San Diego State sits alone atop Mountain West standings following road win over UNLV

Miles Byrd’s statistics don’t jump off the page, but the San Diego State junior guard has been one of the best two-way players in the Mountain West over the last two years.

Byrd had arguably his best game of the season on Saturday against UNLV (10-9, 5-3), finishing with 23 points, five assists and four steals in an 82-71 road win. It was a nearly perfect shooting night for the left-hander, who went 7 of 8 from the floor, 5 of 5 from beyond the arc and 4 of 4 at the foul line.

“I think I did a better job of taking good ones,” Byrd said after the game. “I’m a confident three-point shooter, so that’s what I'm going to do. It’s about finding that balance between the good ones and the forced ones. … I’ve just got to stay confident with myself and not let outside noise drop my head.”

Byrd, a 2026 NBA Draft prospect, is averaging 11.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.1 steals and one block this season. He is shooting a career-high 35 percent from beyond the arc.

The Aztecs are alone at the top of the MWC standings, sitting one game above New Mexico (16-4, 7-2) and Utah State (16-3, 7-2).

On Friday night, the Aggies overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to steal a 65-61 road win over Colorado State (12-8, 3-6). MJ Collins Jr. led the way for Utah State with 20 points.

“We just made a conscious effort at halftime of we’ve got to get the ball in the paint,” Utah State head coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “We’ve got to get Mason (Falslev) off of drives. I thought our (after timeout plays) were really good. I drew up things that we never even had in our package. The kids listened. They executed much better than (against) UNLV.”

The Aggies had lost consecutive games to UNLV and Grand Canyon (13-6, 6-2).

New Mexico trailed by eight points early in the second half against Nevada (14-6, 6-3) on Saturday but rallied back for an 80-73 victory at The Pit.

Grand Canyon extended its winning streak to three games by taking down Fresno State (9-11, 3-6) on the road, 68-57. Jaden Henley had another strong game for the Lopes with 23 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

Boise State (12-8, 4-5) also picked up its third straight victory with a 96-54 rout of Air Force (3-17, 0-9).

Wyoming (12-8, 3-6) held on to defeat San Jose State (6-14, 1-8) at home, 66-62.