The San Diego State Aztecs and the Alabama Crimson Tide meet Friday in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 college basketball action from KFC Yum! Center. San Diego State is 29-6 overall this year. The Aztecs beat Furman in their Second Round matchup. As for Alabama, they’re 31-5 overall following a win over Maryland on Saturday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
San Diego State Aztecs
The Aztecs got through the regular season on a 24-6 overall clip. San Diego State would then take out San Jose State and Utah State in the Mountain West Tournament. In the First Round of the national tourney, the Aztecs beat Charleston 63-57.
Back on Saturday versus Furman, San Diego State got off to a 39-25 halftime lead. The Aztecs finished strong on a 36-27 run from there and won 75-52. Micah Parrish topped the team on 16 points with six rebounds, and Darrion Trammell added 13 points as well.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Over on the Alabama side, they went 26-5 in the regular season, finishing with a loss to Texas A&M. The Tide then beat Mississippi State, Missouri and Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament before a First Round victory over Texas A&M-CC.
On Saturday in the Second Round matchup against Maryland, the Tide were up 28-23 by the break. Alabama kept it going with a 45-28 second half and bagged the victory 73-51. Jahvon Quinerly was tops on the team with 22 points, and Charles Bediako doubled on 10 points and 10 boards.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably stay with Alabama in this one. The Tide didn’t have a ton of issues against Maryland despite shooting a tepid 39.7 percent from the field and 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from 3-point range. Alabama did well on the boards with a 44-32 rebounding edge (15-10 offensive), though. That makes five straight games with 72 or more points for the Tide. As for San Diego State, they shot a nice 50 percent from the field with 41 rebounds in the win over Furman. The Aztecs have held opponents to 61 or fewer points in six straight games (all wins), but I don’t think they’ll be able to keep the Tide reined in on the scoreboard quite so well.