LAS VEGAS – San Diego State’s offense exploded for 97 points, led by Reese Dixon-Waters and BJ Davis, who combined for 43 points, as it downed Oregon 97-80 in the Players Era Festival on Tuesday night.
San Diego State (3-2) will finish its stay in Las Vegas on Wednesday night against the Baylor Bears at 7:30 p.m. PT.
Oregon (4-2) will look to bounce back against the Creighton Bluejays at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
The teams battled back and forth early, leading to a 15-15 score with 12 minutes remaining in the first half. SDSU rattled off the next 12 points to pull ahead 27-15, a lead it would not relinquish the remainder of the night. Davis accounted for the first eight points of the run, making two free throws before back-to-back three-pointers.
The lead held constant between seven and 12 points for the rest of the half as the Aztecs brought a ten-point lead into the locker room at halftime.
After Oregon cut the lead to six at 17:58, the Aztecs scored the next eight points to go back up 14 with 16 minutes left. Dixon-Waters started the stretch with a three before a Davis free throw and layups from Miles Heide and Jeremiah Oden.
SDSU’s lead was again at 14 with eight and a half minutes to go in the game and Elzie Harrington connected from beyond the arc, Dixon-Waters made a jumper, and Oden drained a pair of free throws to put the Aztecs up 21, their largest lead of the night so far.
At the final media timeout, the lead was back down to 18, but Magoon Gwath made a layup and Heide and Davis had consecutive dunks to push the lead back out to 24, the largest of the night.
Oregon finished the contest on a run, but it was too little, too late as San Diego State earned the 97-80 win.
Magoon Gwath scored 13 points and pulled down six rebounds while logging four blocks and two steals on defense. Freshman Elzie Harrington scored in double figures for the second straight night, pouring in 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Harrington was one of four Aztecs with four assists, along with Davis and Taj DeGourville
The Ducks were led by Jackson Shelstad (21 points), Kwame Evans Jr. (16 points, five rebounds, five assists) and Nate Bittle (13 points).
San Diego State shot better from the field (67.2%-40.3%), beyond the arc (47.7%-42.9%) and the free throw line (88.9%-81.2%). SDSU won the rebounding battle (34-26) and scored more points in the paint (36-22), on fast breaks (20-8) and off the bench (47-18).
THE STAT I
San Diego State scored its most points in regulation against a DI opponent since scoring 98 points against Wyoming on January 30, 2021.
THE STAT II
San Diego State improved to 21-5 in its last 26 games when wearing red jerseys, going back to the start of the 2010-11 season.
UP NEXT
San Diego State wraps up the Players Era Festival at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night against Baylor. The game will be televised on TruTV and broadcast on San Diego Sports 760.