The SDSU Aztecs host the Occidental Tigers at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena on Tuesday night

The San Diego State Aztecs opened the 2024-25 season with a narrow victory over UC San Diego, 63-58.

Credit needs to be given to UCSD as they battled hard against SDSU in the last two meetings. The Tritons were just a few plays away from winning both of those games against the Aztecs.

“We really see it as a league game,” Miles Byrd said postgame about UCSD. “Honestly, with a cross-town rival like this, we came in today and across the whiteboard in the locker room it said ‘winning is hard.’ We know that. I was on the bench, I seen the energy UCSD brought last year at their arena and we knew that they would try and come in here confident to try and win this game. We prepped hard and we respected them, so I think that is why we were able to come out with a win.”

San Diego State will be wearing their blue jerseys this game against Occidental in honor of Native American Heritage Month.

Getting to Know the Tigers … Oh My?

For what will be the 35th meeting between these two schools, SDSU and Occidental are facing off for just the third time since 1953-54. The last two saw the Aztecs win comfortably, and that should happen once again on Tuesday night. This game does not count for the Tigers, so a loss won’t hurt their record of play.

When the Red and Black hosted St. Katherine last season, SDSU won 91-57 in what was the second-highest-scoring game of the year. SDSU defeated Washington 100-97 in overtime earlier in the season.

This is a contest you would call a “tune-up” game, as next week, the Aztecs are preparing to host what could be their toughest opponent all season long … Gonzaga. The Bulldogs enter this week as the No. 4 team in the country after their 2-0 start to the season.

The Aztecs did not play well offensively against the Tritons. That is why this game against Occidental comes at a good time. The Aztecs need to find their groove on offense. The early-season jitters can burn right off if a spark is lit.

Occidental is 1-0 to begin the season. They impressed with a 78-66 win over Stanton University and led by as many as 26 points at one point in the game.

According to a press release sent out by the team, the Tigers had a lot of positives go their way.

“Ball movement, ball control, and three-point shooting was the name of the game for the Tigers on Saturday, turning the ball over only 15 times, hitting over 30% of their shots from beyond the arc, and assisting on 15 buckets, four more than Stanton.”

Three players reached double figures in scoring, with Nasir Luna leading the way with 19. Micah Breaux was right behind Luna with 18 points and lastly, Ethan Hanning contributed with 10. Alex McCleery Brown was just shy of a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds off the bench.

Opposing Player to Watch: Nasir Luna

It seems that after one game of play that, Luna is the Tigers’ go-to option offensively. He attempted more shots than anyone and also led the team with five assists against Stanton. He led the team with 31 minutes of action and did not turn the ball over once.

Luna’s turnover-free game is what stands out from that contest. Luna had the ball in his hands as he was running the show and made sure his team created good looks. The freshman from Los Angeles also hit 3-4 free throws.

It’s expected that Luna should continue to try and lead his team offensively. The Aztecs cannot let him hit threes consistently, as he attempted seven in his last game, even though he only hit two of them.

Keys to the Game

The Aztecs need to work on ball control and limiting turnovers. Playing mistake-free basketball is always a factor late in games. Finding an initial spark is also a key to this game.

Highlights of @Aztec_MBB‘s 63-58 victory over UCSD on Wednesday.

📹 @jstcevisuals pic.twitter.com/QHEt8v0Ryt

— East Village Times (@EVT_News) November 8, 2024

Byrd is looking to keep his stellar play going. The redshirt sophomore established himself as a premier basketball player against UCSD. The bar is high, and the expectation for Byrd is that he will be a great player on both sides of the floor. Byrd told East Village Times at SDSU Media Day that he is aware that he loves to make aggressive passes but wants to work on cutting down on turnovers and making sure the coaches trust him with the ball in his hands.

He finished with just one turnover in the opening win.

Nick Boyd played very well late in the game against UCSD, but he shot 4-11 for the game and had four turnovers. Turnovers will happen, but Occidental is a team that won’t provide any threats. If Boyd continues attacking the rim and plays turnover-free, then Boyd will light up the stat sheet.

The second key to this game is jumping out to a great start. The Aztecs are notorious for starting games slowly, as it takes them multiple possessions to start hitting shots at a consistent rate. Byrd and Boyd can be a big part of that by pushing the ball after rebounds and setting up scoring in transition.

“I’m really a guy that plays with momentum,” Byrd said postgame after the win against UCSD. “For me personally, I’m trying to start the game on the defensive end. Whether that be a deflection or a block, I feel like that translates to the offensive side for me.”

Byrd said it perfectly. If he can help lead his team to a great start defensively, then that will open more doors for the offense to get in rhythm.

This game will end in a blowout. This means the first half is very important for the Aztecs to make sure they can accomplish what they want in a shorter amount of time.

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.