San Diego State holds off New Mexico to take sole possession of Mountain West lead

Miles Byrd comes up big in 83-79 win over upstart Lobos

San Diego State Aztecs guard Miles Byrd (21). | Photo courtesy of San Diego State University Athletics

Somehow, some way, Miles Byrd and the San Diego State Aztecs sit alone atop the Mountain West basketball standings. 

The Aztecs blew a 15-point lead in the second half, fell behind by two with 1:11 left and then regained control to take a thrilling 83-79 win at Viejas Arena on Saturday night. 

SDSU (13-4, 7-0 MW) took a half-game lead over No. 23 Utah State (15-2, 6-1), which was stunned 84-74 by newcomer Grand Canyon in Phoenix earlier Saturday. 

The Aztecs appeared to be cruising to a blowout win, but big man Tomislav Buljan and the rest of the Lobos made them work for it. 

That seems to be the Aztecs’ MO this season — get a big lead, blow it and then stage a comeback. It worked on Saturday night thanks to Byrd, who had a game-high 21 points as well as eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals. He had a key block and steal in the closing minutes. 

Pharoh Compton scored 12 points, Taj DeGourville 11 and Reese Dixon-Waters  had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Aztecs. 

THROW IT DOWN @PharaohCompton #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/hoKmHOrxoi

— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 18, 2026

Despite the loss, the Lobos (14-4, 5-2), continued to be impressive in their first season under coach Eric Olen — who came from UC San Diego — and an entirely new roster.

The clutch moments

SDSU led 51-36 just one minute into the second half, but the Lobos used a 10-0 run in the next few minutes, fueled by consecutive SDSU turnovers, to pull to 51-46 and force coach Brian Dutcher to call a timeout. 

From there, the game was very much in doubt. The Lobos continued to whittle away at the lead and tied it on a 3-pointer with four minutes left by Luke Haupt, the son of one-time Aztec player Mike Haupt, who coaches at San Diego’s St. Augustine High. 

Buljan twice tied the game after the Aztecs had pulled ahead, and finally gave the Lobos the lead at 79-77 with a steal and slam with just more than a minute left. 

But that would be all the Lobos would get. 

Miles Heide made two free throws, BJ Davis hit a jumper set up by Byrd’s steal and Dixon-Waters finished it off with two free throws. 

Buljan had 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Up next

The Aztecs go back on the road to face Grand Canyon in its house of horrors, the 7,000-seat Global Credit Union Arena, where visiting teams must deal with the loud student section known as the Havocs. 

Then ranked No. 25, SDSU experienced the full blast of the Havocs on Dec. 5, 2023, when it suffered a 79-73 upset loss in front of an overflow crowd at GCU. It was the first-ever win for the Lopes against a Top 25 opponent, leading to the fans storming the court. That was the season after the Aztecs reached the national championship game before losing to UConn.