San Diego State regains its defensive touch, beats San Jose State 81-68 in return to Mountain West play

BJ Davis scores 18 points off the bench

San Diego State Aztecs guard BJ Davis (10). | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

San Diego State’s suffocating defense is back and so is BJ Davis’ scoring touch off the bench. 

That combination helped carry the Aztecs to an 81-68 win at San Jose State on Tuesday as they resumed pursuit of the Mountain West title in their final year in the league. 

Davis scored 18 points for the Aztecs (8-4, 2-0 MW), who were back in action for the first time in a week. It showed early on as the Aztecs let the Spartans stick around into the second half before pulling away. 

The Aztecs were the unanimous preseason pick to win the MW title, while the Spartans were picked to finish 10th in the 12-team league. 

Because of three Quad 1 losses, the Aztecs know they pretty much need to win the MW postseason tournament in order to gain the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Making a run through the regular season and earning the top seed in the MW tournament will certainly help in that regard, although the Aztecs will still need to stack three wins to cut down the nets and move on into March Madness.

The Aztecs currently are No. 83 in the NCAA NET Rankings, which are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for March Madness. 

The game

SDSU led 42-38 at halftime. San Jose State’s last lead was 53-52 with 12:43 left. 

Miles Byrd and Pharoh Compton scored 11 points each for the Aztecs, while Reese Dixon-Waters had 10.

.@_mbyrd21 doing @_mbyrd21 things‼️

📺: @CBSSportsCBB pic.twitter.com/e35eVytZAU

— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) December 31, 2025

SDSU held the Spartans to 28.6% shooting in the second half and to 34.5% overall, while shooting 52.8% themselves.

San Jose State’s Colby Garland scored a game-high 30 points. 

This was the last regular-season meeting between the Aztecs and Spartans. SDSU is moving into the reconfigured Pac-12 while the Spartans are staying behind in the MW. Due to an unbalanced schedule this year, the Spartans will not make the trip to Viejas Arena.

Up next

The Aztecs return to Viejas Arena to host Boise State on Saturday, with a 7 p.m. tipoff. In the last meeting between the schools, Boise State won 62-52 in the quarterfinals of the MW tournament. The Aztecs went on to the First Four, where they were routed 95-68 by North Carolina. 

San Diego State and Boise State are moving into the Pac-12 next season, along with Colorado State, Utah State and Fresno State. They’ll join holdovers Oregon State and Washington State, plus fellow newcomers Gonzaga and Texas State.