Utah State vs. San Diego State

Steve Fisher Court – Viejas Arena

Wednesday, February 25 at 8 pm

TV: FS1

San Diego State and Utah State meet for the biggest game of the 2026 Mountain West season

Change brings opportunity.

What lies ahead is a chance for the Aztecs to retake what is theirs. The task will not be easy, but San Diego State must defeat the Utah State Aggies to quiet the loud noise. Head coach Brian Dutcher has a difficult decision to make on whether he should shorten the minutes to some players and switch up the starting five … or keep things the same. The fate of the season could depend on it.

“I’m excited to get back on the floor. This conference is incredible,” Dutcher told the media Monday. “We play again on Wednesday night with an opportunity to hopefully win a game and be back in first place with three more to go in the Mountain West. We have ourselves in a good position. Unfortunately, we’re not playing really good basketball right now, so the task for the next two days is to get better in practice, to find a way to fight through a tough stretch and get a victory against a very good Utah State team at home on Wednesday night.”

Dutcher does not lose back-to-back games often, and being on the verge of three-straight losses has not been done since the season opener of this season (technically), and before that, in November of 2022, after SDSU lost to Arizona and Arkansas in back-to-back days.

“I thought we battled to the end,” Dutcher said about the loss to Colorado State. “We were pressing, doing whatever we thought we could do to fight back in the game. It always looks bad when the other team makes 13 threes. That’s probably the most we’ve given up this year, and we have to do a better job of contesting them. We have to play better if we want to win on the road. We’re going to have two hard road games left at New Mexico and at Boise State. It’s about trying to be your best when your best is required. That’s what we have to do down this stretch.”

Aztecs’ senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters is fully aware of what lies ahead.

“I think in this last stretch, our mentality is to win every game,” Dixon-Waters said Monday. “We all want to make the tournament, but we have to take it one day at a time, one game at a time. We have to take care of that, especially with the regular season title at stake.”

The Aztecs still have championship aspirations, but you cannot look past Utah State. The Aggies have beaten the Aztecs three consecutive times and in four of the last five meetings. SDSU is 20-13 overall against USU with a 10-2 record at Viejas Arena. A win for the Aztecs on Wednesday night would put the two teams even at the top with a 13-4 record in MWC play.

First Matchup in Logan

Back at the end of January, the Aggies hosted SDSU for their annual “white out” game. The contest was back-and-forth the entire way, with the Aztecs playing a great first half until the last two minutes. San Diego State had a comfortable 9-point lead until the Aggies racked up nine straight to tie the game at 34 at the half. USU stole all the momentum away from Dutcher’s squad, and they would capitalize in the second half to win by five points.

Reese Dixon-Waters scored 19 points for the Aztecs, and Karson Templin had what was a season-high of 18 points off the bench until he scored 20 against Memphis in a non-conference bout a few weeks back. SDSU did a good job of containing MJ Collins Jr. to only 3-12 shooting, but those three made shots proved to be costly, and he racked up a needed 12 points to give them the edge. Mason Falslev also scored only eight points. If the Aztecs are to defend well against the duo of Collins Jr. and Falslev at Viejas Arena, then that would be a massive bonus for the Scarlet & Black.

No other Aztec scored in double figures. Miles Byrd scored only seven points as he shot 3-12 from the floor. BJ Davis also shot 3-12 from the floor. These poor shooting nights cannot happen this time around.

Key to SDSU Victory

The key to the game is simple. We need to see the Aztecs play a full 40 minutes against the Aggies. Despite the loss in the first matchup, San Diego State had one of its better games of the season defensively, and we’re very close to winning a hard-fought game on the road. They were very close to “finishing,” something the team has struggled to do in close games this season.

SDSU is 3-3 this season in games decided by five or fewer points.

“We have to feel the urgency of the moment, knowing that we’re a game away from being in March,” Miles Byrd said Monday. “March basketball is the most important basketball that you can play. We have to win these next three. We have to work on playing the best basketball possible. We have three games, maybe two games, to get an opportunity in the conference tournament as well to get our names into the field of play. I think it starts with today’s practice. We don’t want to get too far ahead. We have to work on our basics and get back to playing the great basketball that we were playing.”

The great basketball they were playing was excelling on the defensive end and playing Aztec Basketball in transition, finding an open teammate running toward the basket or hitting an open shooter in the corner for a triple.

For the second time tonight, @_mbyrd21 finds @PharaohCompton for the slam!!

📺: @FS1 pic.twitter.com/rikyGKUQy1

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 22, 2026

These are the type of moments that make San Diego State basketball what it is. If SDSU can get a handful of these game-changing moments against Utah State on Wednesday night, then they will have Viejas Arena on their feet, giving them extra momentum and energy, propelling them to a close victory.

News & Stats

• Miles Byrd is the only Aztec, since at least the 1996-97 season, to have scored at least 787 points, grabbed at least 325 boards, dished out at least 186 assists, and blocked at least 83 shots. (via SDSU Media Guide)

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.