San Diego State men’s basketball is back in full swing as they opened their 2024-25 campaign at Viejas Arena in a dominant 80-39 victory over Cal State San Marcos on Wednesday night.
“I thought it was a good dress rehearsal, to get all the new guys in front of a Viejas crowd,” head coach Brian Dutcher said. “Even though it was not sold out, it was loud, and we have great fans, so I hope they got an early look at our new Aztecs.”
Led by guard Nick Boyd’s game-high 18 points shooting, three Aztecs scored in double-figures. Boyd also added three rebounds and three assists to complete his performance. Guard Miles Byrd had 12 points on the court and was all over on defense with four steals and a block. Forward Pharaoh Compton was the third Aztecs to reach double-digit scores with 10 points.
Guard Wayne Mckinney III and guard BJ Davis both had nine points in the blowout victory while forward Magoon Gwath totaled seven points, four rebounds, and four blocks.
Davis spoke to the level of play he expects to be at with more expected playing time.
“I took a lot of time to really evaluate what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be,” Davis said. “So just with that, just coming out every day and working as hard as I can, that was really what I took from last year. So I’m gonna continue to do that, night in, night out.”
The Scarlet and Black immediately blanked the Cougars early on a 11-0 run with the defense recording two steals and two blocks before the media timeout. Boyd scored the first basket in front of the Aztec home crowd, knocking down a three-pointer from the wing while Cal State San Marcos couldn’t hit the basket for a near six minutes of play.
SDSU separated themselves on a 17-2 scoring run to further extend their lead to 23 points with a little over five minutes left remaining in the half.
A tip-in layup from Boyd made it a 46-19 score as the halftime buzzer sounded off by the break. At least seven Aztecs had points scored in the game sheet, led by Boyd’s 13. Defensively the Scarlet and Black forced 15 turnovers, among them were four blocks and eight steals. The Aztecs also held the Cougars to 30.6% shooting from the field through the first half.
“We take pride in our defense, and we work at it every day. It’s what we rely on,” coach Dutcher said. “Watching Lamont and Darrion and the guys that came before them, picking up things from them and then putting them to use when it was their turn. It’s their turn now, and so they’re ready for their moment. And I was happy with our defensive effort tonight for the most part.”
It was much of the same in the second half as they outscored San Marcos 11-4 to begin play, and their lead never dropped below 30 points from there on out.
The Aztecs recorded most of their second-half points within the paint, recording 22 of their 34 points in that time, compared to their 19-shot threes in the first half. The defense locked down the Cougars just as much in the first half and held San Marcos to 5-of-23 from the field and 0-for-7 from beyond the paint.
The Aztecs will begin regular season play next week as they host UC San Diego on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
