Well for starters, the Viejas Arena crowd wasn’t clapping for almost 8 minutes of game clock last night. But that wasn’t the only thing our Aztecs improved in their 87-54 decimation of cross town University of San Diego on Wednesday night.
It was the second and final exhibition game to start the 2025-2026 men’s basketball season. The first one took place last week against UCLA and to say things were different, yeah that would be an understatement.
They hype leading up against the Bruins felt like a prize fight. For the Torreros—not so much. No wonder the team full of Aztecs newcomers may have been just a little nervous putting their best foot forward for the first time against UCLA.
“I mean, I think practice is a lot harder than the games, honestly,” said freshman Elzie Harrington in the post game presser. “And I think the first half against UCLA, I was very nervous, just because it was so built up. But I think by the end of the first half, I realized it’s just basketball and the guys I’m going against every day are just as good or better than the people we’re going to play against.”
An attitude adjustment for sure. The chatter online and on socials leading up to USD were much less frequent and the vibes inside Viejas were definitely much more restrained. Though Brian Dutcher’s team came out missing several early shots, they kept their focus and most importantly their energy.
“I think we were the aggressors.” Forward Pharaoh Compton affirmed. “That’s what we’ve been working on all week in practice is ball screens. And I just think we executed that tonight.”
Brian Dutcher’s words rang true in his post game against the Bruins. That hefty first run out of the gates was very purposeful for his coaches to pin point what the early struggles could be with such a talented but inexperienced together team. Despite the loss, this game was a strong bounce back as you could’ve wanted and all without your two most heralded players, Magoon Gwath and Miles Byrd.
“We’ve improved from our first performance against UCLA.” Dutcher began post game. “And it wasn’t like the opponent, it’s like there were things we had to do that we got done. So, if we’d have played UCLA again, we’d have been better at certain things, and I thought we were today.”
Looking at the final stats Reese Dixon-Waters led all SDSU scorers again with a smooth 17 points on 6-10 shooting. He was followed by newcomer Latrell Davis (13 pts 4-7 FGs), Elzie Harrington (12 points, 3-5 FGs), and Taj DeGourville (11 pts, 4-6 FGs, 3 assists).
The offense shot 54% overall and out-rebounded USD 49 to 24. A delightful sight for the SDSU staff knowing they were battling up against a few new USD talented pieces on the front-court like Colorado transfer Assane Diop, and overseas player Vuk Boskovic. Against the Toreros the Aztecs toughness stepped up and showed out.
Going without Goon and Byrd presented a fun challenge and Dutcher’s starting five sounds like it’s going to be a free flowing kind of pace this season, perhaps not the dug in approach we’ve been used to in the past.
“Yeah, I wanted to switch it up and you know, I told Heide and Pharaoh I was going to start one against UCLA and one against USD and it might be that way all year because they’re pretty even. BJ didn’t start for the first time in a long time. I thought he handled it pretty well, and I told these guys they have to find ways to be happy for themselves and happy for their teammates because we have a lot of depth on this team and if we all stay focused on the goal of winning and getting better, then we could have a special season.” -Brian Dutcher.
For as different as we may see some lineup or even starting changes this season, the old reliable, time-tested deciding factor SDSU basketball has built itself on will always decide the most important of situations.
“You know, you have to be responsible for your game every day on the floor, not just in the games, but in practice situations. So, and then I told them if it’s close, I’m going to air on the side of defense. I’m going to play the better defender because we’re a defensive program and that doesn’t take away from their offensive game. But if it’s even, I’m going to play the guy I feel impacts the game more at the defensive end.”
Pharaoh Compton who had the most electrifying play of the night echoed that sentiment.
“I just think it starts in practice,” Compton noted. “Obviously just being on the same page with the starting lineup and whoever’s out there. I think talking is the biggest thing as well and I think we did a good job talking out there.”
A big jump in effectiveness and communication. Those areas who benefitted perhaps the most were freshman newcomers Elzie Harrington and Tae Simmons. Both demonstrated physically their heightened abilities over USD but also their craftiness in their own different distinct ways.
Tae Simmons 7 points and 6 boards is a tough matchup playing well above his age. Harrington’s 12 points can come in many ways, in particular hustle and putbacks.
“I just look at it as a regular game. Just trying to bring as much energy as effort and effort no matter what role I’m in. I feel like I’m going to make the most out of whatever opportunity I get.”
Elzie plays with such great pace. He probably has his whole career. He’s smart he know how to play the game. And Tae’s got a body he doesn’t look like a freshman. I’m happy with both my freshman.
“Concentrating and doing our job more often than not. We know what we’re supposed to do. but when we breakdown we think we have a better idea of what we’re trying to do and that doesn’t usually work out so well. So they should just be concerned with pleasing me, and if they do they’re going to be very happy.”
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