The madness that is college basketball returned to Viejas Arena on Nov. 4 as San Diego State men’s basketball opened up its season against Long Beach State.
Both teams last met on Nov. 24, 2023, when SDSU took care of business, securing an 88-76 victory and extending its previous win streak against the Beach to eight.
Last night’s result saw no difference as the Aztecs sealed a statement 77-45 victory, opening up the 2025-26 season in the proper manner by keeping that streak alive. The Aztecs also welcomed back a familiar face in the Beach’s head coach, Chris Acker, who spent five years (2019-2024) as an assistant coach with the Aztecs.
“Acker’s a good coach, that’s why I knew today would be a challenge,” head coach Brian Dutcher said in a postgame press conference. “I wanted to make sure we were on edge and ready to play.”
The Aztecs’ first bucket of the year came off a pass from senior guard Sean Newman Jr. through a tight window to junior forward Miles Heide for an easy finish at the rim. Following the early basket, there was sloppy offensive play on both sides, including an early three-point celebration from Long Beach State guard Christian Jones, who missed off the back rim.
Junior guard Miles Byrd got himself involved early after snagging an aggressive offensive rebound, then finding himself open in the left corner for a three. Freshman forward Tae Simmons made his presence known on back-to-back possessions, finishing through contact for an and-1 then knocking down a contested corner triple.
“We got to be everyday guys and with being everyday guys, we got to be 40-minute guys … not taking any minutes off,” Byrd said postgame.
Long Beach State was forced to call a timeout after a string of offensive and defensive possessions that got the Mesa on their feet. Byrd found junior guard BJ Davis open on the right wing for a three-pointer, followed by a trap in transition that led to a fastbreak dunk by junior forward Jeremiah Oden that brought the crowd to life.
The Beach came out of the break with energy and drive, as they went on a 7-0 run to take the lead over SDSU, 18-17. But the lead was erased in an instant as the other freshman found his first collegiate points, with a corner three from guard Elzie Harrington.
Byrd extended the lead to 10 for the Aztecs, coming off eight straight points in three consecutive possessions. After a poised finish with contact, he found himself wide open on the right wing in back-to-back possessions and found the bottom of the net on both.
“I love the crowd, I mean, first time really playing good minutes back home in a while,” Byrd said. “Just playing within the game and having them go in this time.”
Despite the solo run, the moment of the half came from an emphatic one-handed dunk by Harrington that shook all of Viejas to its core. Immediately following the highlight play was another strong slam in transition, this time from sophomore forward Pharaoh Compton.
Finishing the first half on a 23-7 run, the Aztecs’ defense shows that it remains at an elite level, as Long Beach State goes into the break shooting 35.7% from the field and 23.1% from three. SDSU held a 15-point advantage, leading 40-25.
“We picked up 94 feet today, that’s what we always do here,” Heide said. “Being able to pressure them and get them on their toes … we were able to force some turnovers.”
The defensive prowess remained true coming into the second half, after Newman Jr. pinned a potentially easy layup off the backboard.
With 16 minutes left in the game, Byrd limped off the court and headed to the locker room, appearing to have gotten a cramp. However, he would check back into the game two minutes later and instantly blocked a layup into the crowd.
The freshman duo continued to look like veteran hoopers, as Harrington found Simmons left alone on a backdoor cut for an alley-oop slam.
“They were great. I’ve been told it was the first double-digit performance for freshmen since Jeremy Hemsley scored 20 against Illinois State,” Dutcher said. “And so we had two freshmen hit double figures today.”
Byrd found sophomore guard Taj DeGourville in transition for a three-pointer to give the Aztecs a 25-point lead, their largest of the night thus far. Another triple from Harrington marked the moment when fans began to head for the parking lot, signifying that a blowout victory was in the near future.
With just four minutes left in the game, SDSU built its lead to 30 and coasted its way to a season-opening win, with a final score of 77-45.
“It starts with our defense, obviously, we call it ‘three stops in a row kills,’” Heide said. “That’s what we strive for and our defense is being able to get stops and make defense our offense.”
The Scarlet and Black will be back in Viejas Arena to keep the early success rolling on Nov. 9 in a matchup against Idaho State at 2 p.m.
