The San Diego State Aztecs and the UC San Diego Tritons meet Friday in college basketball action from LionTree Arena. San Diego State is sitting at 6-1 overall after their current five-game win streak, most recently over Point Loma Nazarene. As for UC San Diego, they’ve lost three straight, dropping to 4-3 with a loss to Washington on Tuesday. Let’s get into our San Diego State vs. UC San Diego prediction. 

San Diego State Aztecs 

It’s been a nice season thus far for San Diego State. The lone blemish on the schedule was a 74-65 loss to BYU back on November 10, but after that the Aztecs took out Long Beach State, Saint Mary’s, Washington, and California in their next four. San Diego State needed OT to dispatch Cal, shooting a rough 35.1 percent from the field in the 76-67 win. 

The Aztecs kept it going in their last matchup versus Point Loma Nazarene. In that one, San Diego State scored 41 points in the first half and 30 in the second on the way to a 71-51 win. Leading the team on a double-double was Jaedon LeDee with 15 points and 13 rebounds in the victory effort. 

UC San Diego Tritons

Over on the UC San Diego side, their year started out 4-0 with wins over Denver, San Diego, La Verne, and Navy. The Tritons took an overtime loss to Idaho in the next game, then lost 79-67 to Seattle on Sunday. In the loss to the Redhawks, UC San Diego gave up 51.8 percent shooting from the floor and 40 percent (10-of-25) from outside. 

The Tritons made it three losses in a row during their last outing versus Washington. UC San Diego fell behind 34-24 by the break and limped to an 83-56 loss after giving up 49 more points in the second. Bryce Pope (15 points; six rebounds) and Justin DeGraaf (11 points) were the only two team players in double-digits. 

UC SAN DIEGO VS SAN DIEGO STATE PREDICTION 

I’ll lean toward San Diego State. I’m tempted to take a stab on UC San Diego, but given a pretty flat effort versus Washington in their last outing I’m not so sure. The Tritons hit just 29.9 percent from the field, 9-of-34 (26.5 percent) from 3-point range and 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) from the line in a rough shooting outing during that loss. It was compounded by the 54-34 rebounding deficit (19-12 offensive) as well. Granted, the Aztecs likely won’t be that overwhelming on the boards Friday, but the sketchy Tritons shooting percentages over the last couple of games make me think a San Diego State pick is the right play here.