San Diego State to host UCLA next month for exhibition basketball game

San Diego State has played UCLA before in men’s basketball at Viejas Arena. There was a 2020 game during the pandemic without any fans, plus several closed-door preseason scrimmages in recent years.

Oct. 17, though, will be different: SDSU vs. UCLA, Viejas Arena, spectators allowed.

The schools are taking advantage of new NCAA rules permitting preseason games between Division I opponents in front of paying customers, and not just for charity. The Oct. 17 game will be outside the season-ticket package, with seats sold at a reduced rate to benefit revenue-sharing funds of both schools.

SDSU is expected to release more details about pricing and logistics in the coming days. Viejas Arena season-ticket holders likely will get the first shot at seats, followed by season ticket holders in other SDSU sports, followed by the general public if any indeed remain available.

The game won’t count in the standings or toward NCAA Tournament consideration.

But try telling Aztec Nation that it doesn’t mean anything. UCLA is arguably the opponent fans most want to see in Viejas Arena, given the Bruins’ unmatched pedigree in college basketball (11 men’s titles), proximity in Southern California and historic reluctance to play the Aztecs.

The last meeting in front of fans came in 2012, when the Bruins coach Ben Howland, against the advice of several people within the program, agreed to play the then No. 23-ranked Aztecs at Anaheim’s Honda Center in the Wooden Classic.

About 70% of the announced crowd of 17,204 wore red and black, and the Aztecs rode that wave of support to a 78-69 victory against a Bruins team loaded with McDonald’s prep all-Americans. It still ranks among the greatest wins in program history, ending a 72-year drought in men’s basketball against UCLA.

“It was like playing a road game wearing a white jersey, which you don’t do too often,” Howland said afterward. “It was definitely a hostile environment for us.”

The Oct. 17 meeting serves as the highest profile opponent on a schedule that, this season, is absent a marquee nonconference home game. The Aztecs will face Michigan and Oregon in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving week, and Arizona in Phoenix on Dec. 20; all are expected to be ranked in the Associated Press preseason top 25.

SDSU has yet to release its nonconference schedule, nor has the Mountain West with its 20-game conference slate.

The Aztecs return the bulk of an NCAA Tournament team while adding several promising transfers and freshmen. Magoon Gwath, the Mountain West freshman and defensive player of the year, is among the returnees, although his rehabilitation from offseason knee surgery might prevent him from taking the floor against UCLA; he’s expected to be cleared for live action in mid- to late-October.

The revamped UCLA roster includes two familiar faces for San Diego fans: New Mexico point guard Donovan Dent and USD forward Steven Jamerson II. The returnees feature Tyler Bilodeau, Skyy Clark and Eric Dailey Jr.

The Bruins also are expected to be a preseason top-25 team.