No. 1 Arizona barely broke sweat in dispatching Gonzaga in the third round. They will return to the Sweet 16 for the second year in a row aiming to get make the Elite 8 for the first time since 2005. Standing in their way are the San Diego State Aztecs, who reserved their seats in the next round by taking care of North Dakota State in a thriller on Sunday.
Get into this big Sweet 16 game with our comprehensive betting preview below and bet on the Madness for two more sweet weeks.
[sc:MarchMadness ]No. 1 Arizona Wildcats vs. No. 4 San Diego State Aztecs Betting Preview
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim
When: Thursday, March 27, 10:17PM EST
Line: No. 4 San Diego State Aztecs (+6) at No. 1 Arizona Wildcats (-6); total 122.5
Betting on the Arizona Wildcats
[sc:finalfour240 ]Playing excellently on both ends of the floor, the Arizona Wildcats punched their tickets to the Sweet 16 round via a 84-61 victory over the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the third round. The Wildcats had the game in the bag by halftime, but that didn’t stop them from pounding the Zags even more in the second half.
Freshman guard Aaron Gordon led all Arizona starters with 18 points and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson came off the bench hot, contributing 18. But what stood out for the Wildcats was their feverish defense, a unit that forced the Bulldogs to commit 21 turnovers.
The Wildcats’ in-your-face defense should slow down the Aztecs’ top scorer Xavier Thames, who has been averaging 26.5 PPG in the tourney.
Betting on the San Diego Aztecs
Cinderella’s pumpkin ride reached a dead end when the No. 12 North Dakota State Bison ran into the brick wall defense of the San Diego State Aztecs. In that game, the Aztecs shut down the best shooting team in the nation as they fashioned a dominating 63-44 victory over North Dakota to advance to the Sweet 16.
Known for their highly-rated defense, which ranked no. 1 in the nation in efficiency with 87.8 points allowed per 100 possessions, the Aztecs limited North Dakota State to its lowest scoring output this season. It was the fifth time coach Steve Fisher’s boys went under the totals in their last six games.
Though defense has worked wonders for the Aztecs, their offense, meanwhile, has been taken care of by senior guard Xavier Thames. Thames scored 23 points in San Diego’s win in the second round against New Mexico State Aggies, and dropped 30 versus the Bison. He will need to have yet another ridiculous game for the Aztecs to compete with this Arizona team that can get it done at both ends of the floor.
Prediction
Both teams reached the NCAA Tournament mainly because of their suffocating defenses. Arizona is no. 5 in the nation with 58.3 PPG allowed, but the Aztecs are even better with a second-ranked 56.6 PPG. Even with the miniscule 122.5 total, take the under – this game is going to have more bricks that the Great Wall of China.
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