Brian Dutcher’s Aztecs are inching closer to their standard
Credit: Don De Mars/EVT Sports
The San Diego State Aztecs took care of Colorado State at home on a wild night of Mountain West hoops.
This past Saturday, New Mexico hosted San Diego State for a premier matchup in the conference. The game went New Mexico’s way from the beginning. Both teams moved on and the Lobos took on San Jose State for the second time this season. The Lobos snuck by with a six point win at home in the their first matchup, and then would go on the lose to the Spartans on Tuesday night, 71-70. The Aztecs controlled the game against the Rams, especially in the second half for the double-digit win.
Both New Mexico and SDSU looked like completely different teams in a span of three days. That is Mountain West basketball.
The Aztecs did many great things against the Rams which prevailed them to a big win to move to fourth in the conference standings. Miles Byrd led the team the only way he knows how. By translating his elite defense into easy baskets the other way.
Add it to the highlight reel
📺 @CBSSportsCBB pic.twitter.com/mEOlO12peG
— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 15, 2025
Byrd stole the ball seven times on Tuesday night and it happens to be the school record since moving to the Mountain West Conference. The program record is nine in 1986 from Tracy Dildy. Byrd also hit a career-high five three-pointers on his way to another career-high of 25 points.
“He’s a great leader,” head coach Brian Dutcher said postgame. “He and (Boyd) are the vocal leaders of the team. Anybody who watches (Byrd) play would say he plays unafraid. In some of those shots, he pulls up on the fast break from NBA range and beyond. He is unafraid. When they go in, we’re really good. He was making them again today. He rolled up unafraid and knocked them down. Then I have to talk to him late in the game. With a lead, that may not be the shot we want when we’re up 14 or 16 points with three or four minutes to go. We may want to run some clock at that time. It’s just teaching and learning and trying to hold him to the standard that I think they need to play to late in the game.”
The Aztecs contain a special player who is making a name for himself on a national level.
San Diego State’s bench provided needed scoring early on in the first half for the Aztecs and the bench played well for the entire game. Led by Wayne McKinney III with nine points in 18 minutes, the bench was able to score a combined 20 points, grab 10 rebounds, and dish out six assists. Pharaoh Compton ended the night 4-4 from the field with multiple dunks. It seems more than half the time he scores, it comes from a dunk. Those plays definitely fire up the players. He needs to improve from the free-throw line, as going 0-7 from the charity stripe needs some reassessing.
Taj DeGourville did not have a great game shooting the ball going 0-6 from the floor, but the former MW Freshman of the Week will bounce back and the Aztecs will need him too as the season progresses. He still grabbed three rebounds and dished out four assists. Even when he couldn’t find the net, the freshman made winning plays.
What the Win Means
The win moves the Aztecs up one spot in the NET Rankings from 40 to 39 after the win. The Aztecs also moved up two spots from 37 to 35 in Kenpom’s latest rankings.
The Aztecs are now fourth in the conference in a tie with the Rams at 4-2. Utah State leads with a 6-0 record and takes on UNLV on the road on Wednesday night. New Mexico remains in second after the loss with a 6-1 conference record and Boise State is right behind in third at 5-2. The Broncos took care of business against Wyoming with a huge 96-55 win at home on Tuesday night.
This win against CSU means that the Aztecs are now in a great position to win the conference outright. A lot of games remain, but the feeling must be high after a win like they had. A win against Utah State on the road and wins against Boise State and New Mexico at home in late February is what will need to happen in order to get it done. SDSU has four games remaining in January and must win all four as well. SDSU hosts UNLV this Saturday before going on the road to Air Force and Nevada before ending the month at home against San Jose State.
Player of the Game: Miles Byrd
The sophomore is without a doubt the player of the game. He broke career-highs in three categories on his way to a massive night. Byrd is one of just two players this season with 25 points and seven steals in a game.
Player Visual: Miles Byrd
Just had one the BEST all-around performances we’ve seen this college basketball season.
– 25 points
– 6 rebounds
– 7 steals!
– 1 blockLengthy guard that plays both sides of the ball really well. pic.twitter.com/ESyqpwEdaR
— Charlie (@ckhoopanalytics) January 15, 2025
Byrd was asked postgame on the team’s chemistry playing three games in seven days.
“It’s a conference game, and conference is always going to be a grind,” he said. “You might play on Saturday and have to come back and play on Tuesday like we just did. As a group, we do a good job every time we’re in the gym. We’re close-knit and working hard. We have great energy with what we do, which helps with our chemistry. At the end of the day, we’re all talented hoopers and we love coming down to the court. I’s hard to get a bunch of guys who are well-played at basketball and love doing what they do to break up and fall apart.”
Unsung Hero: Wayne McKinney III
The senior from San Diego provided much-needed energy and scoring off the bench for the Aztecs, especially in the first half. WM3 ended the first half with a +11 plus-minus which led the team. He also ended the night with a game-high +15. McKinney’s nine points were the third most on the team alongside Magoon Gwath, who also had nine points and seven boards.
The reason WM3 is the unsung hero of the game is because he helped propel the bench unit to a big night. He also contributed with one rebound, one steal, and one assist. His nine points were also the most he has scored since his 10 points against Cal.
Fast Break
- SDSU improved to 35-4 in their last 39 games following a loss and 37-1 in their last 38 when it is at home.
- San Diego State is now 53-44 all time against Colorado State, 44-17 in the Mountain West era, and 13-3 in the Dutcher era.
- The Aztecs forced the Rams to commit 20 turnovers, with 22 points off those turnovers.
- CSU ended with only nine assists to SDSU’s 11.
- The Red & Black stole the ball 11 times and CSU only had two.
- SDSU led for 33:02 minutes.
- SDSU had a 20-2 bench point advantage.
- The Aztecs shot 45% from the floor (25-56) and 36% from deep (9-25).
- Both teams tied with 32 rebounds each. SDSU had a 10-8 offensive rebound advantage
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.