San Diego State rebounds with 97-80 victory against Oregon in Players Era Festival

Aztecs come alive one night after humbling 40-point loss to No. 7 Michigan

Nov 25, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; San Diego State Aztecs guard Reese Dixon-Waters (39) shoots while defended by Oregon Ducks forward Sean Stewart (13) in the second half in a 2025 Players Era Festival group play game at Michelob Ultra Arena. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

That looked more like San Diego State basketball. 

A night after a brutal 40-point loss to No. 7 Michigan, the Aztecs used their stifling defense to set up an offensive showcase to beat Oregon 97-80 in the Players Era Festival on Tuesday night. 

The Aztecs (3-2) snapped a two-game losing streak.

Coach Brian Dutcher said the best thing was for the Aztecs to forget the beatdown they took from the Wolverines and move on as quickly as possible. They did just that and dominated the Ducks (4-2) on both ends of the court at Michelob ULTRA Arena. 

Reese Dixon-Waters led four Aztecs in double figures with 22 points, hitting 9 of 13 shots, including 4 of 7 3-pointers. BJ Davis nailed 3 of 4 3’s for 21 points and 7-footer Magoon Gwath nailed a corner 3 in the closing minutes to finish with 13 points, as well as four blocks and six rebounds. Fresham Elzie scored 12 points. 

The Aztecs made 39 of 58 shots from the field for 67.2% and were 11 of 23 from behind the 3-point line for 47.8%. On the other end of the floor, the Aztecs held the Ducks to just 25 of 62 shots for 40.3%.

The Aztecs outrebounded the Ducks of the Big Ten 34 to 26.

Locked in early

The Aztecs rode several runs to take control, including a 12-0 streak en route to a 51-41 halftime lead. 

Early on the Aztecs reminded fans what their overall game is expected to look like.

Dixon-Waters, who missed all of last season with a foot injury,  made a pull-up jumper and Elzie Harrington, the preseason Mountain West Freshman of the year, hit a 3-pointer. Gwath then blocked a shot, got the rebound and fed Miles Byrd, who threw an alley-oop pass to Pharoh Compton for a dunk and a 15-11 Aztecs lead. 

The Aztecs had three impressive dunks in the second half as they pushed the lead beyond 20 points. Pharaoh Compton and Miles Byrd had authoritative dunks and then Compton had an alley-oop dunk off a pass from Harrington to make it 88-71.

The Aztecs avenged a 78-68 loss to Oregon in last year’s Players Era Festival and evened the all-time series at 4-4.

What is the Players Era Festival?

SDSU is playing in the Players Era Festival for the second straight year. It was the only team from a non-power conference to play in last year’s eight-team event, and returned as part of the 18-team tournament. Each team gets $1 million in NIL funds, and the winner gets an additional $1 million. 

Up next

SDSU plays the Baylor Bears at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.