Aztecs Basketball Preview: SDSU hosts UNLV for Senior Night
San Diego State Men's Basketball vs Nevada. Credit: Don De Mars/EVT Sports
UNLV vs. San Diego State
Steve Fisher Court – Viejas Arena
Friday, March 6 at 7:00 pm PT
TV: CBSSN
SDSU looks to finish its last-ever Mountain West regular season on a high note with a win over UNLV on Senior Night
What a wild season it’s been. From expecting to win the Mountain West regular season in their final run to seeing many frustrations throughout the year, the Aztecs still somehow have a chance to finish in a three-way tie for the best record in the conference. It’s hard to imagine the Aztecs being in this position with six conference losses.
Well, you can believe it. Utah State lost to UNLV on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday, New Mexico lost to Colorado State at home to give the Aztecs an opportunity to be in this position. New Mexico and Utah State meet on Saturday, and that game could decide who wins the conference depending on how SDSU and UNLV pans out on Friday night.
If there is a three-way tie, then the metrics will decide who takes each seed. Each team would have beaten the other once, so the tiebreaker would move to a different metric. Figuring out who advances in a 3-way tie when all are tied on head-to-head is a difficult process and maybe an even more difficult explanation.
Even with all this going on for a potential tie for the lead, an SDSU loss to UNLV and a Grand Canyon win against Fresno State would move the Lopes into third place and the Aztecs into fourth. It may not even matter what seed they are when they step onto the court in Vegas. There are eight teams with a real chance to win the conference tournament.
“We need some help, obviously,” Dutcher said Thursday. “But we need to help ourselves first by playing a very good UNLV team at home tomorrow night. We will have to be at our best to win that game.”
“Right now, the Mountain West is suffering because everyone craves one thing in athletics, and that is parity. Parity has not been the best for the Mountain West this year. Utah State has lost three out of four. New Mexico has lost two out of three. It’s going to make for a rea good conference tournament.”
Many things can happen this weekend, and that is what makes the end of this Mountain West regular season so exciting. Soak it all in, because the Pac-12 will not be the same.
First Meeting
The Aztecs defeated the Rebels by 11 points in Las Vegas in the first matchup. San Diego State played a very good second half, scoring 43 points and seeing a ton of success from beyond the arc. SDSU ended 8-13 from deep in one of their better games of the season from three-point range. SDSU impressed by taking down a very good team that is capable of scoring a lot of points.
Miles Byrd dominated with 23 points, five assists, and four steals, missing only one shot and going 5-5 from deep. The Aztecs are very scary when he is dominating on both sides of the floor.
Byrd from DEEP 😲
He’s 5-5 from behind the arc#GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/rXXBHJVQ1R
— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 24, 2026
Taj DeGourville and Reese Dixon-Waters both scored 13 points each, while Miles Heide had nine points and four rebounds. RDW added seven boards and two steals for a solid performance on the road. SDSU shot 57% from the field.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, who is 23rd in the country in scoring at 20.6 points per game, had 27 in the loss to SDSU. The junior guard can score at all three levels, but his 1-7 shooting from deep hurt his team in the first contest. He kept his team in it for as long as he could. Tyrin Jones and Kimani Hamilton combined for 22.
Where is UNLV now?
UNLV is coming off a massive win against Utah State in its last game for senior night. They scored 92 points and won by 27. Utah State had no answer for them. Hamilton scored 24 points to lead UNLV, while Howie Fleming Jr. had a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. That was not his first triple-double of the season either, as he had a 10/10/10 game against Air Force on February 21. If Fleming continues to play at the level he is now, then SDSU is in trouble.
“They are dynamic,” Dutcher said about UNLV. “Gibbs-Lawhorn, I think, is a leading scorer in the country since January. He is scoring the ball at an elite level. He had 42 against his rival, Nevada, two games ago. We will have our hands full with a very talented and well-coached UNLV team.”
UNLV has won two straight games and remains in a tie for 5th place in the conference with an 11-8 record. Boise State, Colorado State, and Nevada are all 11-8. The Rebels can finish anywhere from 4th to 8th in the conference. A loss to SDSU on Friday night, and they are likely 7th. UNLV swept Boise State this season, and the Broncos play a very hot Rams team this weekend on the road. There is a high chance that Boise State finishes 8th. Nevada hosts the Air Force, while Grand Canyon hosts Fresno State.
Aztecs’ rebounding woes
It’s obvious that the rebounding needs to be better. Getting out-rebounded by 22 in a game shows that the players are just not good enough on the glass. Miles Heide’s role is to rebound. But he has games where he is not a factor, and that cannot happen for a starting center. He’s had his moments; however, Heide does not have a double-digit rebounding game this season. The big man has eight rebounds in his last three games combined.
Rebounding is a group effort, but you need your best rebounders in the right spots, making an impact. New Mexico, and especially Boise State, exposed the Aztecs in that area in the last two games.
After the loss to Boise State, Reese Dixon-Waters discussed the inconsistent rebounding throughout the season.
“It’s just something we’ve got to get better at. We’ve had games where we do really well, and we’ve had games where we’ve done poorly. We’ve got to lock in on the little details, because those little details will get us beat. UNLV crashes the boards heavy. They’ve got good, athletic wings. We’ve definitely got to be better on the boards, be disciplined throughout the game, whether that’s offense or defense. We’ll be better next game.”
The Aztecs have no choice but to be better.
Senior Night
According to Dutcher, five players will walk on Friday night. Dixon-Waters, Jeremiah Oden, Sean Newman Jr, Cam Lawin, and Miles Byrd (4th year in the program).
“We want to honor our seniors and then play the task at hand,” Dutcher said Thursday.
“Despite how we feel about how bad we have played this year, we can’t let that take away from the fact that we have an opportunity to be conference champions. That is what you start training in July for,” Byrd said Thursday.
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.