Despite not being a senior, BJ Davis led the Aztecs to a massive win on Senior Night as the offense played phenomenally. 

Steve Fisher Court – Viejas Arena – San Diego State University

With fans in all white, San Diego State hosted UNLV for the final Senior Night at Viejas Arena in Mountain West history. The next time the Aztecs play at Viejas Arena, it will be as members of the Pac-12. The San Diego State Aztecs were led by BJ Davis and Reese Dixon-Waters as they did everything they could to make sure SDSU came out on top.

“Just a gutty, hard-fought win against a good team,” head coach Brian Dutcher said postgame. “UNLV is playing really good basketball. Gibbs-Lawhorn is as good a player as anyone in the country. He made 32 look easy against us.”

“Far from perfect,” Dutcher added on. “I put on the board, ‘play hard,’ and I thought we played pretty hard for most of the game. Got back on the plus side of rebounding. Took pretty good care of the ball. BJ took over the game. During a late timeout, I was going to run something for Reese, but I looked over at BJ, and he was rolling his eyes. So, I changed my mind and ran it for him. It worked out pretty good.”

Five “seniors” made the walk on Friday night: Reese Dixon-Waters, Jeremiah Oden, Sean Newman Jr, Cam Lawin, and Miles Byrd. Byrd is in his 4th year on the team and was eligible for the honor.

Dutcher changed things up in the starting five as guard Elzie Harrington was out for this contest. Newman Jr. and Oden both started, as Magoon Gwath started the game on the bench.

“With Elzie out, I was going to start Newman against Boise if Elzie wasn’t able to play. That was in the forefront of my mind anyway,” Dutcher said postgame. “Jeremiah had started the majority of the season, and then I started Magoon when he got healthy. Jeremiah is a good player; he may start in the conference tournament.”

Gwath did not wait long before he checked into the game for Miles Heide. After the Rebels started 3-4 from beyond the arc, Gwath took a pull-up triple and drained it for the Aztecs’ second of the game. Shortly after, Byrd got a steal and scored a layup plus the foul. He converted on the shot to tie the game at 11. Both offenses were hot to start the contest.

UNLV started the game 5-6 from deep. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, who averages north of 20 points per game, had three of them for nine early points. The Rebels led 17-11 with 14:49 remaining in the first half.

SDSU started to roll offensively. They stormed out to an 11-0 run and played the definition of Aztec Basketball. They played elite defense and were playing fast in transition. Taj DeGourville played very well, assisting Oden for a dunk and then hitting a floater in transition. BJ Davis also drained a triple, assisted by Dixon-Waters.

The swat and the SLAM #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/nHaAn8u4fV

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) March 7, 2026

SDSU took a 22-19 lead with under 12 minutes in the half.

The score stayed close for the next eight minutes. The hot offenses slowed down a tad, but the Aztecs remained shooting above 50% from the field. After a 3-ish minute scoring drought for the Aztecs, they bounced back with three consecutive minutes. Gwath was fouled on a dunk attempt and went to the line for two shots. He went 1-2 to give his team a 34-32 lead with 3:38 remaining in the half. Oden checked in for Gwath after those attempts.

Oden scored four straight points on Senior Night to help keep his team in front at the break. SDSU led 42-39 with 20 minutes to go. Byrd would play the final 42 seconds of the half, but he was clearly playing in some pain. He was not on the injury report ahead of the game, but did get banged up in the loss to Boise State. He gutted it out but was not 100%.

Dixon-Waters led the Aztecs with 10 points, and BJ Davis added nine. Gibbs-Lawhorn had 14 for the Rebels. SDSU shot 53% and held UNLV to 45%. Both teams grabbed 17 boards in the half, so it was already a better performance for SDSU than against the Broncos.

Byrd displayed a ton of heart to begin the second half. He was playing hurt but continued to defend very well. He couldn’t play more than 3.5 minutes as Davis had to check in for him. Byrd did have a nice block and a steal on back-to-back possessions, but the Aztecs could not capitalize on them.

SDSU increased the lead to seven, but UNLV then scored five quick points to trail 48-46 with 16:00 remaining in the game. Gibbs-Lawhorn would not slow down. His point total reached 19 on 5-7 shooting from beyond the arc as he had more points than any of his fellow starters combined.

Byrd checked back into the game. UNLV would regain a three-point lead, but Davis tied it again with a three-pointer followed by another from DeGourville. The Scarlet & Black took a 56-53 lead into the second TV timeout of the half. Davis leveled Dixon-Waters with 12 points. Viejas was very loud.

UNLV continued to light up the arena from deep. The Aztecs could not avoid it, but they did match the deep balls. SDSU only had one fewer three-pointer to this point, but UNLV was shooting 47% from deep. The Aztecs kept pushing and found themselves in the bonus with under 10 minutes to play.

SDSU led 63-59 with 9:12 remaining.

Just as he did in the first meeting, backup forward Tyrin Jones dominated the Aztecs offensively. He could not be stopped in the paint and had 19 points on 8-12 shooting. He kept the Rebels in the game in the second half. Meanwhile, Davis scored his 20th point of the night, also shooting 8-12 from the field.

That’s a career high 23 points for @BJDavis_10! #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/6OKvdMZVxj

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) March 7, 2026

The Rebels used second-chance opportunities to stay close. They tied the game at 74 until Davis scored his 23rd point of the game with another deep ball. That was his new career high. However, Davis was not done yet. He added on with another three-pointer for his 26th point of the night.

“Just flowing,” Davis said postgame about his offensive performance. “Wasn’t really thinking too much, just letting it flow.

Late in the game, UNLV head coach Josh Pastner was all over the court and never got a technical called on him. It is not a good look for the sport to see the officials let him get away with those antics.

Nonetheless, SDSU prevailed and won the game by three. Davis’ point total ended at 30 points for a new incredible career high. Dixon-Waters finished with 19 points, and DeGourville was third on the team with seven points. Four Aztecs had six points, including Byrd, who gained a ton of respect from fans in this one. The fact that he was able to finish the games tells you everything you need to know about the type of player and leader he is.

“He gutted it out,” Dutcher said postgame about Byrd’s injury. “He got hurt against New Mexico and played hurt at Boise. He had to practice hurt this week because we only had four guards practicing, with Elzie and Reese not practicing. So, he had to do extra reps, and that was hard on him. He impacts winning. He wants to win beyond anything else.”

Davis reiterated what Dutcher said about their leader.

“That just shows what type of person he is,” Davis said about Byrd. “He is going to sacrifice everything he has for his team and his people. I think that just speaks volumes about his character as a human being, not even a basketball player.”

Thursday cannot come any quicker. The Aztecs will watch Mountain West hoops on Saturday, so see who they will face on Thursday in the conference tournament.

News & Stats

• SDSU shot 55% from the floor and held UNLV to 48.4%. SDSU had 52 bench points to UNLV’s 27.
• Both teams finished with 10 triples
• The Aztecs won the rebounding battle, 33-30
• Dutcher said postgame that Elzie Harrington did not practice all week, tried to warm up, but was not able to go. He should be available for the MWC Tournament.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and now covers San Diego State Men’s Basketball. He also contributes regularly about the Padres. Chris is an athlete and is a huge fan of San Diego sports.