San Diego State opens final season in Mountain West with 81-58 win against Air Force

BJ Davis has another big game for Aztecs with 19 points

San Diego State Aztecs guard BJ Davis (10). | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

One of the pleasant early-season surprises for San Diego State has been the play of junior guard BJ Davis, who had another big game off the bench as the Aztecs launched their final go-round in the Mountain West with an 81-58 win against Air Force on Wednesday night.

Davis, who has become SDSU’s leading scorer this season without making any starts, scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the second half and added six assists for the Aztecs on a night when starters Miles Byrd and Reese Dixon-Waters were non-factors. Davis made 4 of 6 3-pointers.

Miles Heide and Magoon Gwath scored 12 points apiece for the Aztecs (6-3, 1-0 MW), who will have a massive step-up in competition when they face No. 1 Arizona on Saturday night in Phoenix. Pharoh Compton had 11 points.

The Aztecs beat Air Force for the 12 straight time and the 17th straight time at Viejas Arena. 

SDSU was the unanimous preseason pick to win the MW while the Falcons (3-9, 0-1) were picked to finish last in the 12-team conference. 

SDSU will move into the reformulated Pac-12 next season, along with four other MW teams, while Air Force is one of the schools that will remain behind.

How it came down 

Davis had just two points in the first half for the Aztecs, who couldn’t shake off the inexperienced but scrappy Falcons until early in the second half. 

San Diego State had a seven-point lead with seven minutes left in the first half before letting the Falcons close to one point. It was 33-30 at halftime. 

With about five minutes left in the first half, Byrd missed a wide-open windmill dunk, got the rebound and then stepped out of bounds. 

Byrd, the MW preseason player of the year, and Dixon-Waters had just two points apiece. 

With Davis leading the way, the bench had another big game with 47 points. 

What’s next

This was the final tuneup before the Aztecs head to Phoenix to face No. 1 Arizona on Saturday night. It’ll be the second game against a Top 10 team this season, coming three weeks after the Aztecs were embarrassed 94-54 by Michigan, which was ranked No. 7 back then before moving up to No. 2.

SDSU will return to Viejas to host Whittier on Dec. 22 before taking a break for Christmas and then resuming MW play at San Jose on Dec. 30.