March Madness Sees Both Teams On Huge Rolls
March Madness Round of 64 will not produce a more intriguing game than San Diego State and Houston. The fans at Intrust Bank Arena will see the 11th seeded San Diego State Aztecs and the 6th seeded Houston Cougars on Thursday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for around 7:20 pm EST and TBS will have the coverage. Oddsmakers opened the Cougars as -3.5-point favorites versus the Aztecs, while the game’s total opened at 143. Houston is now 4.5-point favorites and the total is down to 141. The Cougars, runners-up in the American Athletic Conference Tournament, and the Aztecs,winners of the Mountain West championship, have been on a roll over the second half of the season. Now it’s just a matter of keeping that momentum going on the NCAA Tournament. In these win-or-go-home scenario’s and the spotlights are the brightest. Houston has had one of its best seasons in decades. They broke into the Top 25. They reached as high as No. 21. The Cougars finished in a tie for second place in the AAC. The Cougars dominated Arkansas of the SEC.Both teams are healthy and ready to prove they belong in March Madness
Houston also had top-10 wins over Cincinnati and Wichita State, and did not lose consecutive games. They came within a point of beating Cincinnati in the AAC tournament final after beating Wichita State (who was granted a No. 4 seed) in the semifinals. Cincy is a No. 2 seed in the NCAAs and won the league’s regular-season title. Houston heads to the NCAA tournament with 12 wins in its last 15 games. They also have an RPI higher than most of the tournament’s fourth and fifth seeds. San Diego State captured three games in three days at the Mountain West tournament. That includes the final against New Mexico, to earn its berth in the NCAAs. The Aztecs have won nine straight games since the return of injured guard Trey Kell in mid-February. San Diego State is making its first NCAA appearance since 2015 and its seventh in the last nine seasons. Houston and San Diego State have played twice in the past. The Aztecs’ posted a 78-66 victory in San Diego on Jan. 29, 2002 and a 71-61 victory in Houston the following season Dec. 21, 2002. The winner of the San Diego State-Houston clash will square off against the winner of the No. 3 Michigan and No. 14 Montana matchup on Saturday.Recent Form
| Name | Record | ATS | Offense | Defense | Diff | ATS Home | ATS Away | OU Record | OU Home | OU Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego State | 22-10 | 20-10 | 77.50 | 67.91 | 9.59 | 11-2 | 4-7 | 14-15-1 | 4-9 | 6-5 |
| Houston | 26-7 | 18-10-1 | 77.42 | 64.91 | 12.51 | 8-2-1 | 5-7 | 13-16 | 4-7 | 6-6 |
Power Stats
| Assists Turnovers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Assists | Turnovers | Ratio | |
| SD.ST | 14.91 | 11.94 | 1.25 | |
| HOUST | 14.91 | 12.15 | 1.23 | |
| Rebounding | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Offense | Defense | Total | |
| SD.ST | 11.03 | 26.56 | 37.59 | |
| HOUST | 11.85 | 26.73 | 38.58 | |
| ShootingPercentage | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Offense | Defense | Differential | |
| SD.ST | 46.11 | 41.81 | 4.3 | |
| HOUST | 46.59 | 39.63 | 6.96 | |
Team Records
San Diego State Aztecs
| Name | Record | Home | Away | ATS | ATS Home | ATS Away | Offense | Defense | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 22-10 | 14-3 | 8-7 | 20-10 | 12-3 | 8-7 | 77.50 | 67.91 | 9.59 |
