San Diego St. vs NMSU West Region Handicapping
Making its fifth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament, San Diego State will aim to avoid another early exit when they take on Western Athletic Conference champion New Mexico State in the second round of the West Region on Wednesday night in Spokane. [ad-4468020]
2014 NCAA Tournament Free Picks
West Bracket – Round 2
#4 San Diego State vs. #11 New Mexico State Preview
Date/Time: 9:57 PM ET, Thursday, March 20, 2014
Venue: Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington
Broadcast: truTV
Spread: -7 San Diego State
Over/Under: 128
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ATS Matchup Insight | CappersPicks Insider Preview
The 13th seeded Aggies (26-9) have not won an NCAA tournament game since 1993, and were shown the exit door in the first round of the tournament in each of the past two seasons. Last season was a complete disaster, as they managed only 44 points in a loss to Saint Louis.
This season, however, may be a whole different story as the Aggies enter the tournament riding a five-game winning streak, which includes a 77-55 beating of Idaho in the WAC tournament championship game.
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They have also been much better in the scoring department, putting up no fewer than 61 points in any of their last 23 games. They were held under 60 only one time this season — a 74-48 loss to No. 1 seed Arizona on Dec. 11.
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NMSU thrives on the offensive end and relies heavily on junior guard Daniel Mullings, who leads the team in scoring at 16.8 points and scored 18 in the WAC championship game.
He will need to have a strong outing against the Aztecs who finished second in the nation in scoring defense, limiting opponents to an average of 56.6 points.
Fourth-seeded San Diego State (29-4) has not allowed an opponent to reach 70 points since Jan. 12, but did not have enough offense to get by New Mexico in a 64-58 loss in the Mountain West championship game.
The Aztecs need to boost their offense, and will need to get more from guard Xavier Thames, who has scored at least 15 points in six straight games, if they want to advanced for just the second time out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.
They were run over last season in an 81-71 second-round loss to Florida Gulf Coast.
Free Pick: San Diego State
The Aztecs have been very competitive all season and if they can continue to play the way they have been playing, they’ll have a chance to be playing after the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.
