What Brian Dutcher, San Diego State players said after Mountain West title game loss

Loss to Utah State leaves Aztecs’ fate in hands of NCAA Selection Committee

San Diego State Aztecs head coach Brian Dutcher. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The San Diego State Aztecs’ postseason hopes are now in the hands of the NCAA Selection Committee. 

After losing 73-62 to top-seeded Utah State in the Mountain West Tournament championship game on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, the No. 2 Aztecs must wait for Selection Sunday to see if their resume is strong enough for an at-large bid. 

“The Mountain West was undervalued this year,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “Seven teams with 20-plus wins, so the parity -- I've said it all year, the parity has hurt our league this year. That's what every league wants is parity. So if you're in a Power Four, the parity is fantastic. Get 18, 19 teams in. But in the Mountain West, parity is not a good thing. There wasn't enough separation between the top.

“We had a good year. We finished alone in second place. We made the conference championship game. I think we went 9-9 or 9-10 in Quad 1 and 2 games, and we've got a good team. It's the same thing, though. The thing we all know, not being in the Power Four, is the opportunities are shrinking, they're not growing.”

Utah State led by four points with about five minutes to go when a 3-pointer by MJ Collins and two free throws by Zach Keller after getting fouled by Reese Dixon-Waters bumped the lead to nine points. 

“Obviously the critical play of the game was the five-point play in a four-point game, and that was really a huge momentum turner, took the lead from four to nine in one possession. Then they just kind of held on to it from that point on,” Dutcher said. 

The Aggies claimed the MW’s automatic NCAA bid. The Aztecs were already below the bubble for an at-large bid due to a late-season swoon.

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

Dutcher on the game overall

“A hard-fought game, and it's basketball. We're disappointed. We wanted to win in the worst way and put ourselves in a position to do that, and then obviously Utah State did a great job defensively and really limited our opportunities at the offensive end.”

Dixon-Waters on the five-point swing

“I lost MJ Collins going on the baseline and just happened to run into a screener, tried to cheat it, something I shouldn't have done, and whatever happened happened.”

Guard Miles Byrd on whether the Aztecs deserve an NCAA berth

“Leave that up to the committee. Hopefully.”

Byrd on whether it’s NCAA or nothing for the Aztecs

“Yeah, I mean, as players I don't think we've really got much say in that. Obviously been an Aztec for four years, been to the tournament three years in a row, so obviously we're hoping to hear our names tomorrow. If that doesn't happen, we'll probably meet as a team and figure out what the next step is. But we're focused on hopefully hearing our names tomorrow.

Dixon-Waters on playing in another tournament

“I'm with whatever. I love playing. Hopefully we get our name called tomorrow. And then, like he said, we'll meet as a team.”

Dutcher on leaving the MW for the Pac-12

“Mountain West has been great for us. Mountain West has been good for San Diego State but San Diego State has been good for the Mountain West. We built the brand. They'll be making money off our tournament appearances for some time to come. Unfortunately we're not taking that with us. I'd like to take that money with us. But we've been a great representative of the Mountain West. Obviously played in multiple NCAA tournaments, making it to the National Championship game, raised the profile of this conference.

“I think based on how we played for a long time, I always say, a lot of these teams in the conference are looking a lot more like San Diego State than not San Diego State, bigger, physical, good defensive teams, play the right way, play hard. There's a lot of really good coaches in this league.

“So I'd like to think we were a part of that because the team that's winning the conference you've got to find a way to play with them and beat them, and sometimes you have to play like them to do that. So I think we've changed the profile of the league to a degree, also.”