The San Diego State Aztecs (7-4, 1-0) defeated the Whittier College Poets (7-3, 1-1), 121-59, at Viejas Arena on Monday afternoon.

“Great performance tonight,” said SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher postgame. “The thing I liked best was the selfless nature of how we played. Everyone was playing for somebody else. They weren’t out there hunting their own numbers; they were hunting for team numbers. If that continues, we have a chance to have a really good season.”

The game was decided in the paint, and the Aztecs used their major size advantage for the dominating win. The Aztecs scored 84 points in the paint, won the rebounding battle 60 to 21, and scored 32 second-chance points off 24 offensive rebounds. 

“(Our team) knew where the strength was (for this game) and they put it in there,” said Dutcher about the game plan to utilize the size advantage. “Whether it was against zone or man, we threw it inside to our big,s and they produced, ed and it was all of them.”

The five highest scorers on the day were all big men. Pharaoh Compton led the way with a career-high 21 points (9/14 FG, 3/6 FT) and 8 rebounds off the bench. Tae Simmons scored 15 (6/7 FG, 3/4 FT) and Miles Heide added 12 (6/6 FG).

“There was an obvious size advantage for us today, and we would not be very smart to not capitalize on that,” said Simmons postgame. “We have plenty of guys that can finish inside. …They didn’t stop, so why stop going inside? It was pretty simple.” 

The Aztecs shot 60% from the field. Taj DeGourville led the Aztecs with nine assists. 

The game will not impact SDSU’s NET rankings and KenPom metrics, given the Division III opponent, but helped them regroup from a disappointing non-conference record before resuming conference play.  

After only scoring 45 points and shooting 26% against Arizona, the Aztecs made seven of their first eight shots. With no player above 6’8 for the Poets, the Aztecs scored all 14 points in the paint before Whittier’s head coach called a timeout four minutes into the game.  

Reserve Jeremiah Oden entered the game and made his presence known. He scored ten points and grabbed four offensive rebounds in his first four-minute stint. The run was capped by a thundering one-handed jam over a Poets’ defender that got the Viejas Arena crowd on its feet. The stretch was Oden’s best spurt as an Aztec and provided a 27-13 lead. He finished with 14 points (6/11 FG, 2/5 3PT).

“He made threes, but yet at the same time he attacked the basket off the bounce and he finished around the rim,” said Dutcher about Oden’s play. “I’m not surprised by it. He’s a sixth-year senior who knows how to play.”

The Aztecs closed the first half, making eight of their last nine shots, and took a 62-30 lead into the break. 17 of the Aztecs’ 26 made shots in the half came on dunks (8) or layups (9). 

The second half was more of the same as the Aztecs continued to live in the paint. They reached the century mark on Tae Simmons’ free throw with 6:55 remaining in the game. 

The Aztecs held the Poets to nearly 29 points below their season average (87.6) and only 32% shooting from the field. Jonathan Duley, the team’s leading scorer (20.4 ppg), was held to seven points (2/12 FG, 2/6 3PT, 1/2 FT).

The star trio of Miles Byrd, Reese Dixon-Water, and Magoon Gwath entered only averaging a combined 30 ppg. Gwath scored 15 (7/11 FG, 1/2 3PT) in a strong performance. Dixon-Waters scored 10, but five came from the charity stripe. Byrd finished with six points on 3 of 6 shooting. The Aztecs will need to get all three going to make a run at the conference regular-season title. 

Quick Notes

• SDSU’s 50 field goals made are a Viejas Arena record
• The 62-pt margin is the third largest in program history
• 121 points is the fourth most by SDSU in its Division I history
• The Poets played a 2-2-1 full-court press after made baskets to start the game.
• The 7th highest scoring bench in the country, averaging 40.4 ppg, had 40 in the first half against the Poets and finished with 69
• SDSU improves its overall series record against Whittier to 51-30; this was the first meeting with the Aztecs as a Division I institution
• Dutcher played all 12 available scholarship players, including Thokbor Majak, who scored a bucket with 28.2 seconds left for his first career made basket
• Both walk-ons, Raymar Gonzales and Cam Lawin, also played the final 4:55 of the game; Lawin nailed a 3-pointer that drew the loudest cheers of the crowd and later added a floater to finish with 5 points; Gonzales scored 2
• The announced attendance was 9,761

After playing three games in six days, the Aztecs have seven days off before they resume Mountain West play at San Jose State (5-7, 0-1) on December 30. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network at 7 pm. 

Andre Haghverdian

Avid sports fan and historian of basketball, baseball, football and soccer. UC San Diego and San Diego State alumni living in America’s Finest City. Diverse team following across multiple sports leagues, but Aztecs come first in college athletics.