New Mexico vs San Diego State Odds: Aztecs Favored in Game of Day
Key Mountain West Contest on Tap
The New Mexico Lobos visit San Diego State on Friday in the best game on the college basketball schedule. Both teams are tied for second place in the Mountain West Conference standings. The Mountain West is surprisingly tough this season. As many as three teams could receive NCAA Tournament invitations. Utah State and New Mexico already have 20 wins. San Diego State is looking to win No. 20 in this spot. The New Mexico vs San Diego State odds have the Aztecs favored by 6.5 points. The total on the game is at 152.
Lobos vs Aztecs 
Location: Viejas Arena, San Diego, California
Day/Time: Streaming: FS1
New Mexico Moves Up-and-Down the Court
The Lobos are a well-rounded team that likes to push the tempo. New Mexico is No. 2 in both KenPom‘s offensive and defensive efficiency ratings. It’s also No. 1 in tempo. The Aztecs are a strong 17-7 against the NCAAB Vegas odds this season and 14-10 in totals. New Mexico is 6-0 against the spread after allowing 80 points but just 1-2 as an underdog. The Lobos have played well on the road, going 9-3 straight-up and 8-4 against the spread and in totals.
Offensively, the Lobos are shooting 47.3% for the season, making 35.3% of 3-pointers and 52.6% on 2-pointers. In conference games, New Mexico is shooting slightly better in both, but not by much. One of the team’s strengths is not making turnovers, and the Lobos are pretty strong on the offensive boards. New Mexico doesn’t shoot a lot of 3-pointers, but is solid when attempting them.
The Lobos are best in the conference at forcing turnovers and hold their own in rebounding. New Mexico is limiting teams to 30.5% on 3-pointers in conference games. Teams are shooting 52.8% on 2-pointers, which is slightly higher than you’d like to see. The Lobos are No. 1 in the conference in blocked shots and are solid all the way around.
Aztecs Still Rely on Defense
The stats don’t always reflect it, but San Diego State is still a defense-first type of team. The Aztecs are playing faster this season, so they’re allowing a few more points. But San Diego State is also scoring more. The Aztecs are a little overpriced at times, going 10-13 against the spread. The team is 7-3 against the spread at home and 3-1 in home revenge games. San Diego’s faster pace has seen the team go 13-10 in totals.
Offensively, San Diego State is 75.6 points per game and 73.4 points in Mountain West games. The Aztecs don’t shoot the 3-pointer that well. But they are No. 3 in the conference in 2-point percentage at 54.7%. San Diego State does a good job of grabbing offensive rebounds. But the Aztecs do turn the ball over a little too much. They do a pretty solid job of getting to the foul line and are shooting 73% for the season.
The Aztecs are No. 1 in the conference in the KenPom defensive efficiency ratings. San Diego State is in the top two in most primary defensive stats. One exception is 3-point defense, where the Aztecs are No. 4, allowing 31.9%. Teams do shoot a fair number of 3-pointers against the Aztecs, with 40% of the shots against coming from long range.
What to Expect
The Lobos are going to want to come out running. It’s the strength of their team, and New Mexico is 16-0 straight-up when scoring at least 80 points. The Lobos defeated San Diego State 88-70 earlier in the year. Trailing 35-23 with 5:20 to go in the first half, New Mexico outscored the Aztecs 17-2 the rest of the half. The Lobos continued to pour it on in the second half, outscoring San Diego State 26-16 in the first 10 minutes to put the game away.
The Aztecs may look to slow it down a bit more than normal after the first game. San Diego State doesn’t want to try and run with New Mexico and may look to frustrate the Lobos in a half-court game.
Who to Bet On?
The New Mexico vs San Diego State odds are definitely a little bit high. A lot of that has to do with the revenge angle for the Aztecs. The point spread college basketball had SD State favored by 5.5 early Friday morning before the number jumped to 6.5. But it’s always tough to lay so many points to a good team like New Mexico. Last year, the Lobos won the first meeting, and the Aztecs won but didn’t cover in the rematch.
The New Mexico vs San Diego State odds on the total are probably where you want to look here. If San Diego State elects to focus on defense a little bit more, that bodes well for the under. The Aztecs do play better on defense at home and the under looks to be the best bet on this game.
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