Reese Dixon-Waters led the Aztecs with a game-high 19 points in his return to the floor as UCLA came ready to play in San Diego

Viejas Arena – San Diego State University 

San Diego State Aztecs basketball is back!

The Aztecs hosted the preseason top-25 UCLA Bruins for the first exhibition game of the 2025-26 season. The Bruins will begin the season as the 12th-ranked team in the country, and the Aztecs got a chance to take them on in front of fans.

The Aztecs had an opportunity to showcase what they have improved on over the offseason, with expectations for a successful season. It did not start well, but the team saw some positives go their way. Bruin’s head coach, Mick Cronin, had his team ready to play from the starting jump.

“Thanks to UCLA for coming down here and scrimmaging us in Viejas,” head coach Brian Dutcher said postgame. “It was a lot different than last year, not just because of the outcome but because of this environment. You know, you could tell we were a little nervous at the start, but we fought our way back into the game.”

“The two things I put on the board pregame were turnovers and playing with pace. We had 21 turnovers. Twenty-one turnovers against a great UCLA team is hard to come back from. They caused a lot of them; their defense is very good. Pace was the other thing. When we played slow, we had the floor space but in the second half, we moved better. We played faster. I thought we functioned better in the second half offensively.”

The starting five for Brian Dutcher’s squad included G BJ Davis, G Taj DeGourville, G Reese Dixon-Waters, F Jeremiah Oden, and F Miles Heide. UCLA began with former New Mexico Lobo G Donovan Dent, G Skyy Clark, G Jamar Brown, F Tyler Bilodeau, and F/C Xavier Booker. Miles Byrd played 20 minutes off the bench on Friday night.

The Aztecs started the game off very sloppily on both sides of the floor. UCLA hit its first three shots of the game and jumped out to a 9-0 lead. SDSU committed six turnovers and started 0-4 from the field in the first 4.5 minutes.

The next four minutes continued to see bad basketball being played by the Aztecs. It took the team eight minutes to score their first basket as they started 0-9 from the floor. Sean Newman Jr. hit a deep three-pointer as the fans at Viejas Arena cheered like it was a game-winning shot. SDSU committed 10 turnovers in the first eight minutes, compared to UCLA’s three. UCLA shot 50% during that time and led 17-3.

It came with a slow pace, but the offense started to pick up for the Aztecs. Jeremiah Oden nailed a triple and a free throw, and Reese Dixon-Waters (who made his return to Steve Fisher Court for the first time since the injury) scored on a lay-in. UCLA led 21-9 with 7:43 remaining in the first half, but SDSU had life.

Pharaoh Compton with the and 1!!#GoAztecs @Aztec_MBB pic.twitter.com/0vRiHqIJ77

— MESA (@mesa_aztecs) October 18, 2025

UCLA’s field-goal percentage started to even out as SDSU’s defense also improved. UCLA started taking tougher shots as the Aztecs defended hard.

The first half ended with UCLA having all the momentum. They led 39-23 and used another 7-0 run to get back in control. Skyy Clark showed out for the Bruins in the first half with 11 points and three rebounds. He was all over the place, making plays, keeping the momentum on his team’s side.

Dixon-Waters and DeGourville combined to score 12 of the team’s 23 points in the first half.

The Aztecs, with the same group of players, needed a big second half to stay in this game against the No. 12-ranked Bruins.

SDSU started the second half much better than the first. SDSU started the first eight minutes of the second half with a 15-10 advantage over the Bruins. SDSU cut the Bruins’ lead back under 10 points. The ball was moving much better in this half.

The Aztecs kept fighting. They would not quit in this game. They stormed back from down 20 points to cut the deficit down to just three points with 7:36 remaining. The offense was firing on all cylinders as they were driving to the basket, hitting tough shots, and playing strong defense. UCLA could not find an open look for a majority of the second half.

Taj DeGourville made a three-point play to deficit the lead down to just three.

However, the Bruins would not let the Aztecs take control. Just when things started to go well for SDSU, the Bruins gained control once again and led by 11 points with under two minutes to go. After a Dixon-Waters bucket, SDSU had possession down nine after a turnover from UCLA. It was now or never for the Aztecs.

SDSU just didn’t have enough time left. A terrible start to the game cost them in the end. A 7-point loss to UCLA is nothing to be upset about, and in fact, the Aztecs should feel very good about the second half they showcased in front of their fans. The Aztecs looked like a completely different team after the first eight minutes.

Sports have a preseason for a reason. SDSU’s sloppy offensive play won’t last long.

Dixon-Waters spoke after the game about what it was like to be back on the court and score 19 points.

“It was a lot of fun to play and to finally be back with some of the guys last year and the new guys,” he said postgame. “Like I said, the game is a lot easier for me cause I had to sit and watch last year. As fun as it was scoring, I still wanted to win the game. So, it was cool that I had a team-high, but I don’t really care if we didn’t win, even if it was a scrimmage.”

The next scrimmage will be against the University of San Diego on the 29th here at Viejas Arena.

News & Stats

• Dixon-Waters finished with two steals, one rebound, and one assist to go with his 19 points.
• Taj DeGourville ended with 10 points and one block.
• Miles Byrd had just two points on 1-6 shooting and had two blocks, one rebound, and two assists
• Donovan Dent ended with 18 points on 4-16 shooting. He ended 10-for-10 from the FT line.
• Skyy Clark finished with 13 points on 5-8 shooting.
• SDSU shot 57.1% in the second half compared to 26.9% in the first half.
• The Aztecs had 8 blocks, 14 second-chance points, 16 points off turnovers, 26 points in the paint, and 21 bench points

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.