The San Diego State Aztecs and the Saint Mary’s Gaels meet Friday in college basketball action from T-Mobile Arena. San Diego State enters this matchup at 2-1 overall. The Aztecs beat Long Beach State in their most recent outing. As for Saint Mary’s, they’re 2-1 as well following a close loss to Weber State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
San Diego State Aztecs
The Aztecs started slowly in their opener versus CSU Fullerton but eventually powered out an 83-57 blowout win. SDSU shot 45.2 percent from the field in that one but hit just 18 of their 28 free throws. Game two was the Aztecs’ first loss, 74-65 versus BYU. San Diego State got out-rebounded 42-32 in that one and hit only five of 18 from 3-point range.
San Diego State was able to get back into the win column versus Long Beach State on Tuesday. The Aztecs jumped out to a 47-39 halftime lead and ended up winning 88-76. Jaedon LeDee led the scoring on his 27 points and 11 rebounds, while Reese Waters added 15 points. Lamont Butler chipped in with 14 points and four assists.
Saint Mary’s Gaels
Over on the Saint Mary’s side, they kicked off the year with two routine wins. First was a 107-28 beatdown of Stan State as the Gaels shot 56.5 percent from the field with 59 rebounds. Saint Mary’s kept it going versus New Mexico with a 72-58 win paced by 45 5 percent shooting and 41 rebounds.
The Gaels took their first loss of the year on Sunday against Weber State. Saint Mary’s blew a 37-26 halftime lead and ended up with a 61-57 result. Both Harry Wessels and Aidan Mahaney led the scoring on 11 points each. Alex Ducas added 10 points with five rebounds and two assists as well.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll take a stab on the Aztecs here. San Diego State has a few things to clean up first, however. The Aztecs shot a nice 48.3 percent from the field with a 34-24 rebounding edge in their last win over Long Beach State. That said, the Aztecs hit only 76.7 percent from the line and had 18 turnovers along the way.
As for Saint Mary’s, they had a bad second half in the Weber State matchup and finished with just 5-of-27 (18.5 percent) from outside. The Gaels looked pretty solid on the boards however, with a 42-31 rebounding advantage. The Aztecs probably won’t be able to outmuscle St. Mary’s in that aspect, so it’ll take some sharp shooting to pull off the cover/win. I think SDSU is up for it.
