FINAL: No. 24 San Diego State - 84, Fresno State - 62

Back in the rankings for the first time in the 2024-25 season, the No. 24 San Diego State Aztecs open their Mountain West Conference season on the road against the Fresno State Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Save Mart Center.

SDSU (4-2) is coming off wins over then-No. 21 Creighton and an overtime result against then-No. 6 Houston at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, while losing to current No. 12 Oregon. Miles Byrd earned one of the five spots on the All Tournament Team after averaging 14.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists with a three-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio, which also earned him Mountain West Player of the Week honors.

Forward Pharaoh Compton also earned Mountain West Freshman of the Week honors on the back of averaging 9.0 points and 2.7 rebounds while shooting 65.0% for the tournament. Forward Magoon Gwath leads the country averaging 4.0 blocks per game, and is looking to earn his first Mountain West Freshman of the Week award as guard Taj DeGourville won the honor for the week of Nov. 18.

This is the earliest start to Mountain West conference play for the Aztecs since the 2019-20 season, with them facing a Fresno State (3-4) team that has dropped its last two games against Washington State and Cal Baptist. Two of the three Bulldog wins have come in their only home games thus far this season, knocking off Sacramento State as well as Prarie View A&M — the third win came at Long Beach State.

First-year head coach Vance Walberg has Fresno State playing with the second-highest tempo in the country, averaging an adjusted 74.1 possessions per 40 minutes. Junior guard and Triton College JC transfer Amar Augillard leads the team averaging 17.6 points per game, along with leading the team in 3-point shooting (15-of-59) and free throws (30-of-37), while sophomore guard and Salt Lake CC transfer Zaon Collins is averaging 15.0 points. Redshirt freshman forward and Drake transfer Elijah Price earned Mountain West Freshman of the Week for Nov. 25 and leads the team in rebounding at 9.1 per game, which ranks third in the conference. Junior center Hawaii transfer Mor Seck's 3.67 offensive rebounds per game is 17th nationally, while Price is 34th (3.43).

SDSU has won their last 10 against Fresno State and are 9-0 all time, including 7-0 on the road, as a ranked team against the Bulldogs. The Scarlet and Black swept the season series last year with a 74-47 win at Viejas Arena and a 73-41 result on the road — however, in the 2023-24 season while ranked No. 21 the Aztecs battled to a 45-43 win at Save Mart Center.

Catch up on coverage leading into Wednesday:

• Freshly ranked, No. 24 Aztecs get different sort of challenge at high-octane Fresno State (San Diego Union Tribune)
• Aztecs Basketball Preview: SDSU vs. Fresno State (East Village Times)