The Aztecs are rollin’.
After a shaky start to the year, the Scarlet and Black has found its stride and put the Mountain West on notice. Now in the midst of conference play, momentum is at its highest for SDSU, winning 10 out of its last 11 matchups with the only loss coming at the hands of No. 1 Arizona.
San Diego State men’s basketball (13-4, 7-0 MW) held off New Mexico (14-4, 5-2 MW) at Viejas Arena on ALS Awareness Night, 83–79, extending its win streak to seven and claiming the top seed in the conference.
“It wasn’t perfect,” head coach Brian Dutcher said postgame. “I told them before the game, we cannot have double-digit turnovers. We won the game with 16 turnovers, because New Mexico had 17.”
Despite not protecting the ball well last night, SDSU is now 12-3 against the Lobos in their last 15 meetings at home, showing a clear advantage at Steve Fisher Court.
“We’ve still got a long way to go,” senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters said. “This isn’t the top. This isn’t where we’re trying to be. We’re trying to get better.”
Sophomore forward Magoon Gwath and Dixon-Waters got themselves involved from the jump by drawing contact in the paint and knocking down three free throws combined.
New Mexico star freshman Jake Hall tallied nine of the Lobos’ first 14 points, including a four-point play from the right corner. Junior guard BJ Davis stopped the bleeding and converted an and-1 of his own, keeping it tight early on.
“You know they’re gonna come punch back, but Mountain West basketball is hard,” junior guard Miles Byrd said postgame. “I think we were able to pull in ourselves a little bit more in this game just because we’ve been through it before.”
Dixon-Waters and Byrd gave the Aztecs a 30-28 advantage midway through the first half after knocking down a pair of free throws each. The Aztecs then put together a handful of quality defensive possessions and forced three consecutive turnovers that led to momentum on the other end.
SDSU took advantage of its defensive prowess and managed to go into the second half with a 48-35 lead, shooting 50% from the field and 44.4% from beyond the arc. The Aztecs held New Mexico to just 34.5% from the field and forced nine turnovers thus far.
“A lot of dogs … I think we got a lot of them on our team,” Byrd said. “We’re starting to click a lot more as a group and it’s showing in our games.”
Byrd knocked down a three from the left wing coming out of halftime, but they followed that up with a few sloppy possessions. The 13-point lead was quickly cut to five in under three minutes, forcing Coach Dutcher to call a timeout.
Both teams traded baskets for the next four minutes with the lead hovering around three points. Byrd made a couple more free throws to reach his second 20-point game of the season, the first coming from the double-overtime loss to Troy.
“Every time I’m good on the defensive end, it translates to the other side and gets me in a rhythm,” Byrd said. “It’s definitely a correlation between the defensive end to the offensive end.”
With just under four minutes left, the Lobos tied the game up at 73-73, now being either team’s game to win.
A turnover from Davis allowed for an easy New Mexico dunk in transition, giving them a late two-point lead. Heide managed to make two clutch free throws that saw the score at 79-79, with 51 seconds left in the game.
One stop was needed in order to give the Aztecs a last-second chance, and that’s exactly what occurred. With under 10 seconds to go, the ball was put in the hands of the Aztecs’ leading scorer this season, BJ Davis.
And with that opportunity, he did what everyone expected.
He found the left side just inside the three-point line and pulled up for a mid-range jumper that kissed off the glass before finding the bottom of the net.
“BJ threw a crosscourt pass away at a really critical time in the game and then came down and made a basket,” Dutcher said. “You have to have a next play mentality … If you dwell on them, you won’t be ready to make the play.”
After a missed shot from the Lobos and a couple of clutch free throws from Dixon-Waters, the clock hit zero. The Aztecs avoided a second-half push from New Mexico to take home a crucial conference win, 83-79, solidifying the No. 1 seed in the Mountain West.
Byrd led the way with 21 points on 5-for-9 shooting and 3-for-6 from the three-point line, with eight rebounds and three assists. He also tallied four blocks and three steals, making an impact on both sides of the floor.
“He was phenomenal,” Dutcher said. “Miles is a dynamic player and he can load a stat sheet like he did tonight.”
Despite a gritty win, the MW schedule remains challenging as the Scarlet and Black will head on the road for the next two games.
SDSU will first head to Phoenix to take on Grand Canyon next Wednesday, coming off a shocking win over No. 23 Utah State. The Aztecs will have their hands full, but after the thrilling win last night, momentum rides high for SDSU.
