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The San Diego St. Aztecs earned a No. 4 seed for the NCAA tournament and they have been shipped off to play No. 13 New Mexico State in Spokane, Wash., on Thursday March 20. Getting into the tournament was a mere formality for the Aztecs and all that was up in the air was the seeding for San Diego State, and a four seed sounds about right.
If San Diego State manages to win their game, they will face the winner of Oklahoma and North Dakota State, and play on Saturday March 22.
Throughout the 2013-14 basketball season San Diego State was one of the better teams in the country with a 29-4 record, won the Mountain West regular season and coming in second in the conference tournament.
The Aztecs had big wins over Creighton, New Mexico, at Kansas and Marquette. This team is not known for being an amazing offensive team, but they can score if needed. Xaiver Thames leads San Diego State in scoring with 16.9 points per game, and Josh Davis hauls down 9.9 rebounds per game.
The strength of this team is head coach Steve Fisher and the defense he has applied. The Aztecs are extremely athletic and can run multiple defensive sets. They will play man-to-man or mix it up with variations of a 2-3 or 1-3-1 zone defense, and they also like to press and extend their defense to begin play at half court.
This high octane defense does lead to easy baskets, but it also can lead to quick and errant shots after a big stop or turnover. The bottom line is that San Diego State plays with energy.
Looking down the road there is a potential Sweet 16 match up could see San Diego State rematch against Arizona.
Here is a complete printable bracket:
