Three thoughts on San Diego State’s 67-60 loss against No. 12 UCLA in a preseason exhibition on Friday night at Viejas Arena:
1. A win in a loss?
The Aztecs typically would have an off day after playing, especially without another game for 12 days. But there they were Saturday, gathered in the film room to watch clips from Friday night in meticulous detail.
The point of these exhibitions is to provide teachable moments, and there were plenty after trailing 17-0 and committing 10 turnovers in the opening seven minutes. Sloppy passes, stagnant offense, blown defensive assignments, poor decisions.
“That’s why we play against UCLA every year, because we know what each program is capable of,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “Both teams guard at a high level, so points are hard to score. If you get points against San Diego State, or if you get points against UCLA, you’ve found something that works, instead of scoring at will against some other opponents. That makes no sense.
“We’re going to learn a lot of lessons when we watch the tape.”
UCLA coach Mick Cronin agreed.
“It was great,” he said. “We got paid ($90,000) to come here. I wanted the toughest game we could get without getting on an airplane. That without question, you know who it’s going to be. It’s always going to be San Diego State in California. … We got everything we wanted out of it.”
The Bruins also got something the Aztecs didn’t: the win.
But that might not be the worst thing in the world for the Aztecs, if history is a guide. These games, previously played as closed-door scrimmages without media, cheerleaders or fans, have often served as an inverse predictor of the coming season.
Last year: Won 72-67 at preseason No. 22 UCLA with only eight healthy scholarship players, six of which were freshmen and sophomores. Barely made the NCAA Tournament and got blown out in the First Four.
2023: Trailed Arizona State 40-20 at the half at Viejas Arena, came back and lost 72-68. Went to the Sweet 16.
2022: Trailed No. 8 UCLA 18-2, came back, lost 89-87 (sound familiar?). Went to the Final Four and played in the national championship game.
2018: Beat USC 80-64 at the Galen Center. Didn’t make the NCAA Tournament.
2017: Blew out preseason No. 11 USC 98-76. Needed to win nine straight to close the season to make the tournament, then lost in the first round.
It’s a small sample size, but there might be something to it. Preseason practice is a certifiable slog, especially since the NCAA went from a start date of Oct. 15 to six weeks of endless workouts that begin in September. The Aztecs have three weeks to go before the Nov. 4 opener, but they’ll also have the sting and motivation from a loss to push them through.
Uninspired day at practice? Coaches will utter two numbers: “17-0.”
“Had we scrimmaged someone and won by 40 points, we’d all be in there having this false sense of pride that, oh, we’re way better than we are,” Dutcher said. “It was exactly what I wanted out of this scrimmage. I would have liked to win it, but that’s not the purpose of why we did it.”
2. Taking and making
Reese Dixon-Waters played his first college game in 568 days, healthy once again after missing all last season due to a pesky fracture in his right foot that didn’t heal as quickly as hoped or expected. He finished with game-high 19 points in an efficient 28 minutes, shooting 7 of 11 (3 of 5 on 3s) after missing his first two.
“It was a lot of fun to play, to finally be back,” he said. “The game is easier for me because I had to sit out and watch last year.”
The scoring was welcome, certainly, on a team that didn’t tickle the net until nearly eight minutes into it. But it was how the sixth-year senior guard scored that was the most promising development of the night.
He was taking, and making, tough shots. That’s something the Aztecs have had on their best teams, and something that was conspicuously absent at times last season.
Look at the last three SDSU teams to win 30 games.
In 2013-14, it was Xavier Thames. In 2019-20, Malachi Flynn. In 2022-23, Matt Bradley.
Dixon-Waters doesn’t create off the dribble like they did, but he is elite when it comes to rubbing off screens and shooting over defenders.
“He’s an extremely talented player and the reason he was picked a preseason all-conference player a year ago,” Dutcher said. “The thing is, I thought he didn’t press his game too hard. I thought he let it come to him. He played his game. Reese is at his best when he lets the game come to him.
“Reese is a shotmaker, and it’s good to have (that) in the lineup.”
Cronin noticed it immediately.
“Obviously,” he said, “Reese, having him back, is the key to me.”
3. Stand down
The mid-October game exposed deficiencies in both teams. It also exposed an idiotic tradition inside Viejas Arena:
Standing and rhythmically clapping at the start of the game until the Aztecs (finally) score.
Friday night, fans did it for 7:45, or 665 seconds, through one media timeout and nearly a second, through 16 miserable possessions, through nine missed shots and 10 turnovers, through an increasing sense of panic and desperation, through a 17-0 deficit.
“You could tell we were a little nervous at the start,” Dutcher said.
The clapping served as an audible reminder of the Aztecs’ offensive inadequacies, and players visibly tightened as the clanked shots and errant passes mounted. What is purportedly an act of support became a symbol of frustration.
No one is quite sure when or why it started at SDSU, only that it’s been around at least 25 years. New Mexico has been doing it for decades, at least since 1977, when cheerleaders from Syracuse saw it during a nonconference tournament at The Pit and introduced it to the Northeast. It’s still a regular part of the Orange fan culture at the 35,000-seat JMA Wireless Dome, despite the pleas of some to unceremoniously retire it.
New Mexico fans still do it, although when Dave Bliss took over as coach in 1988, he complained that it put undue pressure on the Lobos’ offense and suggested they do the opposite by standing and clapping until the visiting team scored. Fans compromised by doing it until BOTH teams score their first points … in BOTH halves, a practice that endures today.
In 2016, they stood and clapped for more than 11 minutes and through two media timeouts as Arkansas-Pine Bluff flailed away, trailing 16-0 before finally making the net dance.
They got a taste of their medicine three seasons later, when SDSU came to The Pit and fans had to keep clapping while SDSU amassed a big early lead.
The score: 17-0.
Originally Published: October 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM PDT