What San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher and the players said about hosting Air Force

San Diego State has won 11 straight games overall against Air Force and 17 straight against the Falcons at Viejas Arena.

Still, the Aztecs will never take the Falcons for granted.

The Aztecs are down to their final two games against Air Force, starting Wednesday night at Viejas Arena in the Mountain West opener for both teams. After this season, the Aztecs are headed to the new-look Pac-12, along with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Utah State, while the Falcons remain behind.

Tipoff is at 7 p.m. and the game will be shown on CBS Sports Network.

“We're ready to make our annual visit to the dentist,” coach Brian Dutcher quipped on Tuesday. “That's called playing Air Force in basketball. We have great respect for Air Force. Obviously, last year's game at their place, Wayne McKinney had a length-of-the-floor buzzer-beater to win us the game.

“Every time you play them, you know they're an academy team. They're tough. They never give in. They'll play multiple defenses, which is always a concern. They'll play a 1-1-3 zone. They'll play a switching man. That's always concerning. As a coach, I like to be comfortable knowing what I'm going to see, what I'm preparing for. The nature of them switching defenses makes me uncomfortable. Probably more so than the team, the team will just play, but I'd like to feel I can have an impact on the game. I've done a lot of film prep, trying to put us in the best positions to be successful at the offensive end.”

Here are the highlights of Dutcher and the players’ press conference:

Dutcher on preparing for Air Force’s offense

“Defensively, preparing for an Air Force team who runs a Princeton offense that's evolved over the years. They're not as much as they used to be, back-cutting and that type of thing, but they're efficient offensively, and there are concerns. We put a lot of hard work in, and we'll see what the results will be tomorrow.”

Dutcher on Air Force running many different defensive looks

“They're just trying to confuse the offense. They have great experience in the post position, so they have a certain degree of rim protection and size and strength in there. They've got young guards that are playing for the first time, and they play youthful sometimes. Joe Scott’s a really good coach, and obviously we've coached against him for 20 plus years since his first stay at Air Force when he hung conference championship banners. We know he's a good coach. Obviously, the academies are the hardest hit with the new era of basketball. They can't take transfers. They can't take portal kids. Kids leave their programs for the portal, and so they're always having to reconstruct with youth, and that's always a tough task in this day and age, and he's done a really good job of that.”

Dutcher on the mental aspect of Magoon Gwath returning from an injury

San Diego State Aztecs forward Magoon Gwath (0). | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

“You want to go fully on that leg that they told you, ‘Do nothing on it for eight months. Don't put weight on it, don't jump off it, don't do this, and that we'll rehab it.’ Then you come back and play, and they tell you, ‘Play on it and jump off it in full space.’ There is a mental block. It's going to take a while. I told him that I wasn't surprised. I said, ‘Magoon, as ready as you feel when you come back, there's going to be a process to this, to get your timing and confidence back. I know in your mind, you feel like you're ready to go, but this is going to take time.’ Just like when he was a freshman last year, his first time in college basketball, it took time for him to hit his stride. I like the progress he's making, but I don't think we've seen anywhere near the Magoon Gwath we'll see as the year progresses.”

Dutcher on BJ Davis coming off the bench

“I feel that BJ is one of our top five players, but the spark he brings off the bench is immeasurably important. Most teams, they go to the bench and they’re surviving. Usually, your play doesn’t go up. We’re going to our bench right now with BJ and our performance goes up. He continues to accept that we value him, he’s an integral part of what we’re going and he provides us with something that I don’t feel anybody else, if we move them to the bench, could give us. BJ started every game last year and he was good. He’s coming off the bench and he’s better this year, so we’re excited with BJ to see if we can continue to get that kind of play out of him.”

Sophomore forward Pharaoh Compton on the game at Air Force last season

San Diego State Aztecs forward Pharaoh Compton (5). | Photo courtesy of San Diego State University Athletics

“It definitely took us a while to get over the hump in that game. For Wayne [McKinney III] to come in last second was definitely big-time for us.”

Compton on the team’s improvement

“I feel like every day, we’re taking a step in the right direction defensively, having attitude and taking action.”

Gwath on the progress of SDSU’s defense

“Individually, I feel I'm playing much better on close-outs. I’m protecting the rim a little better. As a team, I feel like we're still making strides defensively, everybody's been able to follow the game plan better than early in the season.”