SAN JOSE — After twice blowing double-digit leads, after somehow continually throwing away post entry passes against the considerably smaller Spartans, after giving up six points in nine seconds, after missing four front ends of one-and-one free throws, after repeatedly being burned by mismatches from their switching defense, it became eminently apparent that this wasn’t going to be the game when San Diego State’s underachieving basketball team magically snapped out of its season-long funk.
This was about survival.
This was about avoiding embarrassment.
The Aztecs did, using a late surge from super-sub BJ Davis to win 81-68 at San Jose State and move to 2-0 in the Mountain West with underwhelming wins against teams picked to finish near the bottom of the 12-team conference.
It was just the latest nervy game against the Spartans. Both last year involved overcoming huge deficits to win by three. Two years ago, the Aztecs needed a late block to preserve another three-point victory.
This was a two-point game with five minutes to go, before Davis, quiet for the first 29 minutes, took over. He had 15 of his 18 points over the closing 11 minutes, and when he wasn’t scoring, he was grabbing rebounds, or slowing Spartans 6-foot guard Colby Garland when no one else could, or finding Reese Dixon-Waters in the corner for a dagger 3.
This was a game the Aztecs (8-4) should have won easily. San Jose State entered the night 5-0 against Quad 4 or non-Division I opponent, and 0-7 against everybody else.
And the Spartans were missing one starter and two rotation pieces to injury.
That it was as close as it was for as long as it was represented something of a statistical anomaly. The Aztecs outshot the hosts 52.8% to 34.8% and held them to 6 of 26 behind the 3-point arc and were the beneficiaries of 18 turnovers.
The Spartans compensated by drawing switches on ball screens, then attacking SDSU’s bigs with drives and drawing fouls. Garland finished with 30 points despite shooting just 2 of 11 on 3s but was 14 of 14 at the line.
Miles Byrd and Pharaoh Compton each had 11 points for SDSU. Dixon-Waters had 10, six of them coming on 3s in the final minute.
The hope was that what Byrd called a “Christmas reset” might bring some consistency and rhythm. Didn’t happen.
A 10-0 run helped build an early 12-point lead … only for them to surrender a pair of 3-pointers in the space of, yes, nine seconds. Garland made one, and SDSU’s Sean Newman Jr. was whistled for a push on the rebound as the ball was in the air. That gave the Spartans possession, and Jermaine Washington quickly made a 3 from the opposite wing.
The Aztecs chugged away and got the margin back to 11 … only to surrender a 9-0 run that included a momentum-sapping technical foul on Magoon Gwath after, yes, he was fouled and about to head to the line. Gwath missed the front end of the one-and-one, Garland made both technical free throws and the Spartans added two more on the ensuing possessions – two-point game.
The Aztecs made their first seven free throws … then went 2 of their next 7 which was essentially 2 of 10 when you consider missing the front ends of one-and-ones three times.
San Diego State Aztecs’ Miles Heide (40) fights for a rebound against San Jose State Spartans’ Douglas Langford (24) in the first half at the Provident Credit Union Event Center at San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec 30, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
The Aztecs looked like they would go into halftime up six … only for Douglas Langford, starting for injured Sadrique NgaNga, to fly in for a tip at the buzzer when no one blocked him out. It stung even more when you looked at the halftime stats and saw that the Spartans had 13 turnovers in the open.
But at least that was better than last year, when SDSU trailed by 17 at intermission and it took an impassioned speech from USD transfer Wayne McKinney III (and his late offensive rebound) to salvage a three-point win.
Or better than the last time a San Diego team played on this floor, on Dec. 5 when the USD Toreros trailed 42-14.
San Diego State Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher coaches their game against the San Jose State Spartans in the first half at the Provident Credit Union Event Center at San Jose State University in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec 30, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
The problem: There was no 17-0 run to open the second half this year.
The Aztecs opened the second half with yet another turnover trying to get it inside, Washington made a 3 and it was a one-point game.
The Spartans finally went ahead 53-51 with 12:56 left when they missed a 3 but little-used Marcus Overstreet – playing because of injuries and foul trouble – punked the 7-foot Gwath for an offensive rebound and follow.
From there, it was back and forth until Davis started slashing and gashing the Spartans’ press for layups.
Notable
This is the final regular-season meeting between the teams (San Jose State doesn’t come to Viejas Arena in the Mountain West’s unbalanced schedule) and might be for a while. The Aztecs move to the Pac-12 next year while the Spartans stay in the Mountain West … The crowd was evenly split between red and blue. The Aztecs have a strong Northern California representation. Miles Byrd and BJ Davis are from here, along with assistant coach Dave Velasquez and director of basketball operations Matt Soria.