What San Diego State's Nick Boyd and Pharaoh Compton said before matchup against Utah State
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San Diego State (18-6, 11-4) will visit Utah State on Saturday night, looking to close the gap in the Mountain West standings over the final few games. The Aztecs have won seven of their past eight games and continue to see their postseason resume rise through the eyes of several bracketologists.
The Aztecs still have work to do over the final five games of the regular season and have major opportunities to secure their postseason standing with games against Utah State and New Mexico over the next five days.
Utah State (23-4, 13-3), the reigning regular season champions in the Mountain West, are coming off a 48-point victory against San Jose State earlier in the week. The Aggies are 13-2 at home this season and have won seven of their past nine games overall, with both losses coming against Mountain West leader New Mexico.
San Diego State players Pharoah Compton and Nick Boyd, part of a large rotation the Aztecs have deployed in recent weeks, met with the media before the Aztecs headed to Utah.
Here’s what Compton and Boyd said on Thursday.
Pharaoh Compton
On his connection with Taj DeGourville:
“It’s uncanny. There’s so many things you can say about me and him, but it’s deep in basketball for sure. He always knows where I’m going to be on offense. I can trust him.”
On his improvement defensively:
“I would say being in the right spots and staying in the stance the whole time. That’s a big thing in our program and the coaches like to preach that a lot, being in the stance and having tight hands. I feel like I’ve been more disciplined.”
Nick Boyd
On his play during the last two games:
“I changed my mindset and just tried to be aggressive. Being aggressive is really what changed, just going for it, not really overthinking, getting lost in the game, and having fun with it. When I do that, I feel like there are very few things that will stop me.”
On the opportunity of playing teams at the top of the standings:
“There’s an opportunity for us to get it done and it's on us to handle our business. We have two of the top teams in the conference coming up back-to-back. It’s on us to stay focused today in practice, and tomorrow, and then go into both games with an edge about us.”
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Bodie DeSilva has been covering sports in San Diego for more than a decade. He previously covered San Diego State athletics for Scout/Fox Sports.