Halftime was more of a “Thriller” than the game.

(Pun intended.)

The halftime entertainment was a Halloween-themed dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” which merely made Viejas Arena more of a house of horrors for the University of San Diego. San Diego State led the Toreros by 24 at the break and yawned its way to a 87-54 win in the final preseason exhibition for both teams.

Now they prepare for Tuesday’s season openers, SDSU here against Long Beach State and USD at home against Division III Occidental. The Toreros, you figure, have a bit more work to do.

The Aztecs went from trailing 17-0 in their Oct. 17 exhibition against UCLA to leading 19-4 against USD, and never looked back.

And that was without the Mountain West preseason player of the year and the conference’s reigning freshman and defensive player of the year.

Miles Byrd, still regaining fitness after missing nearly two weeks with an abdominal strain, was held out for precautionary reasons. Magoon Gwath still hasn’t been cleared for live action, although that could happen next week.

Didn’t need them, it turned out. The margin was in the 30s midway through the second half after the Toreros shot just 6 of 29 in the first (and a miserable 3 of 18 inside the 3-point arc).

As promised, coach Brian Dutcher rotated the starting lineup from the UCLA exhibition, giving Louisiana Tech transfer point guard Sean Newman Jr. and forward Pharaoh Compton a chance with the first unit. Guard BJ Davis and forward Miles Heide came off the bench instead.

The Aztecs started better, although the quality of the opponent might have had something to do with it. The Bruins are ranked No. 12 in the Associated Press preseason poll; USD trailed by 15 against Division II Cal State Dominguez Hills in an exhibition last week before squeaking out a 79-76 win.

The Aztecs went nearly eight minutes without a point against UCLA, an ugly mash of nine missed shots and 10 turnovers. On Wednesday, it took 2:34 before Taj DeGourville made a baseline jumper on an inbounds play.

USD got the game’s first basket, … then trailed 11-2, 19-4 and 27-11.

Halftime score: 48-24.

The Toreros opened the second half with a modest 7-5 run, and a visibly upset Dutcher called timeout. Six minutes later, the lead was 35.

As he did against UCLA, Reese Dixon-Waters was SDSU’s top scorer, this time with 17 points on just 10 shots in an efficient 18 minutes. DeGourville hit double figures for a second time, with 11 points. San Jose State transfer Latrell Davis had 13 points.

Wake Forest transfer Ty-Laur Johnson led USD with 12 points.

Ex-Aztec Butler injured again

The injury woes of former SDSU point guard Lamont Butler continued, who will miss his entire rookie season with a torn ACL and meniscus in his knee. Butler was a training camp invitee of the Atlanta Hawks and expected to begin the season with their G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks.

Butler made the announcement in an Instagram post Wednesday, saying: “I was super excited to start the season with the Skyhawks and ready to show why I deserve to be on this stage and more. Had been battling injuries throughout last season (at Kentucky) and even this summer and had finally got fully healthy to be myself on the court again. One wrong tweak and now it’s a change of plans. … See y’all next season.”

Butler missed the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas last summer with a sprained ankle.

Notable

The officiating crew included Keith Kimble, who is perennially one of the nation’s top referees and ranked No. 4 in the Kenpom ratings last season (and No. 1 in 2021-22 and 2022-23) … USD finally replaced departed assistant coach Earl Watson, hiring Alan Major, who was head coach at Charlotte for four seasons in the early 2010s. He most recently was a consultant for Thad Matta at Butler … USD sat Ball State transfer guard Juanse Gorosito (hamstring) … Toreros forward Gavin Ripp sprained an ankle badly in the second half and was helped off the floor to the locker room.