Creighton Bluejays at San Diego State Aztecs
Wednesday, 11/30/11, 10:30 PM EST, TV: N/A
Opening Point Spread: SDSU -2.5
Current Betting Line: SDSU -3
Opening Total: 138.5
Current Total: 139.5
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
Creighton has started the year with five wins and will be taking part in the third annual Mountain West/Missouri Valley Conference Challenge Series. The Bluejays have won all five of their games by a double-digit margin, including a dominating 82-59 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes two games back as 2.5-point neutral-site underdogs. Sophomore forward Doug McDermott is the star of the show, averaging 23.4 points and 7.8 rebounds, entering the season as one of 50 candidates for the Wooden and Naismith Awards. Creighton is 15-13 ATS on the road the past two-plus years.
The Bluejays own a 3-1 lead in the all-time series, but the two teams haven’t met since the 1974 season. Creighton hopes to get the MVC off to a better start in this year’s event, losing eight of nine games a year ago, which followed winning the series by a 5-4 margin in 2009. Offensively, the team ranks first nationally with 23.2 assists per game and fourth in scoring 89.6 points per game. McDermott’s current scoring average would make him the first MVC player over 20 points per game since the 2000-01 campaign.
San Diego State is 7-1 on the year and has won four straight games since dropping a 77-67 road decision to the Baylor Bears on Nov. 15. The Aztecs will put their perfect 5-0 home record on the line and have beaten their opponents by an average margin of 13.2 points. The program has tallied a perfect 2-0 mark in this Challenge, facing the MVC favorites for the second consecutive season, handing the Wichita State Shockers an 83-69 loss a year ago. San Diego State is 2-3 ATS as a favorite this year and the ‘under’ is 29-23 in that situation the past two-plus seasons.
The Aztecs are led offensively by junior guard Chase Tapley, who is averaging 16.5 points per game and scored a career-high 28 points in the loss to the Bears. San Diego State has won 10 consecutive home games in November and will be looking for its fifth-straight win over the MVC, which is quite a turnaround from its 9-28 all-time mark. One player to watch tonight is sophomore guard Jamaal Franklin, who is making a case as one of the best sixth men in the nation, averaging 15.7 points in just 25 minutes of action.
Bettors will likely back the Aztecs due to their 10-3 ATS mark as a home favorite of 6.5 of fewer points, while the Blue Jays are just 3-3 ATS as a road underdog of three points or less.
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