What San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher, players said after winning at UNLV

San Diego State protected its lead atop the Mountain West standings by winning 82-71 at UNLV on Saturday.

It was a nice bounceback from Wednesday night, when the Aztecs took a gut punch in losing 70-69 in their one and only MW game at Grand Canyon, where SDSU dropped to 0-3 overall.

The win at UNLV certainly wasn’t easy, but once the Aztecs got control in the second half, they didn’t let up.

“This was a hard one because we got back at 3:15 in the morning after the Grand Canyon game,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “We didn't do a lot the next day. Yesterday, we traveled and we went through practice, but we didn't really have time, because of the flight, to get to their offense, so we got here and walked through it on the floor. At that point, I was worried about our legs. I didn't want to do too much but we had to do something. I think they did a good job concentrating on a one-day prep, basically, to play a good team on their home floor. To be four and one in this league on the road right now, we take great pride in that.”

This was SDSU’s last regular-season game at the Thomas & Mack Center before moving into the Pac-12 next season. UNLV remains behind in the MW.

The Aztecs are 24-4 in their last 28 games overall against UNLV and 15-3 in their last 18 games at the Thomas & Mack Center.

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

Dutcher on the game overall

“Both teams were tough offensively. We shot an incredible percentage, and so did they in the second half, 56%. If you just look at the numbers, we won it at the foul line. We shot 22-for-26. They missed 10 free throws and shot 22. I think they were a bit more even before they were fouling at the end to try to get back into the game. To our credit, we made our free throws, and that was the difference in the game. Both teams had the same number of field goals, one different in the 3s. I thought a big thing was that they made six 3s in the first half and only one in the second half. I thought that was important. In the second half, we found them quicker, and they had some looks they didn't make. It was a good basketball game between two really good teams, and we were fortunate to come out with a win.”

Dutcher on Reese Dixon-Waters

“He has so much maturity. He's a veteran guard that plays the right way. If he gets rolling, he's really hard to guard, but he also defends at a high level. That's why we can play him all these minutes. His defense stays strong no matter how his offense is going, and that comes from maturity. We really roll when Reese is making shots and he made shots and he made free throws today.”

Reese with the splash from up top 💦#GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/3bo2Gcqf0G
— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 24, 2026

Junior guard Miles Byrd on his shooting performance

“I think I did a better job of taking good ones. I’m a confident 3-point shooter so that's what I'm going to do. It's about finding that balance between the good ones and the forced ones. Today, they were all step-in threes. I think I'm a 45-50 percent 3-point shooter if it's a step-in wide open 3. I’ve just got to stay confident with myself and not let outside noise drop my head.”

Byrd on the team’s play in the second half

“It's funny. We’ve been in this position a lot already this year. We were just talking to each other saying, ‘We’ve got to be mature. We’ve got to come together and not let slippage happen in the second half.’ It’s showing our maturity as the season goes on. We’ve been in these situations multiple times and a few times it hasn't gone our way. The past few times, we've been able to battle back and be mature and finish games.”

Byrd on wearing red uniforms

“I think the red ones have been treating us well this year. Normally, there's a little curse around it, but we've been wearing the red ones a little bit more than normal. I like it. It's a different look. I feel like we’ve all played well in our reds this year. Oregon was one of the red games, and that was a great game, obviously. Maybe we’ve got to stick to the reds on the road or something.”