NCAA Tournament West Region Third Round
#2 San Diego St Aztecs vs #7 Temple Owls
McKale Center, Tucson, AZ
Saturday, March 19, 2011, 6:10 pm Eastern, TV: TNT
Opening Line: San Diego St -6
Current Line: San Diego St -6
Opening Total: 126
Current Total: 125 1/2
Money Line: SDSU -275 / Temple +235
On Thursday, San Diego St recorded their first ever NCAA tournament victory with a 68-50 win over Big Sky Champion Northern Colorado. Aztec forwards Billy White and Kawhi Leonard had double doubles in the win. White had 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Leonard had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Chase Tapley added 14 points and James Rahon added 12 off the bench for the Aztecs Next up, the #2 seeded Aztecs take on the #7 Temple Owls in the West Region third round for the right to go to the regional semifinals in Anaheim next week. Temple defeated Penn St 66-64 in the second round. Temple guard Juan Fernandez hit a jumper from just inside the three point line with 0.4 seconds left to win the game. Both Fernandez and Ramon scored 23 points to lead the Owls. San Diego St is 33-2 overall and finished tied with BYU for the Mountain West title with a 14-2 record. San Diego St has won 6 games in a row. Their only two losses are to BYU on the season. Temple was 26-7 overall and finished a game behind Xavier in the Atlantic 10 with a 14-2 record. Temple has won 5 of their last 6 games.
Temple and San Diego St have only played once in history but not since 1981. San Diego St leads the series 1-0 for what it’s worth. The Aztecs are 21-12 ATS in all games this season, including 19-11 as a favorite, and 14-5 against teams with winning records. SDSU is 18-9 ATS after a conference game the last 2 seasons. The Aztecs are 26-14 ATS in non-conference games the last 3 seasons. Temple is 59-40 ATS in all games the last 3 seasons including 26-15 against teams with winning records. Temple is 5-5 this season versus tournament teams. San Diego St is 6-2 against tournament teams.
Temple forward/center Michael Eric is out for the season with a knee injury. He averaged 7.1 points and 5.9 rebounds a game. Five Owls average double digit scoring. The Owls are led by guard Ramone Moore who averages 15.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.3 steals a game. He leads the team in scoring. Lavoy Allen averages 11.6 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.9 blocks a game. He leads the team in rebounds and blocks. Guard Scootie Randall averages 11.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1 steal a game. Guard Juan Fernandez averages 11.1 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists a game to lead the team. Khalif Wyatt averages 10 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 steals a game to lead the team. Temple is outscoring opponents 71-62 on the season. The Owls are shooting 44.9% from the field and 35.1% from 3 point range. Owl opponents are shooting 41.3% from the field. Temple shoots 69.8% from the free throw line. The Owls average 35.8 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +2.8. Temple averages 15.1 assists and 10.8 turnovers a game. Temple forces 13.2 turnovers a game on defense. The Owls average 6.9 steals and 4.7 blocks a game.
San Diego St is pretty healthy right now. The Aztecs are led by Kawhi Leonard. He is averaging a double double with 15.6 points, and 10.6 rebounds to lead the team in each category. He also averages 2.5 assists and leads the team in steals with 1.4 a game. Forward Malcolm Thomas averages 11.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and leads the team in blocks with 2 a game. Senior point guard D.J. Gay is averaging 11.1 points, 2 rebounds, 3.2 assists to lead the team and 1.1 steals a game. Billy White is averaging 10 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals a game. Chase Tapley is averaging 8.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals a game. San Diego St is outscoring opponents 72-59 on the season. The Aztecs shoot 46.5% from the field and 34.7% from 3-point range. Aztec opponents are shooting 39.4% from the field. SDSU makes 69.7% of their free throws. The Aztecs average 37.5 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +6.9. San Diego St averages 13.5 assists and 10.9 turnovers a game. SDSU forces 12.6 turnovers a game on defense. The Aztecs average 6.2 steals and 4.7 blocks a game.
San Diego St has never made it to the Sweet 16 before, obviously because they didn’t win their first ever tournament game until Thursday. Temple has the talent to pull the upset but they can’t contend with the Aztecs’ superior size in the front court. I think the Aztecs continue their dream season by pulling away late.
Our college basketball handicappers are red hot in the tournament. Don’t miss out on any more winners for now until the championship game.
