San Diego State Aztecs Men’s Basketball regular season tips off tonight at home vs Long Beach State

goaztecs.com

By Holly C. Bridges

Is it redemption time? After having high hopes to make another Final Four run, last year’s Aztecs squad had an early exit as they lost to 11^th-ranked North Carolina in the opening round of the NCAA tournament in March. The Tarheels crushed SDSU 95-68.

Tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Viejas Arena, the Aztecs will look to start this 2025-2026 season in the win column as they are highly favored to beat Long Beach State who finished second-to-last in the Big West and is coming off a 7-25 season last year. The Aztecs finished 4^th in the Mountain West Conference with a 21-10 record.

Aztecs players to watch:

Sophomore 7-footer Magoon Gwath:  One of 20 NCAA D-1 players to be named to the 2026 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year award pre-season watch list.  Gwath had 68 blocks last season and on offense shot an amazing 37.8 % from 3-point-range.

Junior Miles Byrd: The 6’6” super-athletic Guard is a great, fun dunker and a top defender and player in the country.  Byrd had declared for this year’s NBA Draft but hopes and dreams to make another attempt at an NCAA Final Four Championship with his Aztecs teammates lured him back.  In 2023, the Aztecs lost in the NCAA Championship game, in 2024, they lost in the Sweet 16.

Sophomore Pharaoh Compton: 6’7” Forward: Bouncy and a fun, high-flyer above-the-rim showboater. Crowd-pleaser, phenomenal basketball player that has great team chemistry with Byrd and Guard Taj DeGourville. Look for Compton to be swinging on the rim at Viejas Arena all season long.