Aztecs grind it out again late to beat Lobos, take top spot in conference

SAN DIEGO – BJ Davis made the game-winning jump shot with 10 seconds remaining, but it was the defensive wizardry by Miles Byrd that helped the San Diego State Aztecs hang on for an 83-79 win over the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday evening at Viejas Arena.

Byrd had two of his career-high tying four blocks for the game and one of his three steals in the final minute and 51 seconds, as he led the Aztecs (13-4, 7-0 Mountain West) with 21 points to survive a furious second half rally by the Lobos (14-4, 5-2).

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Reese Dixon-Waters hit a pair of free-throws late to ice it after a UNM miss, scoring 10 points for the game, while the Scarlet and Black also had double-digit efforts from Pharaoh Compton (12 points) and Taj DeGourville (11 points).

After the Scarlet and Black lead grew to as much as 15 points on an early second half triple by Byrd, New Mexico got another early barrage from downtown before they fed the ball inside to forward Tomislav Buljan to chip back into the game. Buljan scored 18 of his 20 points and grabbed 10 of his 14 rebounds in the second half.

An early 10-0 run by the Lobos made for a white-knuckling effort the rest of the way, as UNM pulled within 1 point five times and even twice over the last 12:15.

Byrd had his third block of the game, rising to deny Antonio Chol on a 3-point try from the right wing, then again in the paint on Tajavis Miller. But Buljan had a steal and jam for a 79-77 lead at 1:11, first UNM lead since 8:04 of the first half.

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Miles Heide made a pair of free-throws with 56 remaining to tie the game, and then Byrd’s steal set up the game-winning shot heroics by Davis, who pulled up and banked home a tough jumper.

Davis had picked up his fourth personal foul just before the 11 minute mark, as Byrd also played the final 2:22 with a pair of fouls.

SDSU did not shoot free-throws until the 7:47 mark of the second half on a tough drive by Byrd, as they went 6-for-8 from the stripe in the second half and 22-of-30 for the game….

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Publish date : 2026-01-18 04:13:00

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