| Last 10 | 9-1 | 4-0 | 5-1 | 8-2 | 4-0 | 4-2 | 76.40 | 66.90 | 9.50 |
| vs Conf | 14-7 | 8-1 | 6-6 | 14-7 | 8-1 | 6-6 | 77.10 | 69.57 | 7.53 |
Houston Cougars
| Name | Record | Home | Away | ATS | ATS Home | ATS Away | Offense | Defense | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 26-7 | 16-1 | 10-6 | 18-10-1 | 9-3-1 | 9-7 | 77.42 | 64.91 | 12.51 |
| Last 10 | 8-2 | 5-0 | 3-2 | 8-2 | 4-1 | 4-1 | 78.00 | 62.50 | 15.50 |
| vs Conf | 16-5 | 10-0 | 6-5 | 13-7-1 | 7-2-1 | 6-5 | 75.29 | 63.90 | 11.39 |
Supergrid
| Title | Stat | Rank | Stat | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense | 77.50 | 62 | 64.91 | 20 |
| Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense | 77.42 | 63 | 67.91 | 51 |
Head To Head Summary
| Team | record | ATS | O/U | AVG | AVG ½ | FG% | REB | 3PT | steals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego State | 2-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 | 74.50 | 31.00 | 43.20 | 34.50 | 15/39 | 8.50 |
| Houston | 0-2 | 0-2 | 1-0 | 63.50 | 29.00 | 43.24 | 32.50 | 9/27 | 6.50 |
Head To Head Detail
| Date | Away | away score | Home | home score | line | ATS | Total | O/U | FG% Edge | Reb Edge | 3PT Edge | Away Half Score | Home Half Score | Away FG% | Home FG% | Away Rebounds | Home Rebounds | Away Three Pointers | Home Three Pointers | Away Steals | Home Steals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 21, 2002 | SD.ST | 71 | HOUST | 61 | 4 | SD.ST | O | HOUST | SD.ST | SD.ST | 28 | 30 | 42.6 | 43.9 | 38 | 31 | 6/22 | 5/14 | 8 | 4 | |
| Jan 29, 2002 | HOUST | 66 | SD.ST | 78 | -9 | SD.ST | 0 | O | SD.ST | HOUST | SD.ST | 28 | 34 | 42.6 | 43.8 | 34 | 31 | 4/13 | 9/17 | 9 | 9 |
March Madness Betting Trends
| San Diego State Aztecs | ||
|---|---|---|
| San Diego State is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games | ||
| San Diego State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games | ||
| The total has gone UNDER in 6 of San Diego State’s last 8 games | ||
| Houston Cougars | ||
|---|---|---|
| Houston is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games | ||
| Houston is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games | ||
| The total has gone OVER in 5 of Houston’s last 7 games | ||
Team Last 5 Games
San Diego State Aztecs
| Date | Opponent | score | Result | line | Total | ATS Result | field goal percentage | free throw percentage | three pointers | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 10, 2018 | NEWMX | 82-75 | W | -4 | 150 | W/O | 50.00 | 72.41 | 5 | A |
| Mar 9, 2018 | NEV | 90-73 | W | 2.5 | 150 | W/O | 51.85 | 76.47 | 8 | A |
| Mar 8, 2018 | FRSNO | 64-52 | W | -4 | 138 | W/U | 42.31 | 70.83 | 3 | A |
| Mar 3, 2018 | NEV | 79-74 | W | -1.5 | 153.5 | W/U | 49.18 | 54.55 | 7 | H |
| Feb 27, 2018 | BOISE | 72-64 | W | -5 | 144 | W/U | 45.28 | 79.31 | 1 | H |
Houston Cougars
| Date | Opponent | score | Result | line | Total | ATS Result | field goal percentage | free throw percentage | three pointers | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 11, 2018 | CINCY | 55-56 | L | 4.5 | 132.5 | W/U | 34.55 | 83.33 | 7 | A |
| Mar 10, 2018 | WICHI | 77-74 | W | 3 | 149 | W/O | 41.82 | 74.19 | 8 | A |
| Mar 9, 2018 | UCF | 84-56 | W | -9 | 126.5 | W/O | 57.89 | 70.00 | 4 | H |
| Mar 4, 2018 | UCONN | 81-71 | W | -14.5 | 141 | L/O | 45.28 | 73.53 | 8 | H |
| Feb 28, 2018 | SMU | 69-56 | W | -6 | 133.5 | W/U | 44.26 | 75.00 | 9 | A |