LAS VEGAS – San Diego State’s final season in the Mountain West will continue at least one more night, as the program advanced to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament with a 71-62 win over No. 7 seed Colorado State at the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday.
Miles Byrd led the Aztecs with 12 points, making 5-of-10 field goal attempts while anchoring a hard-nosed defensive effort. Pharaoh Compton, who graduated from Arbor View High School in Las Vegas, added 11 points (10 in the first half) on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting in addition to grabbing four rebounds.
It wasn't the prettiest offensive performance from San Diego State, who fought early nerves and struggled from 3-point range throughout. However, the collective defensive effort from the Aztecs was exactly that kind that gets you a win when the chaos of March takes hold.
"That's just San Diego State," Byrd said. "Defense and rebounding. I've heard that said plenty of times. We could have off-nights shooting. There's definitely going to be times where in games shots are not going in, and defensively we've got to be good enough where we can still win those games."
DJ Cabanlong - The Sporting Tribune
San Diego Aztecs guard Miles Byrd (21) yells in celebration after a made basket during a Mountain West Championship tournament quarterfinal game between the San Diego Aztecs and the Colorado State Rams, Thursday March 12, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nev.
San Diego State broke metaphorical serve with an 11-0 run to close the first half, taking advantage of one of several prolonged scoring droughts by Colorado State throughout the game. Colorado State started 3-of-4 from 3-point range and 5-of-7 from the field overall, but a six minute drought and nine consecutive missed field goal attempts sent the Rams down a path of inconsistency that ultimately ended their stay in the Mountain West.
The game was the clash of styles it was expected to be, almost to a comical extent. Colorado State, the ninth best 3-point shooting team in the country, shot near its typical 38 percent from beyond the arc on 32 attempts. San Diego State, despite winning by nine, only made 1-of-11 attempts from 3-point range. However, the Aztecs rendered their poor long range performance moot by racking up a 42-8 advantage in paint points while holding Colorado State to just six (!) total makes on 26 two-point field goal attempts.
"They did a good job taking away the three, so we weren't afraid to curl into the paint, drive into the paint, set ball screens, roll hard to the rim,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “We played around the rim. A lot of the plays I ran, I had two bigs on the blocks. That made it easier to rebound instead of running one in from the perimeter.
“We had some sets where we had bigs in the position to rebound. A little rebounding triangle going on. That was a success. So yeah, I would like to make more threes, but when we don't make threes, we still have a dangerous team able to win games without making the three, which is kind of rare in basketball.”
DJ Cabanlong - The Sporting Tribune
San Diego Aztecs forward Magoon Gwath (0) yells to hype himself up during a Mountain West Championship tournament quarterfinal game between the San Diego Aztecs and the Colorado State Rams, Thursday March 12, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nev.
The driving force behind San Diego State’s dominance in the paint was sophomore 7-footer Magoon Gwath, who was a disruptive force immediately upon checking into the game early in the first half. Gwath effectively ended Colorado State’s early rally with a pair of first half blocks and an and-one that promptly shifted momentum, and even added a 3-pointer in the final minute of the frame that sent San Diego State to halftime with a 39-27 lead.
San Diego State entered Thursday’s game firmly on the bubble of NCAA Tournament at-large contention and would have almost certainly been eliminated with a loss. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had the Aztecs listed among his first four teams out ahead of the win, likely making Friday’s semifinal another must win if they want to play in March Madness.
The Aztecs will take on the winner of No. 3 New Mexico vs. No. 11 San Jose State in the semifinals at 9 p.m. on Friday.