Attending a game at Viejas Arena this season is not for the faint of heart.

For the second time this year, the Aztecs were dragged into a multiple-overtime slugfest, this time narrowly avoiding a historic meltdown with a 110–107 triple-overtime victory over conference rival Boise State in a game with massive Mountain West implications.

From the opening tip, San Diego State looked unstoppable. The Aztecs controlled both ends of the floor in the first half, shooting a blistering 65.5% from the field while holding Boise State to just 33.3%. Every possession felt inevitable, as if the Broncos had no answers for the pace, pressure and precision of the Aztecs’ attack.

Pharaoh Compton set the tone early, delivering a dominant first half with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. His ferocious dunks sent shockwaves through Viejas Arena, energizing a crowd that felt the team they had been waiting for all season had finally arrived. It was the first time all year the Aztecs truly looked like the team projected to dominate the Mountain West in the preseason.

By halftime, SDSU held a commanding 21-point lead. A lead that looked insurmountable for the visiting Boise State Broncos. But head coach Brian Dutcher knew better.

“When we were ahead at halftime, I told the guys, if we were down 21, I would feel we were still in the game. And trust me, they do too.” He said, “They’re a good team, and it’s a game of runs, so they’re going to go on a run.”

That warning quickly became prophecy.

Boise State stormed out of the locker room and flipped the script in the second half, overwhelming the Aztecs with relentless offense and physical defense. The Broncos shot 58% from the field after halftime, while SDSU went ice-cold, managing just 38.5%.

Possession by possession, the once-comfortable lead vanished. What had looked like a blowout turned into disbelief as Boise State erased the deficit, forcing overtime in what was a shocking collapse by the Aztecs.

And the momentum didn’t stop there.

Boise State continued to assert control in overtime, pushing the Aztecs to the brink. SDSU trailed by six late in the period before Elzie Harrington, who finished the night with 20 points, knocked down a clutch shot to cut the deficit to three with just 10.8 seconds remaining.

Still, the outlook was grim. The Aztecs had no timeouts. Boise State had possession. The arena had started to empty as fans saw the writing on the wall. 

Their season appeared to be slipping away.

Then BJ Davis happened.

On Boise State’s long inbound attempt, Davis jumped the passing lane and picked off the ball at three-quarter court. What followed was the defining sequence of the season. Davis pushed the ball up the floor, found himself one-on-one at the top of the arc, crossed his defender, rose from just beyond the Aztec logo, and buried a cold-blooded three to tie the game with 0.4 seconds remaining.

“I knew we needed a three,” said Davis after the game. “And so I kind of just was kind of seeing how he was going to guard me. And so I went to the right, and I was watching how he played it. So I went back left, seeing he gave me a little space, and I pulled it.”

Davis finished the night with a monster performance. With 22 points, six assists, 10 rebounds and four steals, he was the driving force behind the Aztecs on both ends of the floor. He was the best player on the court when it mattered most, keeping San Diego State alive when all hope seemed lost.

Despite the heroics, anxiety hung thick inside Viejas Arena. Fans and players alike flashed back to earlier in the season, when SDSU suffered a crushing double-overtime loss to Troy. No one wanted history to repeat itself.

In the second overtime, it was freshman guard Elzie Harrington who once again stepped into the spotlight, scoring the Aztecs’ first two baskets of the period, including one that came off a massive steal on a Boise State inbounds pass.

“My shot was just the one going in,” said Harrington, “I’m grateful my coaches trust me to be in the game to make plays, especially in a competitive game like that.”

Still, even Harrington’s clutch performance wasn’t enough to deliver the knockout blow. Boise State refused to fade, sending the game into a third overtime, the first such game in Viejas Arena history.

This time, the Aztecs were determined that there would be no fourth.

The third overtime was, once again, a pure fistfight. San Diego State found themselves face down on the mat, quickly falling behind by five. But with 3:35 remaining, Jeremiah Oden drilled a massive three to stop the bleeding. Moments later, Miles Heide took over in the paint, scoring back-to-back buckets with elegant footwork to swing the momentum back to the Aztecs.

After late free throws, SDSU found itself up three in the final seconds as Boise State advanced with one last chance to tie. But the Aztecs delivered their strongest defensive stand of the night, and the ball ended up in the hands of BJ Davis as the final horn sounded.

Escape complete. Disaster avoided. 

The Aztecs survived, avoiding what could have been one of the most devastating losses in program history and delivering a game that will be remembered for years.

“Instant classic,” a relieved head coach Brian Dutcher said after the game.

Those words are the only way to describe what unfolded at Viejas Arena.

Yet beneath the excitement of an unforgettable night lies a lingering concern. This game once again exposed the central issue SDSU has wrestled with all season: inconsistency.

Thirteen games into the year, the Aztecs have shown stretches where they look capable of beating anyone in the country, and stretches where they resemble a team fighting to survive the Mountain West. The same squad that went toe-to-toe with No. 1 Arizona for an entire half is the same team that squandered a 24-point lead at home against Boise State and lost to Troy at home as massive favorites. That level of inconsistency is unsustainable and will prove costly if left uncorrected.

Dutcher knows it, and he knows where it starts.

“We’re still seeking a level of consistency, and it has to come in practice first. We have to practice better consistently.” He said. “We have to be more consistent with how we approach every day and how we play every game.”

Now, San Diego State turns the page, hoping to carry the dominance of the first half, and not the collapse that followed, into its next test. The Aztecs head to Reno for a road matchup against Nevada on Jan. 6, searching for consistency and hoping that an “instant classic” can become a turning point rather than a warning sign.