San Diego State and the Mountain West reign supreme once again. The Aztecs were named the No. 1 team in our preseason Other Top 25 on Monday. Now, Miles Byrd was selected as the best mid-major player heading into this season.
Byrd received 36% of the vote in our survey. Utah State’s Mason Falslev came in second with 28%. Aidan Mahaney, from UC Santa Barbara, came in third with 16%. Belmont sharpshooter Tyler Lundblade tallied 12%, and Yale’s Nick Townsend picked up 8%.
Byrd averaged 12.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 83% from the line last season for SDSU, who continued its streak of five straight NCAA Tournament appearances. The Stockton, Calif., native ranked top 10 in the Mountain West in steals, free throw percentage and blocks and was named the MW preseason player of the year.
For those of you who love quirky stats, here are two: Byrd was the only player in the nation who shot 38.1% from the floor, 30.1% from 3-point range, 83.2% from the line, to go along with tallying 82 assists, 64 steals and 32 blocks. All this was apparent in the Aztecs’ win over Colorado State on Jan. 14. He became the first player in MW history to have a game with at least 25 points, five 3-pointers, seven steals and six rebounds.
He is one of a star-studded returning class for San Diego State as three of its top four scorers back. The Aztecs rank 30th in KenPom and 45th in BartTorvik in the preseason.
Falslev was a statsheet stuffer for the Aggies last season. He secured 15 points on 50% shooting, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals a game – all of marks that ranked top 10 in the Mountain West.
Mahaney returns to the mid-major ranks after playing at UConn. The former Saint Mary’s star posted 13.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in two seasons with the Gaels. Lundblade led the nation at 48% shooting from 3-point land last season for Belmont. Townsend registered 15.4 points on 52.9% shooting, 7.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game a season ago for Yale.
The season begins on Monday. So, get your popcorn ready.
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