After almost seven months of anticipation, San Diego State men’s basketball has arrived once again.
The Scarlet and Black welcomed their first opponent into Viejas Arena for the 2025-26 season— the No. 12 UCLA Bruins. Although this matchup is only considered an exhibition, the seats were flooded, and the energy was overwhelming.
What was once a closed scrimmage is now open to spectators, after the NCAA adopted the new rule on Jan. 15 that Division I programs are permitted to hold exhibition games in front of fans. All proceeds from the game will go to the San Diego State Men’s Basketball Recruitment and Retention Fund.
SDSU fought hard in a gritty preseason matchup against the Bruins, but ultimately came up short in a 67-60 defeat on Friday night at Viejas Arena.
The Aztecs came out flat, letting up two easy layups to star senior guards Skyy Clark and Donovan Dent, followed by a wide-open three on the left wing from senior forward Tyler Bilodeau. After six early turnovers and a lack of defensive prowess, SDSU was forced to call a timeout just four minutes into the game, trailing 9-0.
A couple of towering blocks from junior guard Miles Byrd and freshman forward Tae Simmons got the crowd energized, yet they found themselves in a steep 17-0 deficit.
“You can tell we were a little nervous at the start,” head coach Brian Dutcher said in a postgame press conference. “The two things I put on the board offensively were turnovers and play with pace…21 turnovers against a good UCLA team is tough to come back from.”
The Aztecs’ first points of the season came from senior guard Sean Newman Jr., knocking down a three-pointer from the left wing. After nearly eight minutes of standing and clapping, the Mesa roared for their team and was able to take a seat.
Senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters finished a contested layup for his first bucket since returning from injury. The crowd erupted after the long-awaited moment.
“He played his game, and Reese is at his best when he lets the game come to him,” Dutcher said. “He moved the ball, and then when he found opportunities, he took advantage of them.”
Clark tallied on a three and a putback dunk consecutively to extend the Bruins’ lead to 18, with just under six minutes until halftime. The remainder of the first half was fairly competitive with back-and-forth scoring. Although Dixon-Waters and sophomore guard Taj DeGourville added on a few buckets, SDSU ultimately found themselves down 39-23 heading into the break.
The Aztecs struggled to put the ball in the basket, shooting just 26.9% from the field and 20% from beyond the arc. Adding on 14 total turnovers, SDSU needed a major spark from both sides of the floor for a comeback to be manageable.
Dixon-Waters wasted no time getting the Aztecs on the board by hitting a deep two-pointer from the left corner coming into the second half.
“It was a lot of fun to play, to finally be back with some of the guys from last year and all the new guys,” Dixon-Waters said. “As fun as it was scoring, I still wanted to win the game.”
Byrd secured his first points of the game with a crafty contested layup, followed by an assist through a tight gap to sophomore forward Pharoah Compton. Dixon-Waters added a deep three from the left wing to cut the deficit to 10, the smallest deficit since the opening few minutes.
Both freshmen guard Elzie Harrington and forward Tae Simmons secured their first points of their collegiate career in back-to-back possessions.
“They looked like they belonged out there,” Dutcher expressed, referring to the freshmen faces. “They didn’t look like they were scared at all. They’re good players.”
The tension filled the arena after junior guard BJ Davis finished a floater to bring the Bruin’s lead to just nine.
The momentum for the Aztecs grew stronger as senior forward Jeremiah Oden finished an aggressive fastbreak dunk, coming off a deflected pass. But just one possession later, DeGourville finished an and-1 layup to make it a one-possession game, filling Viejas with echoing roars.
“I liked how we were able to rally, come back and stay together,” DeGourville said. “[But] we need to do better at turnovers for sure.
A few empty possessions found the Aztecs back down by 11 with 2:49 left to play. Despite a solid effort to get back into the game, it was too late for the Scarlet and Black as they fell short to the Bruins with a final score of 67-60.
Dixon-Waters led the way for SDSU on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor and 3-for-8 from the three-point line. Despite the loss, Coach Dutcher expressed that this matchup served its purpose as they contended with a top-15 team in the nation, even after finding themselves down by 20 points.
“That’s why we play UCLA every year, because we both know what each program is capable of and both teams guard at a high level,” Dutcher said. “Instead of just scoring at will against some opponents, that makes no sense.”
The Aztecs will host the University of San Diego in their next exhibition game on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at Viejas Arena.
