SUNTORY COLLECTION

Preview: Aztecs look to keep 79-year streak against Occidental intact

SDSU hasn't lost to the Los Angeles college since 1945

Preview: Aztecs look to keep 79-year streak against Occidental intact + ' Main Photo'

SDSU vs. Occidental

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Viejas Arena

On the air: YurView (Channel 4 on Cox, Spectrum) and streaming on the Mountain West Network.

Series history: SDSU leads 26-8, but only two have come in the Division I era — a 93-50 win in 2010 and a 95-57 win in 2022, both at Viejas Arena. The last Oxy win came in 1945.

Tigers outlook: Coach Brian Newhall enters his 36th season at Occidental and has more than 500 career victories. He is an Oxy alum, and his wife is president of Scripps College, which also plays in the SCIAC league as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Tigers lost their top three scorers from last season’s 15-9 team but returned the next four, including Bishop’s School alum Nicky Clotfelter (11.1 points per game). They opened the season with a 78-66 win against Stanton University of Anaheim behind 19 points from 6-foot-4 freshman Nasir Luna and 18 from 6-2 sophomore Micah Breaux. This isn’t their only trip to San Diego this season; they play at UCSD on Dec. 28. Occidental is a small school with an enrollment hovering around 2,000, but it has produced several famous alums: President Barack Obama, politician and NFL quarterback Jack Kemp and actor Ben Affleck.

Aztecs outlook: The big question is the status of Miles Byrd, particularly with No. 4 Gonzaga coming to Viejas Arena on Monday. Byrd injured an ankle toward the end of practice Tuesday and is not expected to play against Oxy, leaving an opening in the starting lineup that you’d think USD transfer Wayne McKinney III would fill. That leaves freshman Taj DeGourville and Brown transfer Kimo Ferrari as the only two guards on the bench (not counting walk-ons). The Aztecs are 38-0 against non-Division I opponents in the Brian Dutcher/Steve Fisher era that began in 1999, and 62-0 since 1980. Junior Demarshay Johnson Jr. is expected to be the only person in uniform Tuesday who played against Oxy two years ago, finishing with a career-high eight points in 14 minutes. It was one of four games that Byrd played as a freshman before injuries and illness shut down his season and led to a medical redshirt. SDSU opened the season No. 50 in the Kenpom metric and is now No. 52.

Next up: Monday vs. Gonzaga (7 p.m., CBSSN)