The Aztecs bounce back from a Michigan loss with an emphatic win against the Oregon Ducks, led by Reese Dixon-Waters.

The San Diego State Aztecs faced off against the University of Oregon late Tuesday night on the second day of the Players Era Championship.

San Diego State and Oregon both came into the game hoping to avoid a 0-2 start to the tournament. Oregon was led by star junior guard Jackson Shelstad, who did his best to keep the Ducks in the game.

The Aztecs dominated the game from the jump offensively; anything and everything was falling. The Aztecs defeated the Ducks 97-80 on the backs of a star performance from Reese Dixon-Waters, who had 22 points in the contest. BJ Davis was not too far behind with 21 points of his own.

Coach Dutcher had this to say about his squad’s performance, “To come out and play with such passion and confidence, those were the two things I put on the board: play with passion and confidence. We shot the ball unbelievably today, BJ and Reese made really tough shots and hard shots.”

Shelstad opened the game with two quick shots from beyond the arc, while the Aztecs made it a point of emphasis to attack the basket early on. The honorable mention All-Big Ten guard was lighting it up from distance before the first media timeout. While the Aztecs’ big duo of Miles Heide and Magoon Gwath had four points each.

It was a back-and-forth battle to start the game. Shelstad led the charge with 12 quick points, all on three-point makes. San Diego State, on the other hand, was making plays and doing something they could not do yesterday: finish at the rim. Both teams were looking to pull away, but both teams always had an answer.

Back-to-back 3⃣s for @BJDavis_10!!

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— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) November 26, 2025

After the second media timeout, the Aztecs went on a 12-0 run to gain separation thanks to Davis. The junior guard from Modesto went on his own 8-0 run with two made threes and free throws. Oregon would punch back, cutting the deficit to eight, but SDSU had a response. The Aztecs were finally playing their brand of basketball as the Scarlet & Black crowd pushed them on.

True freshman guard Elzie Harrington came in and made his case for more minutes early in the first half. Harrington did an excellent job getting the Aztecs going off the high ball screen and roll action. Scoring seven first-half points in what was a massive first-half performance by the young star.

To end the first half, both teams traded shot after shot. Dixon-Waters reminded everyone why he was an All-MW selection to begin the year. Dixon-Waters had ten first-half points for the Aztecs, but Davis was the leader with 13. Shelstad was terrific in the first half for the Ducks with 16 points. The score was 51-41, Aztecs, San Diego State coming out of the half was looking to stay the course and pick up an impressive win.

Dixon-Waters spoke about his performance with this to say, “For a scorer, somebody like me, confidence is everything. Yesterday, I didn’t have a great game offensively. I just had to bounce back today and not even think about it.” He also spoke about the big shot he made to end the first half. “It always helps to get a big shot to end the half, hopefully we can go into tomorrow with that same level of confidence we played with tonight,” Dixon-Waters said.

Oregon landed a solid blow to start the half, cutting into the lead quickly, but Dixon-Waters had other plans. RDW started the second half how he ended the first half, on an absolute tear. The star senior guard from Long Beach was making a statement against Oregon with seven points before the first media timeout.

THIS IS AZTEC BASKETBALL!!

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— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) November 26, 2025

Coach Dutcher’s squad was finally playing a brand of basketball he loves. The Aztecs were sharing the basketball, rebounding, and defending at a high level in the 2nd half of play. By the second media timeout, SDSU was up 15 on Oregon with the crowd roaring. Pharaoh Compton made a thunderous slam to send the Aztec crowd into a frenzy.

By the eight-minute mark, the Aztecs’ lead grew to 17 points. San Diego State was dominating the 2nd half in every which way. Everything was falling for the Aztecs, and they were finally playing Aztec basketball after two really tough games. Every player was making an impact, especially rising star freshman Harrington, who is making a case he deserves starter-level minutes.

Have a week, @ElzieHarringto1!!

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— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) November 26, 2025

As the Aztecs were up 20, Miles Byrd threw an outlet pass to Taj DeGourville, who would then dump it off to Heide for a breakaway jam. The Aztecs were up 22, and the home-worth crowd was howling. San Diego State dominated this game all night offensively and on the glass.

Coach Dutcher had this to say regarding his team’s rebounding effort in tonight’s contest. “We tried to box Michigan out, but they were just bigger and stronger than us. We were concerned with Bittle doing that, but he didn’t play much in the second half. So that gave us a better opportunity to secure the rebound. We took advantage of that as best we could, and I still don’t think we did all that well at the defensive end.”

The Aztecs are set up to face off against Baylor in their third game here at the Players Era Championship. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM on Wednesday on TruTV.

Bryant Thursby

Assistant Coach at Heritage High School. A big time SDSU fanatic and Padres fan.