Love was in the air Saturday night at Viejas Arena.

Members of the San Diego pep band, students in The Show and some seasoned citizens in the stands wore red shirts with “I (heart) Aztec Basketball” on the front.

Nevada players wore shirts during warmups that read “Choose Love” on the right shoulder.

Fans were asked to choose from among the songs “DJ Got Us Fallin in Love,” “Paint the Town Red” and “Crazy in Love” to be featured in the second half.

And the officials were showered with cheers the moment they stepped on Steve Fisher Court. Ha. Nope, not even on Valentine’s Day. They were lustily booed at every opportunity.

SDSU (18-6,12-2) moved back into a share of first place with Utah State in the Mountain West with a 71-57 victory over Nevada, which suffered its annual heartbreaker at Viejas, where the Wolf Pack is 0-14 this century.

SDSU had a comfortable 36-35 halftime lead, the margin equal to the 11 points scored by Aztecs guard Reese Dixon-Waters in the opening period. It was the 14th straight game in double figures for Dixon-Waters.

Actually, comfortable is the wrong word when it comes to the Aztecs. And things got as anxious as a guy on a first date with the prettiest girl in school. That 11-point lead? Gone 4 1/2 minutes into the second half after Nevada went on a 13-2 run to make it 38-38. The tying basket came on an emphatic dunk by Wolf Pack forward Elijah Price.

The Aztecs responded with a run of their own, scoring 13 straight points in a surge highlighted by two 3-pointers by guard BJ Davis and another from forward Magoon Gwath, who returned after missing six games with a hip injury.

The sudden surge made it 51-38, and the Aztecs had some breathing room again.

Dixon-Waters led the Aztecs with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Gwath added 13 – nine of them coming when he went 3-for-3 from 3-point range. Davis turned a 4-of-12 shooting night into a 14-point performance thanks to a pair of 3s and a 4-for-4 showing at the free-throw line.

Gwath did not start, but was the first player off the bench — the crowd greeting him with “Gooooon” — when he came in for Jeremiah Oden with 16:47 left in the first half.

The bulky knee brace protecting Gwath’s surgically-repaired right knee was replaced with a neoprene sleeve.

The 7-foot sophomore forward made an immediate impact during a 3 1/2-minute stint, forcing Price to alter a shot under the basket and grabbing the rebound.

Moments later, Gwath took a pass from teammate Miles Byrd and looked to dunk. He was fouled before reaching the rim, but made both free throws to give the Aztecs their first lead at 7-6 with 15:52 on the clock.

Gwath returned later in the half and hit a 3-pointer from the top of the arc that provided a 26-13 Aztecs advantage with 6:52 left in the half. He had five points and three blocks in 6 1/2 minutes or work in the first half.

Notable

• SDSU super fan Chet Carney, who died last week, was recognized during pregame for more than four decades of supporting Aztecs athletics. Viejas PA announcer Darren Starks led the crowd in Carney’s signature “1-2-3 … Aztecs” chant following a moment of silence.

Members of The Show held up nearly a dozen “big head” signs featuring Carney’s face during the game.

• The “I Believe” chant was conducted via satellite, with NASCAR drivers Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Riley Herbst leading the crowd. It was part of a cross-promotion, along with 5,000 red rally towels given out and four race cars parked on the Viejas Arena concourse, for the NASCAR event coming to Coronado in June.

• SDSU returns to Viejas Arena on Tuesday night against Grand Canyon (16-9, 9-5 MW), which handed the Aztecs a 70-69 road loss last month.