SAN DIEGO – During the week head coach Brian Dutcher likened San Diego State’s games with Air Force to ‘a trip to the dentist.’ After gritting their teeth through the first half, the Aztecs earned their lollipop with a 81-58 win over the Falcons on Wednesday night at Viejas Arena.
BJ Davis scored 13 of his 19 points over a 4:10 stretch in the second half to go with a game-high 6 assists, while Miles Heide had 12 points and eight rebounds to go with Taj DeGourville having his best scoring game since the season opener with 9 points on three 3’s.
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Defense keyed the second half swing after San Diego State (6-3, 1-0) led by 3 points at the half of their final Mountain West Conference opener. They dished a season-high 27 assists, making just four baskets without a helper, and forced 10 of Air Force’s (3-9, 0-1) 15 turnovers in the second half, getting 14 of their 19 points off turnovers in the final 20 minutes.
The second half began with a scrambling no-look save by Miles Byrd to Magoon Gwath in the post, who fed it up top for Heide to knock down his first 3-pointer of the season and the third from downtown of his career.
SDSU and the Falcons traded scores until Heide picked up his third personal foul at the 15:13 mark, which brought Pharaoh Compton into the game and raised the temperature for the Aztec defense. After the Falcons turned it over just four times in the opening half, they turned it over five times in the first eight minutes of the second.
Harrington got free for a straight-line drive for a layup and then Compton got fouled on a dunk for an and-1 that gave the Scarlet and Black their first double-digit lead at the 14:13 mark.
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Davis then had his ‘hibachi’ moment, knocking down a 3-pointer to start a stretch where he scored 13 of SDSU’s next 15 points. Over that span the Aztec lead grew to 61-44 and then even further when Gwath split a pair of free throws and DeGourville tripled.
SDSU allowed the Falcons to score multiple buckets in a row just once in the second half, a 6-0 stretch just after the nine minute mark, but by then the game was well out of reach.
A final run of 9-0 put a bow on things, with Davis knocking down the final of his four triples and Compton punctuating it with a dunk, as the forward had 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench.
San Diego State forward Miles Heide (40) fights for the ball during an NCAA Basketball game between Air Force and San Diego State, Wednesday December 17, 2025 at Viejas Arena in San Diego, Calif.
Brandon Pollard – The Sporting Tribune
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San Diego State forward Miles Heide (40) fights for the ball during an NCAA Basketball game between Air Force and San Diego State, Wednesday December 17, 2025 at Viejas Arena in San Diego, Calif.
It had seemed too easy over the first few possessions for the Aztecs, beginning the game with an and-1 by Gwath and a cutting Heide layup in the first 42 seconds of the game.
But the Falcons 3-2 zone caused problems when SDSU was forced to work their half-court set, going scoreless over a 5:32 stretch where they missed eight in a row from the field. During that time the Falcons opportunistically converted on a pair of open 3-pointers in an 8-0 spurt that led to an early 3 point lead.
It grew as large as 4 points when Eli Robinson tripled again from the right wing at 12:49, but a steal and score by Davis led to a transition dunk that woke up the Scarlet and Black offense.
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Jeremiah Oden splashed a long ball, then Reese Dixon-Waters found Heide left alone in the middle of the zone for an uncontested dunk, which kick-started SDSU’s sixth 10-plus point run of the season. Playing with a quicker tempo helped the Aztecs reel off six makes in a row, pushing the lead out to 23-15 with 8:28 remaining, then after a Falcons make, DeGourville nailed a straight-away 3-pointer to give SDSU their largest lead of the half.
But the Scarlet and Black struggled shooting down the stretch, making just three shots—all on layups or in the paint— while missing 11 of their final 14 shots from the field. It enabled the Falcons to creep back within 33-30 at the half.
Nine of the Aztecs that played in the opening 20 made a field goal, with Gwath and Heide’s 7 points apiece the most on the squad.
After notching a win against a team ranked well into the 300’s in most major overall metrics, the Aztecs will face the No. 1 Arizona Wildcats next. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20 at PHX Arena in Phoenix, Ariz.
This story will be updated.
