San Diego State didn’t win its men’s basketball exhibition against preseason No. 12 UCLA last Friday at Viejas Arena, but it was a success on almost every other front.

Coach Brian Dutcher got a chance to evaluate his team’s progress against a nationally ranked opponent with the added emotion from being in front of fans. He played 12 members of the roster, 11 of them extensively. No one got hurt. His team acquitted itself well following a dreadful start, pulling within three in the second half before losing 67-60 after trailing 17-0.

And the program made money for revenue-sharing with its players despite the game being outside the season-ticket package with limited time and resources to market it.

After paying UCLA $90,000 in travel expenses and an appearance guarantee, plus the costs of a promoter who arranged the game and operational costs at Viejas Arna (which is owned by the Associated Students at SDSU, not the university), the program is expected to net in the “mid-five figures,” according to a team official.

These games were traditionally staged in a closed-door format before NCAA rule changes allowed preseason exhibition games between Division I programs in front of spectators. The other option was to play on a neutral floor, which would have involved travel that Dutcher tries to avoid this time of year given the unique travel demands of the Mountain West.

Including the game as part of the season-ticket package would have meant a financial loss because the university doesn’t own the arena. Playing against a lesser, cheaper opponent wouldn’t have afforded the same opportunity for growth.

The announced crowd was 9,500, about 3,000 short of a sellout. Among West Coast exhibitions, only Arizona drew more (13,328) for St. Mary’s, although that was part of the season-ticket package and not sold independently like SDSU-UCLA. Arizona State at UC Irvine drew 1,422. Nevada at Utah drew 2,193. USC at Loyola Marymount drew 2,431. UNLV at Washington drew 6,774.

“We were going to play it regardless, whether it was closed-door or in front of fans,” Dutcher said. “The opportunity to make some NIL money is a bonus. Letting our fans get an early look at us — good, bad and in between — and then play against a preseason-ranked opponent and find a way to fight our way back into it, showing a little toughness about us, all of that was good, too.”

Media day

Mountain West media day is Thursday in Las Vegas. The Aztecs are widely expected to be picked to finish first in the preseason media poll.

“I would imagine with what we have returning, people would probably be inclined to vote us first,” Dutcher said. “But I’ve had years where we’ve seen teams picked in the bottom (half) end up winning the league. Sometimes they put a team together. That’s the beauty of the transfer era. No one really knows what anyone’s going to be until you start playing games.”

Does he welcome the additional pressure of expectation?

“We’re used to it at San Diego State,” he said. “It’s not added pressure. Generally, we’re picked up at the top of the conference and a lot of times in first place.”

SDSU will bring Dutcher, Miles Byrd and Reese Dixon-Waters to media day at Resorts World Las Vegas. The conference will also name a 10-player preseason all-conference team plus the preseason player of the year, newcomer of the year and freshman of the year.

Next up

The Aztecs returned to practice Monday after getting the weekend off from work on the floor. They now have a week before their second and final exhibition, Oct. 29 against USD at Viejas Arena.

Dutcher started Taj DeGourville, BJ Davis, Dixon-Waters, Jeremiah Oden and Miles Heide against UCLA. He said he “pre-determined” that he’ll swap some guys out for the Toreros.

“There are a couple positions I’ll start differently, get some other guys out there and get them an early look,” Dutcher said. “Then we’ll determine who starts in the opener.”

Two position battles to watch: Point guard between DeGourville, Louisiana Tech transfer Sean Newman Jr. and true freshman Elzie Harrington, and center between Heide and Pharaoh Compton. Also, with Byrd back at practice after missing more than a week, expect him to return to the starting unit.

USD was scheduled to host Division II Cal State Dominguez Hills in a preseason exhibition last Saturday afternoon, but it was canceled. With Interstate 5 closed for military exercises at Camp Pendleton, Cal State Dominguez Hills was unable to travel south.

Recruiting update

The Aztecs had visits from five high school seniors. They landed Zach White, a 6-foot-6 wing from Notre Dame High School of Sherman Oaks. Elias Obenyah committed to Stanford, and Josh Irving eliminated SDSU in paring his list to three: Kentucky, Louisville and Texas A&M.

That leaves 6-6 Anthony Felesi from Utah Prep and 6-4 Josiah Johnson from Mayfair High School outside Los Angeles. Felesi recently announced five finalists: SDSU, UCLA, USC, Pitt and BYU, with UCLA viewed as the frontrunner. The Aztecs might be in the lead for Johnson, who has exclusively visited Southern California schools. Neither is expected to announce a decision imminently.

Alumni report

Lamont Butler was waived by the Atlanta Hawks and is expected to sign with their G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks. The former SDSU point guard came to training camp on an unguaranteed Exhibit 10 contract, was waived, then signed again when the Hawks needed bodies for their final two preseason games.

With the Hawks sitting their entire projected rotation, Butler had 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in a 119-118 win against former Aztecs teammate Keshad Johnson and the Miami Heat. They traded jerseys afterward.

That means only two SDSU alums are on NBA opening rosters this season: Johnson with Miami and Kawhi Leonard with the L.A. Clippers. Jalen McDaniels, a six-year NBA veteran with four different teams, was in camp with the New Orleans Pelicans but was waived earlier this month.

Malachi Flynn, who spent last season in the G League after the previous five in the NBA, is in Turkiye with Bahcesehir, where he is averaging 19.9 points and 4.6 assists in seven games, all wins.

Jaedon LeDee is in Germany with Frankfurt’s Fraport Skyliners. He’s averaging 18.7 points and 7.3 rebounds in three league games.