Utah State pulled away late after a controversial 5-point play that gave the Aggies momentum down the stretch

Thomas & Mack Center – Las Vegas, Nevada

It was Championship Saturday in Sin City! The San Diego State Aztecs and Utah State Aggies met as the top two seeds in the conference for all the glory. The atmosphere felt like a home game for the Aggies as the Aztecs’ fans were not close to bringing the same type of energy. The USU crowd gave their team an advantage on Saturday.

“Congratulations to Utah State and their coaching staff,” head coach Brian Dutcher said postgame. Regular season champs and tournament champs, that is not easy to do, but they did it. We knew the whole game was going to be decided in the paint, and they got in the paint more than we did. They lived in the paint, made plays in the paint, and then made timely jump shots.”

“Obviously, the critical play of the game was the 5-point play in a 4-point game. That was really a huge momentum turner as they took the lead from four to nine in one possession. They held on from that point on. Good hard-fought game. It’s basketball, we are disappointed.”

Miles Heide missed this contest alongside Elzie Harrington, as he was out with a hand injury he suffered in the second half against New Mexico. As a result, Magoon Gwath returned to the starting five alongside Tae Simmons in the frontcourt. Sean Newman Jr, Miles Byrd, and Reese Dixon-Waters remained in the lineup.

“I think it’s broken,” Dutcher said about Heide’s hand. “With that being said, we had a guy named Chase Tapley a few years ago play with a broken hand in the NCAA Tournament. So, Miles is taped up, and I am sure he will need to be cast at some point, and we’ll wait and see what happens. We missed Miles and Elzie down the stretch.”

First Half

Miles Byrd started the scoring with a steal and a layup in transition to take a 2-0 lead. Crazy enough, the Aztecs would go the rest of the game without forcing another steal in over 39.5 minutes.

“They did a good job of cutting us with us loving to play in the passing lanes, especially me,” Byrd said postgame about the lack of forced turnovers. “Yeah, after I got that steal, I got back-cut twice in a row. It definitely made me adjust to how I would guard moving forward. They came into today with the focus of taking care of the ball, and they did a good job of doing that with only six turnovers. That is a recipe to win.”

The Aggies scored on three straight possessions to take a 7-4 lead. USU started 5-6 from the floor as the Aztecs’ defense failed to get a stop early outside of the first possession. The good news is that the Aztecs were able to respond, making four of six shots to begin.

After six minutes, Mountain West Player of the Year, Mason Falslev, injured his knee after attacking the basket. He stayed in to make two free throws as he was fouled on the drive, but was taken out after he made both. He would later return after spending some time on the bench resting.

The scoring was back-and-forth, with the score tied at 15 each. Reese Dixon-Waters had six early points on 3-4 shooting. This early spark led to a big game for the senior.

SDSU committed four early turnovers, which were costly as the Aggies scored seven points off those turnovers. All four of those mistakes could have been easily avoided with more focus. A positive for the Aztecs was their aggression in attacking the basket and forcing the Aggies to foul. USU had six fouls committed in the first 8.5 minutes. SDSU started 5-6 from the charity stripe.

Hand down, man down.

📺:@CBSSports #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/bTlbbOnTXD

— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) March 14, 2026

MJ Collins Jr. was hot in the first half, scoring 10 points on 4-6 shooting inclduing two deep balls. Everything Collins did, Dixon-Waters responded. Byrd then hit another three-pointer to tie the game at 32. The Aztecs would not let the Aggies pull away until late.

As the half was winding down, both sides could not buy a bucket. SDSU had a scoring drought of north than four minutes while the Aggies made just one of their last nine shots in that same span. Both teams were shooting 42% from the field with 58.4 seconds remaining in the half. Gwath would end the scoring drought from the line, then Taj DeGourville took a 35-34 lead with a late bucket.

Defensive Player of the Year✋

📺:@CBSSports #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/y8LL0039yz

— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) March 14, 2026

The Aztecs would take that 1-point lead into the break. The Aggies missed their final six shots from the floor as they were just 3-14 from beyond the arc. SDSU was led by RDW in that half, as the senior scored 12 points on 5-6 shooting. Gwath scored seven points and grabbed six boards, while Byrd added seven as well with five boards, two blocks, and a steal.

Second Half

Utah State started on a 7-0 run to begin the half, and Dutcher immediately called a timeout. He was not happy with the lack of focus from his defense to begin the second half. Drake Allen had all seven points for the Aggies in the first 1:38 of the half.

The freshman, Simmons, finally scored a point for the Aztecs after three minutes as he went 2-2 from the line. SDSU stormed back to tie the game at 43. BJ Davis hit a tough floater with Karson Templin in his grill. SDSU would then take the lead after an RDW bucket in transition.

Allen and Collins Jr. continued to lead the way offensively for the Aggies. They combined for 25 points with 11:37 remaining in the game. Falslev had just eight points on 3-7 shooting.

The scoring continued to be back and forth. Neither side really had an edge offensively. Both sides were shooting 43% from the floor as well, with just over nine minutes to go.

Then, everything changed. The Aggies stormed out to their biggest lead of the game at nine points after a five-point play. Dixon-Waters, who had 20 points for SDSU, committed his 4th foul of the game with 4:58 remaining. Then, Byrd injured his right knee and left the game. He was in a ton of pain but was able to walk it off. He returned minutes later.

Then down 11, SDSU needed a miracle to come from behind to win. Just over four minutes remained. Allen and Garry Clark had four fouls each for the Aggies, but it did not matter.

Gwath did everything he could, grabbing rebounds and even hitting an open look from deep. His team still trailed by eight with 2:51 remaining. It just was not enough to bring the Aztecs back. The Aggies offense started to click late, while SDSU’s didn’t.

Utah State was the better team on Saturday. Collins, Falslev, and Allen performed well enough to give their team the massive victory.

It really is a tough ending to the Mountain West era for the Aztecs, as they are the team that really built up the conference over the last 20+ years. Despite the loss, this SDSU team deserves to play in the NCAA Tournament next weekend.

Aggies head coach Jerrod Calhoun even confirmed it postgame.

“That (San Diego State) is an NCAA Tournament team. I hope they get in.”

Dutcher would then give the committee his reasoning for getting into the Big Dance.

“The Mountain West was undervalued this year. Seven teams with 20+ wins, so the parity hurt our league this year. That is what every power-four league wants: parity. But in the Mountain West, parity is not a good thing. There was not enough separation between the top, and we had a good year. We finished alone in second place, and we made the conference championship game. We got a good team. There are a lot of good mid-major teams, and we are one of them.”

The San Diego State Aztecs will wait and see if their name gets called on Selection Sunday for the second-straight season.

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.