Aztecs use late run to take down Spartans 81-68
Credit: San Jose State
BJ Davis and Miles Byrd help the Aztecs pull away from the Spartans late in a Mountain West thriller.
The San Diego State Aztecs and San Jose State Spartans met for the only time this season on Tuesday night. In a typical night in the Mountain West, the Aztecs, donning the red uniforms, had to battle with the Spartans to improve to 2-0 in the conference. The final score did not tell the entire story of this game. It was a back-and-forth night until the very end, where the Scarlet & Black dominated in crunch time.
“We proved that we are a capable team,” BJ Davis said after the win. “When we are all locked in and playing for each other and just having each other’s back, man, we are a good team. Just got to keep that our main focus.”
The Aztecs and Spartans played a physical first six minutes. The first media timeout didn’t come until 14 minutes to go in the first half. The scoring was back-and-forth, with the Aztecs shooting 63% early on. SDSU led 13-9, and the Spartans stayed in it early with two buckets coming off second-chance opportunities. Miles Byrd and Elzie Harrington showed out early with nine of the 13 points.
Brian Dutcher subbed a full unit onto the court, and the Aztecs started to go on a small run. They jumped out to a 10-0 run to lead 19-9. Taj DeGourville, Sean Newman Jr, and Pharaoh Compton all scored right away after checking into the game. The Aztecs’ bench is playing incredibly this season, and they proved it yet again on Tuesday night. SDSU started 7-11 from the field.
Sean Newman Jr. picks his pocket and delivers it to the bucket!
📺: @CBSSportsCBB pic.twitter.com/h5sES9tXqq
— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) December 31, 2025
The shots were falling early, but that wasn’t the full story. There was some sloppy play. San Jose State committed its 8th turnover around the 10-minute mark. SDSU wasn’t much better with six turnovers. Both teams were playing very hard, but made many mistakes in the first half.
San Diego State took advantage of it for the majority of the half. They kept forcing the Spartans to commit turnovers. Their 10th of the game resulted in Magoon Gwath’s second and-one finish in less than 10 seconds. Gwath demonstrated his shot-blocking abilities, getting back to his usual form. He was rewarded on the other end with six consecutive points to give his team a 28-17 lead. SDSU was shooting 59% from the floor and kept the Spartans to 41% and 3-10 from beyond the arc.
An unusual situation happened around the 7-minute mark. Gwath was fouled on a loose ball, but his reaction was not needed. He tossed the ball into the chest of Japhet Moupadele and immediately got a technical foul. Dutcher took Gwath out of the game after he missed his free throw.
The momentum shifted, and the Spartans trimmed their deficit to four. Tae Simmons checked into the game for the first time and scored on a tip-in layup. BJ Davis drained a three toward the end of the half, but the Spartans stayed in it. The halftime lead was just four for the Aztecs after leading by as much as 12 points.
SDSU shot 58% in the half but committed 10 turnovers to allow the Spartans to respond. SJSU led in rebounds by one, but their seven offensive boards and eight second-chance points were costly for SDSU. The Aztecs also missed five free throws in the first half while the hosts converted on all nine of their attempts. The Aztecs should have led by more than four, but had to settle for a 42-38 lead. All 11 players who stepped onto the court for the Aztecs scored.
San Diego State needed to limit the mistakes while maintaining its aggression on the defensive end. The defense had an opportunity to force a ridiculous number of turnovers. The rebounding needed to improve as well. There is no reason why the Aztecs can’t be dominating the glass with much more size.
.@PharaohCompton says NO!
📺: @CBSSportsCBB pic.twitter.com/x0T2QpjXuf
— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) December 31, 2025
San Jose State started the second half with the ball, and the Aztecs’ defense forced them into a very tough deep shot. However, Harrington turned the ball over seconds later. On the next possession, SJSU got an offensive rebound, and Jermaine Washington Jr. hit a triple to cut SDSU’s lead to just one. Harrington redeemed himself with a deep ball to extend the lead back to four.
The Spartans maintained their rebounding advantage early in the second half, giving reason to believe that they will remain in this game until the end. Colby Garland continued his hot performance with his 18th point of the night to tie the game at 49 with just under 15 minutes to go. He then reached 20 points on another mid-ranger as the Aztecs had no answer for him. Garland was showing out at home to give his team a chance for an upset win.
San Diego State’s 15-game win streak over the Spartans was on the line.
The Spartans took the first lead of the game on another second-chance opportunity. SDSU would then regain the lead, but the Spartans would not go away.
Garland scored his 25th and 26th points of the night from the line to trim the deficit down to two, 61-59. Compton then hit two crucial free throws to go back up four points. SDSU was just 17-24 from the charity stripe after the makes.
The Aztecs used two 6-0 runs to help them get back in control. After scoring only three first-half points, BJ Davis scored nine in the second half to this point to jump back out to an 8-point lead.
The hoop and the harm for @BJDavis_10!
📺: @CBSSportsCBB pic.twitter.com/CoEtTtPk3e
— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) December 31, 2025
San Jose State’s first miss from the line came with 2:57 remaining in the game. They started 17-17.
This is the time when San Diego State took over. The lead increased to 15 as they dominated in crunch time. Davis and Byrd propelled the Aztecs to a massive win.
.@_mbyrd21 doing @_mbyrd21 things‼️
📺: @CBSSportsCBB pic.twitter.com/e35eVytZAU
— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) December 31, 2025
“The team stepped up, and we started to play more together,” Davis said postgame about his play late in the game. “I was able to feed off of the guys and get going.”
The Aztecs are off to a great start in conference play. They will have another tough opponent next as they host Boise State at Viejas Arena on Saturday night.
This contest will be a great test for this team to tell who they really are.
News & Stats
- SDSU dominated in bench points, 42-2
- The Aztecs eventually controlled the boards, 35-29
- SJSU turned the ball over 18 times
- SDSU led the fastbreak points, 24-4
- BJ Davis led SDSU with 18 points and 2 assists
- Miles Byrd had 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals
- Pharaoh Compton scored 11 points on 3-6 shooting
- Reese Dixon-Waters added 10 points (two late triples)
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.