What San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said after getting his 200th career win

Brian Dutcher joined his former boss, Steve Fisher, among the three men’s basketball coaches in San Diego State history to reach the 200-win plateau.

The milestone came in a 73-57 win against Idaho State of the Big Sky Conference. On Sunday at Viejas Arena.

Dutcher improved to 200-68 since replacing Steve Fisher before the 2017-18 season. He became the Aztecs head coach to reach the 200-win plateau, and the fastest. The only other 200-game winners are Fisher (who had a school-record 386 wins) and George Ziegenfuss (316), and they picked up their 200th wins in their 349th and 357th games, respectively.

“I'm happy Steve Fisher retired, because I think he could still coach, and he'd have 200 more wins,” Dutcher said. “He'd have about 1,000 by now, but I'm glad he handed the reins over to me. I learned from him when he was a head coach. When you surround yourself with really good people, assistant coaches and players, and everybody embraces a role, including mine, great things can happen for all of us. I'm just a byproduct of all the great people I've surrounded myself with, including my wife, Jan.”

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

Dutcher on the Aztecs’ overall performance

“I was happy with the team. It's what you want in a nonconference game. Idaho State was a good opponent. I knew that from watching tape on them. They have a lot of new players, and they're well coached. They pick and pop the shooting four-man, and they throw it in the post. Our pressure wore them down. Nobody likes to go against our full-court pressure. Our pressure affected the game in both halves.

Dutcher on the teams’ offense

“Offensively, we shot 59% for the game, and had a season low in turnovers. We did well offensively, and I was happy with that. We were open on a lot of stuff, and we had to decide, ‘Do we want to just try to score on the first side of the floor?’ Against good teams, like Idaho State, sometimes you have to play second and third side to get the shot you want. We had choices to make on the first side, so I thought sometimes we might have shot it too early, but they were pretty good shots. We got out-rebounded, but last year, they were top 10 in the country in rebounding, because they send everybody. We got exposed on some things, which I wanted to happen as a coach, as long as it didn't cost me a game.”

Dutcher on managing the roster

“There are things to teach, but I like my team. I like it a lot, and we'll be good as long as the players can accept they may not play the minutes they want to play every night, because we're really deep. Can they handle disappointment and not being in the game when they think they should be in, and when they don't get the shots they think they should get? Look at Miles Byrd today. He had four points. People say, ‘Man Byrd, four points.’ But he had six steals and six assists. He impacted the game. It might not always be with points, which people look at.

“It was great having Reese [Dixon-Waters] come back, and he scored the ball at a high level. Reese is probably wondering why we didn’t run five more plays for him, because he was scoring the ball. The players have to be good, and I have to be good. It's going to be a season of managing expectations and keeping their energy and their attitude where it needs to be for a successful season.”

Dutcher on Jeremiah Oden’s performance

“Jeremiah [Oden] does a good job. He stretches the floor. He made a three, and he's dangerous from there. He stretches the floor and opens it up for the guards to play, so they can't leave his man in the paint as a helper. If they do, he'll find a way to get a three or two up. Jeremiah is an important part of what we're doing. I thought he was really productive today, and he should be. He's a sixth-year senior. He's played a lot of basketball, and he plays with a great maturity.”

Senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters on returning after missing the home opener

“I had a lot of fun getting back out there. We played pretty good, we stuck to the game plan. Basketball is a game of runs, and I think we weathered their storm pretty well.”

Dixon-Waters on the team’s defensive effort in the second half

“It's our job to set the tone on defense from the guard position. We spoke in the locker room about what we needed to do coming in. It was a lot of fun causing havoc.”

Sophomore forward Pharaoh Compton on playing in foul trouble

“I picked up two fouls early in the game, and then two again when I got in, so after that, I'm just trying to play as hard as I can without fouling. I did a great job at that. I would say just trust in my game, if I'm guarding straight up, people on offense can't score on me. I'm playing pretty hard. I need to play as hard as I can when I'm on the floor.”

Compton on his takeaways from his defensive performance

“I need to blast the ball screen, and I’ve got to get back to the gap after. If the big man wasn't getting to the gap, then that's how they're getting threes.”