opponents under 74 points.
Aztecs update: The Aztecs have won 15 straight home openers, although none was against this caliber opponent or without fans. The game matches California’s top two programs in winning percentage over the past decade: SDSU at .752 and UCLA at .647. The Aztecs have played in seven of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, one more than the Bruins. The Aztecs are 8-2 in their last 10 games against Top 25 teams at Viejas Arena. Coach Brian Dutcher has kept the starting lineup a secret, although you’d expect Mitchell, Jordan Schakel and Nathan Mensah to be there after being regulars last season. Dutcher could go three or four different ways to fill the other two spots, depending whether he wants to play big or small. He could put a lineup on the floor that goes 6-3, 6-6, 6-6, 6-9 and 6-10, or one as small as 5-8, 6-0, 6-3, 6-6 and 6-6. Five members of the roster grew up in Southern California but weren’t recruited by UCLA. Schakel’s parents both are USC alums. Mitchell’s father is a lifelong Bruins fan.
Next up: vs. UC Irvine on Friday (4 p.m., streaming TBA)