San Diego State vs New Mexico Basketball
Date: Saturday, March 16
Game Time: 6:00 pm ET
Venue: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV
How To Watch: CBS
Record: San Diego State (24-5), New Mexico (25-9)
San Diego State vs New Mexico Preview
Why New Mexico Will Win
Attack Jaeden LeDee on one end, make the Aztecs shoot threes on the other.
LeDee was hit with two early fouls in San Diego State’s semifinal win over Utah State, and the offense was totally out of sorts - but that’s nothing new. The Aztec offense has sputtered and coughed too often early on, almost waiting for the right moment to turn on the energy.
New Mexico has to crank up the tempo and keep everything moving, and that starts with the instigator, Jaelen House, getting to the rim over and over again driving right at LeDee.
On the other end, SDSU relies too much on LeDee. The worst three-point shooting team in the Mountain West will keep firing them, but …
Why San Diego State Will Win
Yeah, about that energy thing. San Diego State is finding it at the right time.
Yes, it got down to Utah State, and yes, the offense was stagnant early and struggled too much against UNLV, but once the momentum turned its way, it looked and played like it had six guys on the court playing D.
This is where the double bye plays a huge role. New Mexico is not only playing its fourth game in four days, but it played the second game on Saturday.
The Aztecs played two tournament games and had an extra several hours to recover for the relatively early start time.
New Mexico will come out fired up and rolling early, but as time goes on, you know exactly how the Aztecs roll …
San Diego State vs New Mexico: Who Will Win
The offense will be non-existent at times, and LeDee will try to do too much by himself against the active Lobo interior, but San Diego State will do what it always does.
The game will be close, and then all of a sudden, SDSU will flip the switch and New Mexico will suddenly look like it’s running in sand.
The Aztecs are playing like a veteran team that’s been there before - because it has obviously done it all over the last 12 months.
There’s no panic to how this team rolls, the veteran guards will start to take over, and after a bit of an inconsistent regular season, they’ll play like the Mountain West champions.
San Diego State vs New Mexico Prediction, Line
San Diego State 75, New Mexico 66
Line: COMNG, o/u: COMING
ATS Confidence out of 5: COMING
