SDSU led for a majority of the game, but clutch shots late from the Aggies allowed them to secure the win at home

Utah State hosted San Diego State for a premier Mountain West Conference contest. This game could very well decide who wins the conference this season. This game was on a national stage on CBS and a sold-out crowd in Logan, putting on a great atmosphere for the world to watch.

The Aztecs were without both starters, Magoon Gwath and Elzie Harrington, once again.

Both sides struggled out of the gates offensively. Turnovers and missed shots told the story early on. The score was tied 2-2 at the first media timeout. SDSU and USU were shooting 17% from the floor. A bad pass from Miles Byrd ended the scoring drought as the Aggies scored on the fastbreak to take a 4-2 lead with just over 15 minutes to go in the first half.

Tae Simmons helped get the Aztecs back on their feet and gave SDSU a 5-4 lead after going 3-4 from the charity stripe on two separate occasions. Then, Pharaoh Compton and Simmons scored on back-to-back possessions to take an 11-8 lead. The two big men combined for nine of the 11 points early on for the Aztecs.

Both the Aztecs and Aggies settled down from the early chaos, but neither side could really hit a shot from outside of the paint. Not a single three-pointer was made in the first nine minutes, and 14 of the 19 total points came in the paint. After the second media timeout, Compton and USU’s Garry Clark picked up double technical fouls after both were shoving each other.

Byrd scored his only two points of the half with a layup on the fast break. The next possession, Reese Dixon-Waters drilled a pull-up triple as the Aggies were pressing and trapping at full court. SDSU led 16-10 with under 10 minutes to go in the first half.

Utah State had eight turnovers 10.5 minutes into the game. SDSU switched everything and put an insane amount of pressure on the Aggies. USU was also 0-9 from deep to this point. Fans in Logan were not happy seeing how their team was playing early on. However, there was plenty of time remaining. “Refs, you suck,” chants broke out many times in the first half from the sold-out crowd.

If you expected anything else between San Diego State and Utah State, then you don’t watch enough Mountain West basketball.

SDSU’s lead reached nine in the first half as Jeremiah Oden nailed a wide-open triple. Then, Utah State finally made its first three-pointer in 12 attempts. SDSU led 24-18 with 5:30 remaining.

Oden attempted a heat check and drilled another corner three to push the lead back to nine. Since checking back into the game, Oden attempted three triples and made two of them. The Aztecs needed the big man to continue in a big way, and he made his mark in the first 20 minutes.

After increasing the lead to 11 after an RDW bucket, the Aggies found a small spark after Taj DeGourville picked up a technical foul after a made shot. Utah State went on a quick 9-0 run to tie the game and finished the half on a 12-2 run in 2:10 minutes. Utah State tied the game at 34 as SDSU played a very bad two minutes. The good news for SDSU was that Utah State still shot below 35% in the first half, while the Aztecs shot 46%.

The lead was gone, but SDSU still played a solid half overall in a hostile environment.

Miles Byrd needed to have a big game. The scoring did not come in the first half, with only two points, but he can dominate in other areas. He began the second half with a big block on Mason Faslev. Oden regained the lead on a jumper on the next possession for his 8th points of the day.

Byrd had another massive block on a wide-open dunk attempt from MJ Collins. That block saved two points as SDSU immediately stole the ball right back to go back up four points.

Bl🚫cked by @_mbyrd21!

📺: @CBS pic.twitter.com/AG1gDEMPqw

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 31, 2026

Collins was having a rough game for the Aggies. Their star player (averaging 19.0 ppg) was 0-10 from the field with a few turnovers. His only four points came from the free-throw line. If Utah State wanted to win this game, it needed its star player to get back on track.

Dixon-Waters slightly rolled his ankle after a three-point attempt. The close-out was hard, but no foul call was made. He seemed to have rolled it a second after the closeout. He came out of the game right away; however, he did seem like he would be okay.

San Diego State held a small four-point lead with 12 minutes to go in the game. Dixon-Waters returned to the floor minutes later in place of Miles Heide. He did not miss much action at all.

The Aztecs took a 52-45 lead over the Aggies after a sweet assist from Taj DeGourville, finding a wide-open Simmons in the paint. Jerrod Calhoun called a timeout, and Taj was then seen pumping up the quiet crowd.

BJ Davis was called for his fourth personal foul on Falslev, and the Aggie star cut the deficit down to three by making both shots from the line. Utah State then tied the game at 52 with 7:39 remaining as Drake Allen converted a shot plus the foul from Compton.

Miles Heide hit clutch free throws in front of a chaotic student section. He is a 46% shooter from the line.

Then, the Aggies had their first lead in over an hour with a triple from Adlan Elamin. It lasted a few seconds as Sean Newman Jr. regained the lead for SDSU with a layup.

The Aggies started playing their best basketball of the game at the right time. Once they got the lead back, they kept it. Collins finally got going. He hit his first triple of the game and two shots in a row after not making one at all to this point. The Aggies had a chance to escape their own arena with a win after losing for the majority of the contest. Collins hit another three-pointer to go up five points, and then the Aggies went up seven with under two minutes to go.

SDSU had one small ounce of hope left when Dixon-Waters got fouled in the paint, setting up two shots to cut the deficit to five. He made both. The Aztecs’ defense needed to step up and keep them in the game. A quick turnover and triple from RDW cut the deficit down to two with just over a minute left.

However, there was just not enough time for SDSU to tie the game or regain the lead. The Aggies made seven of their final nine shots to win. The Aztecs fell short, but played great defensively without two starters. Winning on the road in this conference is not easy, and Utah State arguably has the hardest environment in the conference right now.

The offense was unable to get it done on Saturday. Dixon-Waters led the Aztecs with 19 points. The next highest scorer for SDSU was Tae Simmons. After shooting a great percentage in the first half, SDSU shot 34% in the second half to finish 40% overall. That won’t get it done on the road in this conference.

Next up for San Diego State will be at home against Wyoming this Tuesday night for the first game of February.

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.