What San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher and the players said before facing Troy

Magoon Gwath is expected to make his season debut for the San Diego State Aztecs when they host Troy on Tuesday night at Viejas Arena.

The 7-foot Gwath missed the two exhibition games and wins against Long Beach State and Idaho State as he worked his way back from surgery on his right knee in late April.

The Aztecs will be working Gwath back into action while playing for the first time in nine days.

“They're a high-scoring team that we have to try to slow down and at the same time be able to function at an offensive level as we get Magoon Gwath back on the floor and try to figure out how to best use him as he works his way back into game shape and game timing,” coach Brian Dutcher said on Monday.

Gwath withdrew from both the transfer portal and the NBA Draft to return for another season at SDSU. He was the Mountain West Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year last season despite missing nearly six full games late last season before returning for the Aztecs’ loss to North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament First Four.

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

Dutcher on what the team’s been doing the last several days

“We’re excited to get back on the floor after a little layoff in between games. We've had good practices, competitive practices, and we've tried to add a few things, because we had the extra time for end of game situational stuff and things of that nature, as we get ready to play a stretch of a lot of games in a short period of time. Troy is going to create some issues for us. They're averaging 87 points per game, five starters in double figures, they make 10 3s a game. Whenever you're playing a team that's capable of making the 3, you hope not to run into a night where they're making 15 on you.”

Dutcher on having nine days in between games

“It was just scheduling. We couldn't get anybody in here to play us. Even in buy games, people want to take their money elsewhere, where they feel they have a better opportunity to win. Being good has its pluses and its minuses, and putting a schedule together is definitely harder to do when you've had the success we've had over the years. During practices, we put in a lot of new stuff, both offensively and some defensive things we're working on, and we'll see where they lead. I don't want too much where all of a sudden we're running too many things and none of them well. We try to be very selective. We’re trying to run some sets to get Magoon the ball now that he's back, try to run some plays specifically designated to get him the ball in areas where he can be dangerous. Those are things we're working on, not only for Troy, but for the rest of the season.”

Dutcher on how much the team will show against Troy

“Whatever we need to win, you'll see. We'll find the rhythm of the game and what we're having success with. Like I said, Troy's dangerous offensively, and so even if we get off to a good start, we know they're capable of putting runs together with the three-point shot, and even if we get behind early, we know that we can get back into the game. Troy seems like a game where each team is capable of going on runs. We want to keep theirs short and ours extended, if we can.”

Dutcher on how the team finds opponents

“We look at a lot of the metrics. They were an NCAA tournament team last year. With that being said, if they returned their whole roster, we might be a little leery to say, well, let's be careful about bringing them in. We look and see what they've lost, what they have returning. We don't want bad teams in here. We want teams that are fairly competitive. If you looked at our first couple of games, Long Beach State played us really well for a half, Idaho State was competitive, and Troy will be the same way. These are teams that are capable of playing with us, and we want to schedule games that will make us better, but at the same time, we don't want to schedule buy games that end up in losses. That's always the danger of buy games.”

Junior forward Miles Heide on facing Troy

“I think they have a pretty good roster. They have three coaches’ kids, so they're going to be well coached, and they're going to have a lot of confidence. We have to come in there with our game plan and just attack with whatever we’ve got.”

Heide on having nine days in between games

“We're coming to work every day, so obviously sharper, and you'll see a difference in that aspect. I also just think you’ll see that in our toughness. We had nine days of practice, but they weren't off. We were working every single day. Hopefully, we got into better shape.”

Heide on the return of Magoon Gwath

“He was the Defensive Player and the Freshman of the Year last year, so he's definitely going to bring his defensive aspect. He's got offensive game as well. We're going to have extreme depth and length at almost every position. Having him back is going to be great for us.”

Sophomore guard Taj DeGourville on facing Troy

“Like Heide said, they have three coaches’ kids, so they know how to play together. We have to prepare for everybody the same way and just execute our game plan.”

DeGourville on having nine days in between games

“I think we're going to be sharper. We’ve had good practices, so we just have to wait until game time to see if we execute.”

DeGourville on the return of Magoon Gwath

“As a point guard, he’s perfect for us. He's going to bring back everything he did last year, but even better, honestly. It's going to be good to have him back and play with him on the floor again.”