Steve Fisher Court – Viejas Arena – San Diego State University

Without two starters, SDSU used a dominant second half to run away with the contest and improve to 9-1 in Mountain West play

San Diego State hosted Colorado State for a mid-week battle in front of their home fans. Elzie Harrington joined Magoon Gwath on the bench for this contest, as they both were out with injuries. BJ Davis started with Elzie out, and Jeremiah Oden remained in the starting lineup in place of Gwath.

Former Aztec great Lamont Butler was in attendance for this Mountain West clash.

The Aztecs handled business and controlled this game from start to finish.

“This was a really good win today,” head coach Brian Dutcher said postgame. “As a coach, even though this is a home game, I looked at this as a trap game. Cause we are in the middle of four games and three of them are on the road. So, the one thing you can’t do is lose the one home game. It’s hard enough to win on the road. Had to win this game.”

Before the game, Reese Dixon-Waters was honored for accomplishing 1,000 career points against UNLV. Here is what the senior said about the honor.

“I was just very thankful,” he said. “Obviously, I was hurt last year, so I was happy to be back out there playing. To be able to reach that milestone is pretty cool. All my teammates were supportive of me, so that was a cool little moment.”

The Aztecs finally scored after a 3-minute drought to open the contest. Dixon-Waters rebounded a miss from Oden to put the Aztecs on the board. They trailed 5-2 early.

Colorado State is known for hitting the deep ball well. The team made 10+ triples in each of their last three games, shooting over 48% from deep. The Rams are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country. They began the contest letting it fly from beyond the arc, starting 2-4.

Davis scored a quick four points, making coach Dutcher look good for inserting him back into the starting five for the first time this season. Then, Dixon-Waters tied the game at 8-8 with a fadeaway mid-ranger, followed by a step-in triple to take an 11-8 lead with just under 13 minutes to go in the first half.

“They probably would have fired me if I didn’t,” Dutcher said about the decision to start BJ Davis at point guard. “Leading scorer, leading in assists, so I had to play him. BJ did a good job. BJ has been playing a lot off the ball like a two-guard. Then I throw him out there as the point guard, and it’s a little bit different. He can play both positions. He did a good job running the whole team today.”

RDW and Davis helped SDSU go on an 11-0 run. CSU had missed eight straight shots during this run. However, Brandon Rechsteiner ended the run with CSU’s third triple of the half.

The Rams continued to try to make the deep ball a big part of the game plan once again. They have had so much success with it, why not? CSU began the game 4-12 from deep after about 12 minutes.

Pharaoh Compton put the fans on their feet with a fastbreak slam. The referees missed a travel on the attempt. SDSU took a 23-18 lead.

He’s everywhere 😳 @PharaohCompton #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/ductn8qYtX

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 29, 2026

San Diego State kept playing very well on both ends in the first half. They went on another 8-0 run to increase the lead to 11. SDSU was shooting 59% from the field at this point. The Aztecs were passing the ball well, and it opened up a lot of great looks. SDSU even hit some tough shots against great defense.

With two starters out, everyone was getting involved. The only two players not to score in the first 20 minutes were Miles Heide and Tae Simmons.

The Rams hit the final two shots of the half to cut the deficit down to six at the break. CSU was shooting 37% from the field and 31% from deep. They shot 5-16 from beyond the arc, continuing to make that their focal point. Five different players hit a three-pointer, and nobody had more than five points.

The Aztecs shot 54% in the half. Dixon-Waters led with nine points on 4-6 shooting. Davis added seven on 2-4 shooting. Lastly, Compton continued his stellar season, going 2-2 from the field with six points. SDSU forced CSU to turn the ball over nine times.

The Aztecs controlled the first half, but they needed to put them away in the second half by keeping the defensive aggression up and limiting the three-pointers. SDSU was doing enough offensively, but the Rams are never out of it with their strength from beyond the arc.

Miles Byrd began the second half by hitting three shots from the line after he was fouled on a three-point attempt. RDW followed with another mid-range bucket to go back up 11 points. Heide then gave SDSU its biggest lead of the night at 12, going 1-2 from the line. Just under 18 minutes remained in the contest.

Byrd stole a pass and had an opportunity for a fastbreak dunk. However, Byrd missed the dunk with too much force. Seconds later, the basketball gods rewarded him with another fastbreak opportunity, and he slammed it home with two hands. He was not happy with himself after he missed the first dunk attempt.

The Aztecs were rollin’ in the second half. Dixon-Waters was lighting up Viejas. He hit a corner triple for his 16th point of the night. After that, Compton scored to take a 15-point advantage with 14:31 remaining. The Aztecs started the second half shooting 70% from the floor in the first seven minutes.

💦

📺 @FS1 pic.twitter.com/dsWHEJWLlp

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 29, 2026

Everything was going right for Dutcher’s squad. As for CSU, they made only one shot in seven attempts in four minutes. The Scarlet & Black were on their way to a double-digit victory.

Compton continued to show his high-flying skills for his second alley-oop dunk of the game and third overall.

𝗚𝗘𝗧 𝗨𝗣! @PharaohCompton #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/8f9CxDV2Jp

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 29, 2026

With such a large lead in the second half, the Aztecs cruised to a big victory. The Rams could not get back into the game with the pressure SDSU had. CSU had 16 turnovers to this point, their 6th game this season with at least 15 turnovers.

SDSU led 66-47 with under four minutes to go. Fans were walking out of the arena as the late night was arriving.

Dixon-Waters would end the night with a game-high 16 points on 7-9 from the floor. Compton followed close with 15 points on 6-7 shooting. Byrd reached 10 points and Davis nine, as they both ended 3-8 from the field.

“They are just getting better every game,” Dutcher said when asked about Dixon-Waters and Compton’s night. “Reese is getting better, I mean, when he is rhythm-dribbling and raising up threes, he is hard to deal with. Reese was super efficient, and he was really good on the defensive end as well. And then, Pharaoh came off the bench. He is also shooting a high percentage and taking high percentage shots. He makes that effort play where all of a sudden he is above the rim and dunkin’ the ball. Real happy with both of them.”

San Diego State will travel to Logan to take on Utah State for a 10:00 am contest against the Aggies on Saturday.

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.