San Diego State Aztecs and New Mexico Lobos meet at The Pit on Saturday morning.

The Pit is known as one of the toughest basketball environments not only in the Mountain West Conference but in the entire country, as road teams have a tough time winning games.

The Lobos are 7-1 at home this season, and their only loss came against New Mexico State in overtime on December 7.

New Mexico has responded with six straight wins and is aiming to keep its run alive when it hosts the premier team of the conference, San Diego State.

The Aztecs are coming off a huge win against Air Force this past Wednesday night, 67-38. SDSU started slow and trailed 20-8 early in the game. After a Brian Dutcher timeout, the Aztecs proceeded to go on a 40-4 run and allowed just 18 points the rest of the way. The Aztecs’ stifling defense proved to be too much for the Falcons.

Relive last night’s W with the highlights #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/Aeb5NEfcOo

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 9, 2025

San Diego State improved to 10-3 on the season and 3-1 in conference play. The Aztecs currently sit in a tie for 4th place in the conference, along with Colorado State and UNLV. A win on Saturday for the Aztecs and a Boise State loss would see SDSU climb to third in the conference as well as potentially putting a number next to their name come Monday morning.

“We’re excited to come off that Air Force win,” Dutcher said to the Media on Thursday. “We got down early, fought back, built on a lead, and played pretty good basketball for the most part. Now, we have to answer the challenge. We have two days of practice before we head to Albuquerque and play a very good New Mexico team on their home floor. They’re 5-0 in the conference, and that environment is as good as you’re going to play in college basketball, so we’ll spend the next two days getting ready for a talented, well-coached team on their home floor.”

SDSU is the only team in the conference with multiple wins against AP Top 25 opponents when they defeated No. 21 Creighton and No. 6 Houston in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas during the Thanksgiving Holiday.

This contest can be seen on CBS at 10:00 am Pacific time and 11:00 am local time in Albuquerque.

Getting to Know the Opponent: New Mexico Lobos

New Mexico holds a 51-46 advantage against the Aztecs and is 31-13 at The Pit against their rivals. However, Dutcher is 7-5 against the Lobos as head coach, which includes a huge 28-point win at The Pit back in 2020.

The Aztecs are 31st in NET, and the Lobos are 68th. New Mexico took advantage of its non-conference and beginning of conference play but are just 1-1 against Quad 1 opponents while having that Quad 4 loss to New Mexico State.

“[Donovan] Dent and [Nelly Junior] Joseph are as good a point guard-center combination as there is in the country,” Dutcher explained. “Most good teams are really good up the middle, and they’re good up the middle, center and point guard. We have to do a good job dealing with the ball screens and find a way to slow Dent and Joseph down. They have shooters around them. If you take Dent away, you get caught over helping. They’re capable of kicking it out and shooting threes on you, which is always dangerous in college basketball.”

The Lobos are coming off consecutive close games to start the 2025 calendar year. They defeated Nevada at home, 82-81, in overtime thanks to a Nelly Junior Joseph shot at the buzzer. Then, New Mexico trailed late to Wyoming but hit shots late to win 61-53 on the road.

Junior Joseph is averaging a double-double on the season with 13.1 points and and 10.1 rebounds (tied for 17th). The senior from Nigeria also shoots 55% from the floor and adds 1.8 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.

Donovan Dent is the team’s leading scorer at 19.3 points per game. He adds 6.9 assists per game, which is 7th in the nation, and 1.6 steals. The Riverside native is one of the top backcourt players in the nation and will be all over the court on Saturday morning.

As Dutcher mentioned, those two carry the team. However, the Lobos are returning others from last season’s Mountain West Tournament Championship team. Mustapha Amzil is averaging 13.7 points and 5.8 rebounds. Tru Washington is fourth on the team in scoring at 10.2 per game and adds 1.8 steals. New Mexico continues to be one of the best defensive teams in the nation, with four players averaging north of a steal per game for a total of 9.8 (23rd in the nation).

Miles Byrd understands how difficult it will be to go into The Pit and escape with a win against a great all-around team.

“I’ve just been telling [my teammates] that it’s going to be a great atmosphere in there, similar to Viejas,” Miles Byrd expressed. “They have a very faithful fan base in New Mexico. It’s going to be a sold-out game. We’re going to have to be able to come in there composed and not let the environment get us out of our element. I played well at The Pit last year, but we didn’t get a win. Hopefully, that changes this year.”

Player to Watch: Nelly Junior Joseph

The player to watch for this game will be the Lobo’s starting center. Donovan Dent will likely score more points than Joseph in this matchup, but containing the big man will be a huge key to victory for the Aztecs.

As mentioned above, Junior Joseph averages a double-double, which only a handful of players do. He has eight total double-doubles on the season, which is four behind the leader of the year.

The Aztec frontcourt must not let him rebound the ball at the rate he does. Not only can the senior rebound, but he blocks shots well, too. The big man will be all over the boards in this game, and making sure he doesn’t grab timely ones will be important.

Against Wyoming, Junior Joseph finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds in 37 minutes. He played 39 minutes in the overtime win against Nevada, which was his season high. If needed, he can play all but 3-4 minutes, which is not a great sign for SDSU. He hardly puts himself in foul trouble, either.

If the Aztecs can contain Junior Joseph to below his averages in points and rebounds, then they will be in a position to win this game.

Key to Victory

Rebounding is extremely important for winning this game. Junior Joseph is one of the best rebounders in the country, and the Aztecs frontcourt will need to step up to the plate. Jared Coleman-Jones leads the team at 5.5 rebounds. However, it will be a collective effort between him, Magoon Gwath, Pharaoh Compton, and potentially Miles Heide and Damarshay Johnson Jr. Heide and Johnson missed the win against Air Force with the flu but may be available for Saturday’s contest. All of them must rebound at a high level to give their team extra possessions.

Good news remains for the Aztecs as their defense continues to shine. SDSU remains third in the nation in opponent field goal percentage, allowing just 35.5% of shots to go in the hoop. Only No. 2 Auburn and No. 12 Houston are higher.

A win against New Mexico at The Pit could help propel this team to go on another huge run.

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.