2022 NCAA Tournament First Round: No. 8 San Diego State Aztecs vs. No. 9 Creighton Blue Jays
How to Watch:
- Date: Thursday, March 17
- Time: 7:27 p.m. ET
- Location: Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX
- TV: truTV
- Live Stream: NCAA.com
Tale of the Tape:
| No. 8 SDSU | STAT | No. 9 CRE |
| Mountain West | Conference | Big East |
| 23-8 | Record | 22-11 |
| 65.3 (354th) | Points Per Game | 69.0 (251st) |
| 57.7 | Points Allowed Per Game | 65.9 |
| 0.6162 (15th) | RPI | 0.5857 (40th) |
| 61st | Strength of Schedule | 35th |
| At-Large Bid | Bid | At-Large Bid |
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San Diego State leaders:
- Matt Bradley G, SR: 17.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.6 APG, 41.6% 3PT
- Trey Pulliam, G, SR: 8.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.1 SPG
Creighton leaders:
- Ryan Hawkins, F, SR: 13.9 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.5 APG, 35.9% 3PT
- Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, SO: 13.0 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.7 BPG, 64.6% FG
Odds, Lines, and Past Performance:
- CRE Moneyline: +115
- SDSU Moneyline: -135
- Spread: SDSU -2.5
- Over/Under: 120
- ATS Record: SDSU 17-14, CRE 19-14
- Over/Under Record: SDSU 12-19, CRE 11-21
Odds courtesy of Draftkings. For the latest odds, click here.
The Pick:
- This game has one of the lowest over/unders in the entire first round and it’s not hard to see why. Both teams have consistently gone under their over/under totals all season and are two of the worst teams in the tournament in terms of points per game.
- However, that is more of a product of gameplan for an Aztecs team that is 268th in pace and has the 2nd best defense in the nation according to KenPom efficiency metrics. Meanwhile, the Bluejays operate at the 189th slowest pace and have the 18th most efficient defense, so nothing to turn your nose up at, but perhaps just a bit weaker than their opponent.
- Both teams lost close games in their conference tournament finals, with the Bluejays falling by eight to Villanova, and the Aztecs losing by one to Boise State after a buzzer beater didn’t go down.
- The Aztecs are the better three-point shooting team, ranking 67th in the nation by shooting 35.8% from deep on just 16.9 attempts per game. The Bluejays, meanwhile, are one of the worst teams in the nation from long-range, shooting just 30.7% on 21.8 attempts per game (316th), a figure they’re likely going to have to best if they want to beat the Aztecs and their stifling defense.
- If this is a close game, the Bluejays are the superior free-throw shooting team, ranking 135th by shooting 72.9% from the charity stripe, while the Aztecs rank 255th at 69.5%.
