San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher, players address struggles ahead of Utah State showdown

The San Diego State Aztecs are running out of time to find out what’s going wrong with their hyped-up season and get it fixed.

The Aztecs will play for a share of the Mountain West lead at home on Wednesday night against Utah State, but only because the conference-leading Aggies were tripped up 80-77 at Nevada on Saturday night.

That came a few hours after the Aztecs were stunned 83-74 at Colorado State, ending a head-scratching week in which they also lost at home by 10 points to Grand Canyon.

So instead of being two games back, the Aztecs (18-8, 12-4) are just a game behind the Aggies (23-4, 13-3). However, New Mexico has pulled into a second-place tie with the Aztecs and can edge ahead if it wins at Nevada on Tuesday night.

“I’m excited to get back on the floor,” coach Brian Dutcher said Monday. “This conference is incredible. We play again on Wednesday night with an opportunity to hopefully win a game and be back in first place with three more to go in the Mountain West. We have ourselves in a good position. Unfortunately, we're not playing really good basketball right now, so the task for the next two days is to get better in practice, to find a way to fight through a tough stretch and get a victory against a very good Utah State team at home on Wednesday night.”

The Aztecs were the unanimous preseason pick to win the regular-season title while the Aggies were picked second.

Here are the highlights of Dutcher and the players’ news conference:

Dutcher on what problems he’s seen the last few games

“The loss of Grand Canyon hurt us because it was a home game, but we have to do what Nevada did. Nevada went on the road, lost by close to 20 here in Viejas, then lost by huge margin at San Jose State, and then found a way to get a home win. That's what the Mountain West is like. We have to play better, but we also have to know that this is a very competitive league, and if you're not ready to play your best every night, you're susceptible to being beat.”

Dutcher on the team’s fight against Colorado State

“I thought we battled to the end. We were pressing, doing whatever we thought we could do to fight back in the game. It always looks bad when the other team makes 13 threes. That's probably the most we've given up this year, and we have to do a better job of contesting them. We have to play better if we want to win on the road. We're going to have two hard road games left at New Mexico and at Boise State. It's about trying to be your best when your best is required. That's what we have to do down this stretch.”

Dutcher on the return of Elzie Harrington

“It was good having Elzie back. I know he was probably frustrated. He played for 18 minutes and it was probably the first game in his life in which he didn't score a point. He's getting his timing back. It's good to have Elzie back, and we'll see how he practices the next two days, and hopefully he'll continue to get better and stronger and feel like his game timing is back.”

Senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters on the final stretch of the season

“I think in this last stretch, our mentality is to win every game. We all want to make the tournament, but we have to take it one day at a time, one game at a time. We have to take care of that, especially with the regular season title at stake.”

Dixon-Waters on the last two games

“We have to manage frustration and our emotions better in certain stretches of the game when things aren't going our way.”

Dixon-Waters on how he talks to the younger guys as a veteran

“We all get frustrated, including myself, so I try to manage my emotions first, and then talk to everybody else after. I don't want to come at anybody in a disrespectful way because I'm frustrated with how the game's going. I saw at certain times throughout the game that my teammates were frustrated and I just tried to keep them in the game.”

Dixon-Waters on practice the next couple of days

“We have to practice better and have a better sense of urgency. We have to play harder. That translates into the game. Today’s practice will be the first real test. Today is like a game for us and we have to look at it that type of way.”

Junior Guard Miles Byrd on the last two games

“I was obviously frustrated losing. Colorado State had a great game plan for us. We struggled offensively, which didn't help us, but it’s hard to beat a team that shoots that well at home anyway. You’ve got to tip your cap. It was a tough Mountain West road game. We're very familiar with them, the altitude, everything involved. They were just the better team on Saturday. I think GCU was the same thing. They came in with a point to prove. I don't know if we were ready to handle that punch and it ended up not going our way. We’re now just trying to get back to the basics, get that energy back in the team, and pump the excitement, because we have a big one on Wednesday for first place.”

Byrd on the homestretch

“We have to feel the urgency of the moment, knowing that we're a game away from being in March. March basketball is the most important basketball that you can play. We have to win these next three. We have to work on playing the best basketball possible. We have three games, maybe two games, to get an opportunity in the conference tournament as well to get our names into the field of play. I think it starts with today's practice. We don't want to get too far ahead. We have to work on our basics and get back to playing the great basketball that we were playing.”