Aztecs make statement with 71-53 win over No. 21 Creighton in Players Era Festival opener.

The Aztecs continue to play well in Las Vegas as if it was their second home. San Diego State has more experience playing in Vegas than any other team in the Players Era Festival tournament.

The Aztecs play at UNLV each season and then in the Mountain West Tournament, which is held at Thomas and Mack Center. This tournament is held at the MGM Grand Garden.

Against Creighton, SDSU showcased many positives. Head coach Brian Dutcher and his team shot the ball at a higher rate, out-assisted the Blue Jays, had an 8-1 steal advantage, and finished with fewer turnovers. SDSU is now 3-1 on the season.

Another stat that sticks out is that the Aztecs and Jays finished with 40 rebounds each. Facing a 7-foot-1 center who can score the rock is no easy task. The Aztecs defended well to prevent him from scoring while also preventing him from controlling the boards. Ryan Kalkbrenner was the player to watch heading into this game, and he ended with just 11 points and five rebounds. Kalkbrenner did not score his first point until one minute remained in the first half.

Greg McDermott is one of the better coaches in the nation, but Dutcher out-coached him on Tuesday.

If you missed our win over Creighton, we have you covered! #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/7qloOugBdn

— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) November 26, 2024

Dutcher had a great game plan for this contest. After an early Kalkbrenner turnover, Dutcher screamed “push, push” to his players to get them moving. Moments later, his team created turnovers and started scoring in transition. Miles Byrd had a steal, which resulted in a fast break dunk for the Byrd Man. Nick Boyd stole the ball for a lay-in, and BJ Davis also had a steal for a fastbreak dunk.

The Aztecs’ backcourt played very well in this game and led them to a victory by scoring and creating turnovers. On the other end, Creighton had just one steal and one fast break point.

SDSU led by as much as 19 because the Blue Jays had no plan to shut down the Aztecs transition offense. Not having guard Steven Ashworth proved to be a big loss for McDermott’s team.

What the Win Means

This win means that the Aztecs will have a chance to play for the Players Era Festival Championship on Saturday. The opponent is up in the air, and it all depends on how the results on Wednesday pan out. SDSU will face either Rutgers, Houston, Alabama or Notre Dame on Saturday. Either way, the Aztecs will play another good opponent in November as they prepare for the rest of non-conference and head into conference play.

“I love my team, but I don’t know what I’m going to get from them in November,” Dutcher said postgame. “It’s a challenging schedule – Gonzaga, then Creighton, then Oregon, and then someone else. So I know this team is going to be good, but I don’t know how soon it’s going to be good. It was good tonight. Now can it be good tomorrow? That’s the question.”

The Aztecs learned from the Gonzaga loss and followed up by playing very well against a ranked opponent. It will not be easy playing back-to-back against Oregon on Wednesday. However, the Aztecs proved that they are one of the better teams in the nation by defeating a good Creighton squad.

Oregon defeated Texas A&M 80-70 after a dominant second half.

Player of the Game: BJ Davis

The sophomore guard was the best player on the court for the Aztecs on Tuesday.

Davis led the team in scoring with a game-high 18 points. In impressive fashion, Davis also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

At 6-foot-2, Davis averaged 3.0 rebounds per game heading into this contest and understood the task by putting himself in positions to grab crucial boards against Kalkbrenner and the Jays.

Magoon Gwath and Jared Coleman-Jones finished with a combined six boards. That shows how big Davis’ effort was to keep them level in that area of the game.

“He’s a killer,” Miles Byrd said postgame. “I love seeing what BJ is doing. We keep talking about it. We’re from the same area and been playing against each other since middle school. To see each other come out here and perform like this, we’re just super excited.”

The sophomore guard shot 3-5 from beyond the arc, with two of his triples coming on the fast break. One of his three’s saw him shoot from Steph Curry-range to put SDSU up 25-16.

Davis is playing very well and is not only emerging as one of the better players on the team, but in the conference as well.

Unsung Hero: Miles Byrd

Byrd Man got the job done on both sides of the court on Tuesday.

The redshirt sophomore guard was second on the squad with 16 points in the win and contributed all over the stat sheet.

Byrd used his two eyes and his two arms to grab two rebounds, assist on two passes, block two shots, and steal two passes. He also committed two personal fouls. A healthy Byrd is an elite player in all areas of the game, and he proved that in this contest.

Fast Break

• SDSU shot 48.4% from the floor and held Creighton to 33.9%.
• SDSU shot 47.1% (8-17) from beyond the arc, while the Blue Jays shot only 19.4% (6-31).
• SDSU ended just 3-7 from the free-throw line.
• Creighton had 14 offensive rebounds & SDSU had seven offensive rebounds
• SDSU led the assists 13-12
• SDSU led the steals 8-1
• The Aztecs led in blocks 9-7
• Creighton turned it over 10 times to SDSU’s eight.
• Creighton had 30 points in the paint to SDSU’s 28.
• SDSU committed 15 fouls to Creighton’s six.
• Freshman Pharaoh Compton and Taj DeGourville played in Las Vegas for the first time as Vegas natives. They combined to score 10 points on 5-8 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.
• Gwath finished with seven points, four rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.
• Nick Boyd did not have a good game shooting-wise. He had seven points on 3-13 shooting but did rebound well with six and led the team in assists with five.
• Tip-off against Oregon is at 1 pm PT and can be watched on TNT.

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.