LOGAN, Utah – Reese Dixon-Waters scored 19 points, but it was not nearly enough as San Diego State fell 71-66 at Utah State on Saturday morning.

San Diego State (15-6, 9-2 Mountain West) is tied for first place in the conference heading into Tuesday’s contest against Wyoming.

Utah State (18-3, 9-2 MW) will look for its fourth straight win when it plays at New Mexico on Wednesday night.

The teams battled back-and-forth early before SDSU pulled ahead 9-8 on a Pharaoh Compton layup at 11:47 and led for the remainder of the half. Tae Simmons and Miles Byrd followed it up with layups of their own to stretch the lead to five points. The Aztecs maintained a lead between five and ten points for most of the rest of the half until a pair of three-pointers by Jeremiah Oden and a Dixon-Waters bucket made it 29-18 with 3:38 to go, the largest lead of the day for either team. The Aggies scored the final nine points of the half to tie the game at 34 heading into halftime.

Oden and BJ Davis scored the first four points of the second half to put the Aztecs back ahead. Following a USU layup, Dixon-Waters made two free throws, and Davis hit a layup to put the Aztecs back up by six. SDSU made it a seven-point lead just inside the ten-minute mark on consecutive layups by Byrd and Simmons. Following a 7-0 Aggie run to even the score once again, Miles Heide hit two free throws to put the Aztecs back up. Utah State went ahead before Byrd made a game-tying three-pointer at 5:28 to make it 59-59. The Aggies scored the next four points, but Heide dunked to make it a one-possession game. USU went up by seven points at 1:55, but SDSU wasn’t done yet. Dixon-Waters willed the Aztecs back into the game with a pair of free throws and a three-pointer to make it 68-66 with 97 seconds to go. Drake Allen scored three more points for the Aggies, and the Aztecs were unable to respond, falling 71-66.

Sean Newman Jr. dished out five assists and Byrd blocked three shots.

Utah State was led by Karson Templin (18 points), Adlan Elamin (13 points, eight rebounds) and MJ Collins (12 points).

San Diego State shot better from beyond the arc (25.0%-23.1%) and the free throw line (77.8%-56.5%) while Utah State was slightly better from the field (40.6%-40.4%). The Aztecs had fewer turnovers (13-18) and scored more points off turnovers (21-8) and in transition (19-5).

THE NOTE
Reese Dixon-Waters scored in double figures for the 11th consecutive game.

UP NEXT
San Diego State returns home to play Wyoming at 8 p.m. PT on Tuesday night. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network and San Diego Sports 760.