Despite blowing a 24-point advantage, the Aztecs survived a crazy contest against the Broncos in triple overtime after BJ Davis saved the game at the end of the first OT

Viejas Arena – San Diego State

Who lit the fireworks?

One of the biggest games of the 2025-26 season took place on Steve Fisher Court on Saturday night between the Aztecs and Boise State Broncos. The Broncos entered the contest as one of the hottest teams in the conference, while the Aztecs aimed to keep their undefeated start alive. SDSU has improved to 3-0 in conference play.

Head coach Brian Dutcher changed things up in the starting lineup. With the slow progression from Magoon Gwath entering tonight, Dutcher decided to start Jeremiah Oden over him. Gwath came off the bench for the first time since his season debut against Troy (his best game of the season).

“Boise State versus San Diego State is an instant classic,” Dutcher said postgame. “I’ve been through enough of them in 20-some years, and Coach Rice has been there for 16. You should never expect anything less than tonight’s game. Both programs are super competitive and super tough-minded. When we were ahead at halftime, I told the guys that if we were down 21, I would still feel we were in the game, and trust me, they do too. They’re a good team, and it’s a game of runs, so they’re going to go on a run. I didn’t want them to go on a run all the way back and tie the game, but that’s what happened.”

“We moved much better in the first half, and I kept trying to tell them that, but they saw opportunities to attack, and they were attacking early. We got stagnant offensively, and it got frustrating at times, but we found a way to fight through the play. BJ [Davis] made one of the finest shots this year, where he stole the ball at three-quarter court and dribbled it down into a three to send it to a second overtime.
That’s an incredible play on his part, and we put the ball in his hands a lot, but when you look at the end of the game, it was freshman Elzie [Harrington] who was making all the big baskets down the stretch.”

The Broncos’ top offensive player, Drew Fielder, hit a triple to begin the contest. Miles Byrd responded with a bucket to get the Aztecs going. Elzie Harrington gave the Aztecs their first lead with two points from the free-throw line, 6-5. He had a quick four points.

Gwath checked in after the first media timeout and immediately made an impact by drawing a foul. The 7-footer hit 1-2 to take a 9-8 lead. He followed up with a three-pointer from the top of the key. His four points tied Harrington’s total by the second media timeout.

After Gwath hit his second triple of the game, BJ Davis’ first points of the night came from a three-pointer in front of the away bench. Davis then went 1-2 from the line on the following possession to jump his point total to four. SDSU led 21-15.

San Diego State jumped out to a quick 9-0 run that was eventually stopped by Andrew Meadow. The senior was the offense for the Broncos early on with six of his team’s first 16 points.

The Aztecs kept rolling early on. Jeremiah Oden blocked a shot on one end, then got rewarded with a dunk on the other end. Boise State hadn’t made a field goal in over four minutes; meanwhile, the Aztecs hit five of their last six from the floor. SDSU’s lead jumped to 10 with 7:25 remaining in the first half.

SDSU kept suffocating the Broncos with its strong defense. They forced the Broncos to make many mistakes, and they capitalized on it. SDSU’s lead jumped out to 14 as Boise State was shooting below 30% from the floor. Boise State’s FG drought reached over eight and a half minutes. Javan Buchanan and Aginaldo Neto hit three-pointers to end the Broncos’ 0-12 FG skid.

The Aztecs kept dominating. The lead reached 24 with a few minutes to go in the first half. They were firing on all cylinders. The crowd was loud, and the players were feeding off the energy.

The Aztecs took a 50-29 lead into the locker room. SDSU shot 66% in the first half and forced the Broncos into only 33% with nine turnovers. Miles Byrd and Gwath led SDSU with nine points each.

A wild second half was next on the menu.

The offense definitely stalled at the beginning of the second half. Both teams’ defensive pressure was too much to create open looks. Boise State opened the half on a quick 8-4 run.

Byrd was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit all three from the line. Byrd’s point total reached 12 for the night as he aimed to get the momentum back on his team’s side.

The momentum never really came back at all. The Broncos stormed back to cut what once was a 24-point deficit to 12 with just under 12 minutes to go in the contest. The Broncos’ 33% from the field jumped up to 43%.

The struggles continued in San Diego. The Aztecs let the Broncos right back into the game. Buchanan hit his 4th triple of the night to cut SDSU’s lead to just five, 67-62. Boise State’s second-half field goal percentage was at 63% at this point in the half.

It was a tale of two halves once again for this San Diego State team.

Harrington dunked a ball on an assist from Davis to regain a four-point lead with under five minutes to go. They struggled to keep the lead late.

Boise State somehow survived and forced overtime. Davis missed another free throw that would’ve sealed the deal; instead, Boise State tied the game and even had a chance at a game-winner as time expired.

The Broncos then controlled overtime until the very end, when they made the mistake of a mis-throw on the inbound pass. BJ Davis tied the game with 0.4 seconds left to force double overtime.

BJ WITH THE EQUALIZER pic.twitter.com/eppZ3JI1DI

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 4, 2026

What a wild shot from Davis to keep the Aztecs alive.

“I knew we needed a three, so I saw how he was going to guard me,” Davis said postgame. “I went to the right, and I was watching how he played it. I went back left and saw he gave me a little space, and I pulled it. That was just a one-on-one checkup. Park basketball. We’ve been doing that since we were kids.”

Neither side could gain an edge in double OT. In triple OT, the Aztecs barely escaped with a win thanks to huge shots from the freshman Harrington. Many players stepped up in this win to keep the Aztecs undefeated in conference play.

Thea Aztecs will have to quickly move past this win as they travel to Nevada on Tuesday night for a battle with the 11-3 Wolf Pack.

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.