San Diego State Aztecs used a 40-4 run to annihilate Air Force in front of their home crowd

Steve Fisher Court – Viejas Arena – San Diego State University

The San Diego State Aztecs hosted Air Force for a late-night contest at Steve Fisher Court. After taking down Boise State on the road on Saturday, SDSU followed up with a massive performance to improve to 10-3 on the season and 3-1 in Mountain West play.

“Well, I barely got my shoes tied, and I sat down, and we were down 20-8,” head coach Brian Dutcher said postgame. “They jumped on us right away. They played really well at the start and played with pace and made shots. We took a timeout and tried to settle things in a little bit as we played. Once we settled in, our defense picked up and set the tone for the game.”

Jared Coleman-Jones started the contest with a put-back finish after the missed three-pointer from Miles Byrd. Falcons’ Ethan Taylor then responded with a triple to put Air Force on top.

After a missed alley-oop attempt from Byrd a few possessions later that would have erupted this crowd, Nick Boyd swished a three to put SDSU up 6-3. Then, Air Force scored five straight to claim an early 8-6 advantage at the first TV timeout.

Taylor nailed his first three triples for the Falcons to keep their advantage early through the first half. Air Force kept pushing and extended their lead to seven with just under 13 minutes remaining. SDSU could not hit on the other end.

The SDSU drought continued with over three and a half minutes without a point. Air Force hit 80% of their shots through nine minutes and led 20-8 with 11:01 remaining in the half. Air Force was on a 12-0 run.

Dutcher called a crucial timeout.

“Sometimes when you aren’t playing well you have to take a timeout,” Dutcher said about the decision to call the timeout at that time. “There is always the frantic nature of you are mad at the guys for not playing well. But you know it’s early in the game, and if you start yelling at them, then you take them out of their mental state to come back and play well. We told them areas we needed to get better in and Kimo came in and provided great energy. We found a way to fight our way back into the game.”

Magoon Gwath finally scored for the Aztecs to trim the lead back to 10. He would not let up on his attack to the basket. That was a good sign for Gwath’s progression.

Byrd finished a lay-in plus the foul to get the crowd back into the game. He converted on the free throw to cut the deficit to six. Then, moments later, Boyd kept the offense alive with an offensive rebound after the JCJ missed layup to help SDSU go on an 8-0 run of their own.

SDSU trailed 20-16 with 7:13 remaining in the half.

The Aztecs kept fighting back. Byrd stole the ball and slammed it home on the fastbreak to put Viejas Arena on their feet.

The deficit was just two.

A few possessions later, Gwath slammed home a dunk to put SDSU back in the lead, 24-22. SDSU’s offense and defense stepped up during the second part of the first half. Offensive rebounding proved to be key also, as the Aztecs grabbed eight in the first 16 minutes of the contest. Furthermore, Air Force committed eight turnovers in the last seven and a half minutes.

WITH AUTHORITY‼️

📺 @CBBonFOX pic.twitter.com/0c5xITCjy3

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

San Diego State ended the first half on a 25-4 run. After scoring 20 in the first nine minutes, Air Force then went 2-10 from the field to end the half. SDSU finished the first half with nine total offensive rebounds and forced 13 turnovers.

The Aztecs’ gritty defense continued to start in the second half. Air Force missed their first five shots of the half while the Aztecs kept scoring. San Diego State started the second half on a 12-0 run as Davis nailed four straight jumpers to provide 11 of those points.

💦 @BJDavis_10

📺 @CBBonFOX pic.twitter.com/UQPKuODqVf

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

SDSU’s run reached 40-4 as Kyle Marshall ended it with a made free throw. The Aztecs had a commanding 50-26 lead and ran away with this contest after starting very slow. Air Force scored just six points across almost 20 minutes of play.

Kimo Ferrari hustled all game long for the Aztecs. Every time he touched the ball, the fans cheered and urged him to score. Once Ferrari did finally score, the fans erupted into a frenzy for the local senior.

KIMO!!

📺 @CBBonFOX pic.twitter.com/Xm86t7TDiz

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

Air Force had no answer. After leading by 12 early, the Falcons scored just 18 points the whole rest of the way.

The Aztecs now look forward to traveling to New Mexico to take on the Lobos on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM local time.

News & Stats

• Forwards Miles Heide and Demarshay Johnson Jr. missed tonight’s action due to the flu.
• Kimo Ferrari played just under 20 minutes tonight and ended with two points and a +20 plus-minus
• Boyd had a game-high 16 points
• Davis finished with 15 and 5 rebounds
• JCJ had his first double-double of the season – 10 points/14 rebounds (10 offensive)
• SDSU forced 20 turnovers with 12 steals

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.