The directive seemed clear in San Diego State’s 121-59 win over the DIII Whittier College Poets on Monday afternoon; attack the basket.They did that and more as they set the programs’ Viejas Arena scoring record, getting 43 of their 50 buckets inside the arc and scoring 84 points in the paint. It was also the most field goals made in a game in the ‘Madhouse on The Mesa.’
SAN DIEGO – The directive seemed clear in San Diego State’s 121-59 win over the DIII Whittier College Poets on Monday afternoon; attack the basket.
They did that and more as they set the programs’ Viejas Arena scoring record, getting 43 of their 50 buckets inside the arc and scoring 84 points in the paint. It was also the most field goals made in a game in the ‘Madhouse on The Mesa.’
“We basically ‘Arizona-ed’ ‘em — we got all the rebounds and we dominated in the paint, so that was good that our guys realized that,” said head coach Brian Dutcher. “With one day, they knew where the strength was and they put it in there. Whether it was against zone or man, we threw it inside to our bigs and they produced, and it was all of them.”
Pharaoh Compton had career highs of 21 points and eight rebounds with four dunks, while Tae Simmons equalled his career high of 15 points. The Aztecs (7-4) had six players score in double-figures.
“When you see a (size) advantage like that, we’ve got plenty of guys that can finish inside so the whole thing was just to get the ball into the post and, to be frank, they didn’t stop it so why stop going inside,” Simmons said.
SDSU had their season scoring average of 81 points just over five minutes into the second half when Reese Dixon-Waters knocked down a 3-pointer from the right wing. After not connecting from downtown over his past two games, the senior made one of the just six made triples on 14 attempts by the regular rotation.
Aztecs scored their first 14 points and had their first eight field goals in the paint, taking advantage of a Poets side whose two tallest players stand 6-foot-8. It was a welcome sight after seeing the rim attack disappear near the end of the first half and for most of the second half against Arizona.
The inside attack was the thrust of the offense in an explosive first half that saw the Aztecs pile up 62 points. Only seven of the 45 shot attempts came from beyond the arc, with the Scarlet and Black putting home 23 2-point field goals — the same amount they made overall against Idaho State and Troy, their second-most in a full game this season.
Compton was the high-scorer for the half, getting 15 points with two coming on rim-rattling dunks. Jeremiah Oden also was in double-figures for the opening 20 minutes, scoring 12 points and making two of three from beyond the arc. For the game he finished with 14 points and six boards.
The starting guard duo Dixon-Waters and Miles Byrd scored 10 and 6 points apiece, taking just 12 shots combined. Byrd made three or more field goals for the sixth time this season — the five times he’s had two or fewer thus far are already more than the three times he did so all of last season.
Magoon Gwath’s dropstep layin just 3:36 into the second half was SDSU’s 29th 2-point bucket of the game, passing their season-high of 28 against Oregon. Gwath finished with 15 points and five rebounds, while fellow post player Miles Heide had 12 points and four rebounds with four dunks.
Simmons scored the 100th point of the game with 6:55 remaining, the front end of a pair of made free throws where he equaled his career-high for scoring.
Cam Lawin added a 3-pointer and a teardrop runner in the paint off the bench late, and Raymar Gonzales scored his first career NCAA bucket on a pull-up left elbow jumper. Then Thokbor Majak scored the record-breaking hoop on a putback with 27 seconds remaining.
“When that opportunity came for them, they made the most of it,” Compton said. “The whole team was glad to see that, we were going crazy on the bench for them.”
Whittier junior guard Jonathan Dudley, the Poets leading scorer coming off a SCIAC Offensive Player of the Week honor, was limited to 7 points on 2-of-7 shooting. Bryce Whitaker led all Poets with 13 points.
At the end of non-conference play SDSU finds itself in a fairly unfamiliar spot, entering the day slotted seventh in the Mountain West in the NET rankings. Without a signature win to hang their hat on — the best win currently is a Quad 2 result over Utah Valley — it puts even more emphasis on conference performance.
NET-wise, Utah State (10-1) sits atop the conference, ranked 17th thanks to a trio of Quad 2 wins. Boise State (8-4) is the only team with multiple Quad 1 wins, winning at Butler on Dec. 6 and topping Saint Mary’s in a neutral site game on Dec. 14. New Mexico (10-2) is the only other team with a non-conference Quad 1 win, topping Virginia Commonwealth on the road on Dec. 10.
The full body of Mountain West Conference play begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 30 against the San José State Spartans at the Provident Credit Union Event Center. SDSU’s next home conference game is against the Boise State Broncos at 7 p.m. on Saturday, January 3, 2026.
Category: General Sports
