Isabel Gonzalez
@cisabelg
New Mexico vs San Diego State
When/Where: 9pm MT San Diego, Calif.
Watch: CBSSN
Two similar opponents face each other on Tuesday night as the University of New Mexico Lobos travel to California to take on the San Diego State Aztecs.
The Aztecs were predicted to finish second in the Mountain West and even received one vote for first. Other preseason predictions had the Lobos and Aztecs battling it out for that No. 2 spot in the conference, but both teams have struggled and currently find themselves in the middle of the pack.
Both teams have relatively new coaches as they each are in their second year with their respective programs. UNM’s Paul Weir is 27-23 in New Mexico, SDSU’s Brian Dutcher is 31-18 with the Aztecs.
What makes things more interesting is that the last time the Lobos and the Aztecs met was on March 10, 2018 during the MW Championship game. San Diego State came out victorious.
New Mexico Lobos
New Mexico is currently .500 with an 8-8 overall record and 2-2 in conference play.
The Lobos showed promise at the beginning of January by opening conference play with a 2-0 record, including an 85-58 victory over the then No. 5/6 Nevada Wolf Pack. But now the Lobos are entering Tuesday’s game with back-to-back losses.
Their last result being a 91-76 result in favor of Colorado State. Commentators said the game was “an absolute clinic” against the New Mexico zone defense. The team finished the day with 17 turnovers. While it wasn’t a good day overall, redshirt sophomore Vance Jackson got his third double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
Senior guard Anthony Mathis leads the team in scoring with an average of 15.9 points per game. Jackson is close with 12.4 points per game.
Flashback to March of 2014 when the 10th-ranked Aztecs came back from a 16-point second half deficit to beat #21 New Mexico 51-48 and claim the Mountain West regular-season championship. https://t.co/EpgXJN6MLE
— Aztec M. Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 15, 2019
San Diego State Aztecs
SDSU is 9-7 overall and 1-2 in the conference. While the team has struggled, playing at home should provide big help for the Aztecs as they are 7-2 there.
Their last game, which happened to be the same weekend and at the same state as the Lobos, resulted in a 62-48 loss to Air Force. This game set a lot of season lows for SDSU:
Points – 48
Three-point field goals – 2
Assists – 7
Points in a half – 14 (first half)
Players to reach double digits – 1
The first half was a mess for the Aztecs as they trailed 28-14 only having successfully completed five field goals. However, there were moments when the team showed potential. The Aztecs were down by 16 points in the second period but then turned on their offense to go on a 30-18 run that would put them within four points of their opponents with a little under six minutes left to play.
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