San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher reacts to costly road loss at Colorado State

Magoon Gwath a non-factor due to back, knee soreness as Aztecs lose second straight

Feb 21, 2026; Fort Collins, Colorado, USA; San Diego State Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher gestures in the first half against the Colorado State Rams at Moby Arena. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The San Diego State Aztecs got outplayed on both ends of the court in losing their second straight game, 83-74 at Colorado State on Saturday. 

That means their NCAA Tournament resume took another hit and they won’t be playing for a share of first place when Mountain West leader Utah State comes to San Diego on Tuesday night. 

Additionally, 7-footer Magoon Gwath was a non-factor due to knee and back soreness. 

“We were a little too careless with our press,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “We gave them some open looks early. The press was effective at our place. Rarely do we press on the road as much as we tried, but their offense is so dynamic; if you let them time up everything, they scored on us. We’ve done a good job in practice. We did a good job in the last game of guarding it, but they're a very good offensive team.”

Gwath had just one point in five minutes, all in the first half. Reese Dixon-Waters scored 16 points and Miles Byrd had 15 for the Aztecs (18-8, 12-4).

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

Dutcher on Magoon Gwath and Elzie Harrington

“Magoon played great against Nevada, he competed against Grand Canyon, but then he missed two days of practice. His knee was sore and then his back tightened up. So, we have to continue to get him healthy, get him where he can compete at full speed in practice, and then throw him in the game. Elzie, on the other hand, was practicing really hard to get himself back out here, so he had 18 minutes, but he was practicing at that pace over the last two or three days to get himself ready. Whereas Magoon was basically going maybe one rep on, one rep off. I value Magoon, and I love what he brings to the team, but he has to get in game shape, where he can go multiple reps in practice before I expect him to go multiple reps in a game.”

Dutcher on the Rams’ shooting

“You run into a night where a team makes 13 threes, and then you add that with 29 free throws, it’s tough to win. We usually win with our defense, but it wasn't good enough. The first half, offensively, we were in quicksand. I felt bad for [Miles] Heide, we couldn't get our first dead ball to get him out of the game, and he was gassed here, but he did a good job fighting through it. Then our pace picked up in the second half. We were really slow in the first half with the pace of our offense. In the second half, we moved at greater pace and actually had a really good second half offensively, but we never got within range where they really felt us. They would just come down and run 20-30 seconds of offense every time. So credit to Colorado State. They're playing well right now with five in a row.” 

Senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters on the team’s recent struggles

“I think for us it starts in practice. I don't feel like we’ve practiced the last two days with the intensity that we've been practicing with. So, I think it begins there. Then it's just simple things, like getting treatment, taking care of your body, and just the little stuff that helps you be great on the court. We, as a team, have to get better at that. Then obviously, executing the game plan offensively and defensively was a struggle today. 

Dixon-Waters on the game overall

“Colorado State played well. They ran their plays, they got what they wanted. And on defense, they set the tone at the beginning of the game. They didn't allow us to get a lot of pin-downs. They turned us over. As a team, we let frustration get to us in these last two games. As a vet, I'm trying to do a better job at bringing everybody together, because I get frustrated myself. I’m trying to work on my body language. I think that's something everybody can improve on as well. It's a team effort though, it's not one specific person that's not playing well. Everybody had moments in the game where they could have played better. We just have to be better in practice and get ready for these games.”