The San Diego State Aztecs and the BYU Cougars meet in college basketball action from the Marriott Center on Friday night.
The San Diego State Aztecs will look to build on their 66-53 win over UC-Riverside to start the year. Matt Bradley led the Aztecs with 23 points on 8 of 13 shooting while Trey Pulliam had 15 points on 7 of 16 shooting as the only other Aztec to score in double figures in the win. Nathan Mensah also added 8 points with a team-high 10 rebounds in the victory for San Diego State. As a team, the Aztecs shot 46.9% from the field, 18.2% from three and 62.1% from the foul line in the win.
The BYU Cougars will be out to add to their 69-59 win over Cleveland State in their last game. Alex Barcello led the Cougars with 24 points on 5 of 6 shooting with a perfect 13 of 13 mark from the foul line along with 4 assists while Spencer Johnson had 13 points on 4 of 6 shooting with a pair of threes as the only other BYU player to score in double figures in the win. Caleb Lohner added 7 points with a team-high 9 rebounds while Gideon George had 7 boards and Fousseyni Traore had 8 rebounds and 3 blocks in 24 minutes off of the bench. As a team, BYU shot 44.7% from the field, 26.3% from three and 61.5% from the foul line in the winning effort.
San Diego State is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following a win while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 road games. BYU is 1-5-2 ATS in their last 8 home games and 20-5-1 ATS in their last 26 games following an ATS loss while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record.
I get how the points with San Diego State can be tempting, but truth be told, BYU is a team I’m very high on this year and mainly because, if the Cougars want to make the NCAA tournament, they have to get as many marquee wins as possible because Gonzaga’s likely not letting go of the top spot in the WCC. San Diego State’s one of the powers in the Mountain West, so they’ll have their shots, but for BYU, the cracks are few and far between. Give me BYU laying the bucket at home for the quality win.