What San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher and the players said after beating Fresno State 71-52

San Diego State played well in aspects and sloppily in others in a 71-51 win against Fresno State on Saturday night that ran the Aztecs’ winning streak to five games.

It also kept the Aztecs (11-4, 5-0) kept pace with Utah State atop the Mountain West.

The Aztecs opened a 29-point lead early in the fourth quarter before the Bulldogs cut it in half.

“We played three quarters of a really good game, but we have human nature. You get ahead by what we got ahead with 10 minutes to go, and then we lost focus,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “Pharaoh (Compton) took a three, (Miles) Heide took a three, which I'm fine with at times. We took some harder shots. We lost focus defensively and let our foot off the gas enough to let a team that's good come back and fight their way to a closer margin. The last two minutes and 30 seconds, we kind of spurted out again and made some good plays. If you lose focus in basketball, you're susceptible to having the other team make a run on you, and that's what happened.”

Magoon Gwath started for the first time in three games and responded with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Here are the highlights of Dutcher’s and the players’ news conference:

Dutcher on FSU point guard Zaon Collins missing the game with an injury

“He's arguably their most important player, because he dominates that position for them. To have to play a whole game without him was hard on them, and we took advantage of it. We forced 17 turnovers, and we got their big in foul trouble in the first half. We scored 23 second-chance points. I don't think they had a point off an offensive rebound. All those statistics matter.”

Dutcher on Gwath’s game

“Magoon was great, so I started him. I went inside to him right away, and you just see his length. He missed little shots, but he's so long, he just grabs his own rebound and puts it back in. Then he made a couple of threes. He made a mid-range, dove on the floor for a loose ball. He's getting more comfortable, and that's good to see. The better he is, the better we are.”

Another one from downtown 😮‍💨 @magoongwath #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/X3iYxMENte
— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 11, 2026

Dutcher on going just 6 of 29 from 3-point range

“We didn't shoot the ball particularly well from three today. We've been a pretty good three-point shooting team, but we've missed a lot of open looks from three.”

Dutcher on his big-picture thoughts

“Overall, a good victory, a home victory, and now we head on the road and play in a really hard environment at altitude in Laramie. We'll have to be ready. We have tomorrow off, practice two days, and jump on the plane on the second day and fly to Laramie and get ready for a tough opponent on their home court.”

Dutcher on the defensive performance

“We had a great first half. They shot 20% in the first half, and the mistakes we made in the second half were enough to let them get layups, get to the basket and get a couple open looks. That didn't happen in the first half or early in the second, when we were locked in, but we lost enough concentration because things were easy. We had built a lead and then let off the gas just enough so that we weren't at our best. Fresno’s good, they're capable of scoring anyway, but a lot of that had to do with us not concentrating for a full game.”

Dutcher on the direction the team is heading

“Overall, we're getting better, and that's all I want to see. Whatever is in the past is in the past. We’ve played a good, competitive schedule. Aztec basketball, over the history I've been here with Steve Fisher and now here as the head coach, and my staff, always gets better as the year goes on. I think that's standard for San Diego State. Our goal is to get better, whatever that means on both ends of the floor. We have to find a way to get better. We do that, we'll have the season we want to have.”

Sophomore forward Magoon Gwath on his on-court mentality

“I played harder and just tried to go out there and have fun. I tried not to think about my game too hard. I tried to just go out there and play and whatever happens, happens.”

Gwath on the team’s defensive performance

“I feel like we're more locked in during possessions. We’re not having as many slip ups.”

Senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters on improving as a team

“I think we've been growing a lot, especially on the defensive end and our attention to detail with little things like rebounding, not gambling as much, and playing together as a team. I think everybody has progressed, everybody really got into their role, and everybody started playing.”

reverse lay from Reese 😤💪🏼#GoAztecs @Aztec_MBB pic.twitter.com/AfeAsrIW94
— MESA (@mesa_aztecs) January 11, 2026

Dixon-Waters on scoring in double figures for five consecutive games

“Especially in the last three days, I've gotten to self-reflect and see what was bothering me throughout the games. I think it's looking at the end result, instead of just staying present in the moment, whether it's the possession or in a timeout or just cheering on a teammate. Just staying present, playing hard and being aggressive, and coming out and not being scared.”