LAS VEGAS – San Diego State scored 80 points with five players in double figures on Wednesday night, but it was not enough as the Aztecs came up short 91-81 against the Baylor Bears in SDSU’s final contest of the 2025 Players Era Festival.
San Diego State (3-3) returns home to face the Wolverines of Utah Valley on Wednesday night at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
Baylor (5-1) will host Sacramento State in Waco, Texas, on Tuesday night.
The Bears scored the first five points of the game before San Diego State scored the next ten points, highlighted by three-pointers from Elzie Harrington, Reese Dixon-Waters and Jeremiah Oden.
Baylor battled back, going up by four with 11:38 to go in the half before a pair of Taj DeGourville free throws, a Tae Simmons dunk and a Miles Byrd layup put the Aztecs back up by two.
A few minutes later, Dixon-Waters made a go-ahead jumper before Simmons had a dunk to put SDSU up 26-23 with 6:26 remaining in the half.
Heading into halftime, Baylor clung to a four-point lead.
In the first four minutes of the second half, three-pointers from Byrd and Harrington as well as a Harrington dunk brought the Aztecs within one at the 16-minute mark.
With 14:30 to go, Baylor was up by six before consecutive threes from Oden and DeGourville tied the game, and BJ Davis made a layup to cap the 8-0 run and put the Aztecs up by two.
DeGourville responded to a Baylor three with a jumper of his own to put SDSU up 54-53 at 12:30, but it was the Aztecs’ final lead of the night as the Bears ultimately finished ahead by ten points due to a pair of free throws in the waning seconds of the contest.
Byrd tallied 13 points with four rebounds and Harrington and Dixon-Waters (four assists) each scored a dozen points. Davis (11 points) and Sean Newman Jr. (ten points, six assists) also both finished in double figures. Oden grabbed seven rebounds to go with his two three-pointers.
The Bears were led by Tounde Yessoufou’s 18 points and Dan Skillings Jr.’s eight rebounds and five assists.
San Diego State shot better from beyond the arc (42.3%-39.1%) and the free throw line (82.4%-73.3%) while Baylor was better from the field (52.6%-47.5%). SDSU had more assists (10-9) and scored more off turnovers (17-12) and off the bench (44-20).
THE STAT I
BJ Davis scored in double figures for the fifth time in the Aztecs’ six Players Era Festival games, averaging 14.0 points in the event.
THE STAT II
San Diego State scored 80 or more points for the third time in its last four games, which it achieved for the first time since the first four games of the 2022-23 season, the year the Aztecs made the NCAA National Championship Game.
UP NEXT
San Diego State returns to Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena for a game against Utah Valley at 7 p.m. PT next Wednesday night. The game will be televised on KUSI and broadcast on San Diego Sports 760.