With March Madness inching closer, the Aztecs knew that every single result mattered when it came to conference play. With the goal of making a fifth straight appearance in the tournament, the Aztecs saw a perfect opportunity on Saturday night against Fresno State.
The Bulldogs were going through a rough stretch, having lost five of their last six games. Meanwhile, the Aztecs were hot off a wild triple overtime victory over Boise State and were aiming to continue their perfect run in conference play. Coming into Saturday’s game, San Diego State men’s basketball has notched 43 wins against the Bulldogs at home since the two joined the Mountain West, and the sellout crowd in black at Viejas Arena was hoping for a 44th.
The Aztecs delivered.
Sophomore forward Magoon Gwath got the scoring started with a tip-in. After a quick start, the Aztecs struggled to score but held Fresno State scoreless through the first seven and a half minutes. By the 12-minute mark, the Bulldogs found themselves in a 14-5 hole. They never got any closer as they struggled to figure out the Aztecs’ stout defense, shooting just 20% from the field in a dismal first half.
The Aztecs, for their part, had their own offensive struggles, hitting just under 40% from the field and coughing up several ugly turnovers. The home side would head to the locker room with a 36-21 lead at the end of a rough first half offensively.
In the second half, the Aztecs’ offense had no such struggles, and the lead quickly snowballed to
50-23 by the 15-minute mark. After that, the outcome was never seriously in doubt. The Aztecs led by as many as 29 points in the second half as they dominated Fresno State in virtually every statistical category.
Offensively, for the Bulldogs, the second half followed a similar script to the first 20 minutes, aside from a brief run towards the end of the second half. They struggled to create chances against the Aztecs, turning over the ball 17 times. The Aztecs overpowered the Bulldogs in the paint, 38-18, and on the offensive glass, grabbing 12 offensive rebounds to the Bulldogs’ three.
The Bulldogs shot just 28% from three-point range. The Aztecs never once trailed in the contest, leading the game from start to finish. The Aztecs played like a well-oiled machine both offensively and defensively for most of the game.
“I think we’ve been growing a lot, especially on the defensive end and our attention to detail with little things like rebounding, not gambling as much, and playing together as a team,” senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters reflected postgame.
Towards the end of the second half, the Bulldogs finally seemed to have figured out a way to make some inroads against the Aztecs’ defense, but it wouldn’t matter. The Aztecs’ 71-52 victory was capped off by an emphatic Miles Byrd putback dunk and a Sean Newman corner three in the dying moments of the second half. Gwath led the Aztecs with his best game of the year, contributing 18 points and 8 rebounds, followed by Dixon-Waters with 10 points of his own.
Over the past few weeks, the Aztecs made sure to work on not just technique but also mental fortitude.
“My job is not just the Xs and Os, but to get them to fight through these tough moments, and get them out there to play good San Diego State Basketball,” head coach Brian Dutcher said postgame.
Both Gwath and Dixon-Waters also reflected on overcoming earlier mental struggles, with Gwath saying, “Yeah, I just want to go out there, play hard, and have fun every game.”
“We played a good three quarters of basketball,” coach Dutcher said, lamenting the number of missed opportunities and how the team let the Bulldogs go on a small run towards the end of the second half. But, overall, he praised the team’s efforts, Gwath in particular.
“The better he is, the better we are,” Dutcher said of Gwath.
When asked if he expected Gwath’s monster performance, Dixon-Waters chuckled, “Yeah, I’ve expected it all season.”
Gwath’s breakout game couldn’t come at a better time for the team as the Aztecs go deep into conference play, and look to make a fifth straight tournament appearance and close out their last season in the Mountain West with another banner to hang over Steve Fisher Court.
The Aztecs (11-4, 5-0 MW) will head to Laramie, Wyoming, to take on the Cowboys (11-5, 2-3 MW) on Wednesday in another Mountain West showdown, aiming to move to 6-0 in conference play.
