When Magoon Gwath injured his knee against Utah State, the team was stunned and had to quickly find a way to play without him. The Aztecs competed hard against the Aggies and almost escaped Logan with a win. The bench played well with 29 points, but it was not enough to split the season series against Utah State.

Brian Dutcher’s team then only had two days to get ready for the No. 1 seed in the Mountain West. At home, in front of a sold-out crowd, the Aztecs rose to the occasion and defeated the New Mexico Lobos. Many contributed in the win and it was impressive to see.

We put on a dunk contest in our win last night #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/ubQAfGwDxy

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) February 26, 2025

Nick Boyd led the way, continuing his late surge in filling up the stat sheet. The FAU transfer scored 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and assisted on six buckets. Boyd has scored in double figures in five straight games and seven of his last eight.

“Nick’s a veteran,” Dutcher said after the win over New Mexico. “He played in the Final Four against us, so he’s played deep into March. He knows what this time of year means — how much more invested you have to be in late February basketball to set yourself up for a March run. He’s been a great leader and brings great energy. He tells the team what needs to be done and how it needs to be done, and I’m grateful to have a leader like that on the team, echoing what the coaches are saying.”

The point guard was not the only one who stepped up. Byrd resurfaced with a great performance after struggling against Utah State. He ended with 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals, and one block. Byrd has yet to score more than 13 points since his 21-point game against UNLV but provides the needed energy on the defensive end.

Jared Coleman-Jones scored 12 points on 50% shooting, Miles Heide reached 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Pharaoh Compton made his presence known with an emphatic dunk and also ending with eight points. BJ Davis started each half with a clutch three-pointer. Dutcher only played eight players in the rotation, while Kimo Ferrari played roughly 30 seconds at the end of the first half. All eight players contributed.

“Our depth has helped us,” Dutcher said. “With (Gwath) out, it sets us back. (My staff) asked me — do want to take (Coleman-Jones) out. I said no, I’m going to play him the whole half if he can go. I think I played him the entire second half; he played 31 minutes, Byrd played 30, and Boyd played 34. So, their minutes are going up because the games are important. When you lose a player like (Gwath) someone else has to step up in their minutes.”

Dutcher then responded by saying that his depth should have fresher legs.

“Yeah, they are on fresh legs. We don’t try and over work them in practice, we try to do whatever we have to do to get a game plan in. We are sensitive to not wearing them out. Not trying to win the game in practice. We have to win the game when we are playing the game. So, we need fresh legs to do that. We are giving them just enough when we think we have a game plan in, we don’t want to overdo it so that they do have fresh legs for games.”

This week of practice may favor a little more rest as they have to now go to Laramie, Wyoming, to take on the Cowboys in dangerous territory. San Diego State is 13-27 all-time at Wyoming. The elevation is high, north of 7,000 feet, and it is never easy to win there. The Aztecs will be tasked with trying to keep their momentum going by using the strength of their depth to get the job done until Gwath returns to the floor.

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.