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BYU at San Diego State Game Preview, TV, Live Stream, Radio Odds and Prediction
San Diego State faces former Mountain West foe BYU who visits Viejas Arena for the first time since 2011.
Contact/Follow @tedmcgovern
Will Yoeli vs. Jalen become the new Jimmer vs. Kawhi?
WEEK 10: BYU Cougars (8-5) vs. San Diego State Aztecs (6-4)
WHEN: Saturday, December 22 — 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
WHERE: Viejas Arena – San Diego, CA (12,414)
TV: CBSSN
STREAM: fuboTV (stream it for free with a 7-day trial)
RADIO: XTRA 1360 Fox Sports San Diego | KSL 1160 AM, 102.7 FM
SERIES RECORD: BYU leads 48-24 (last meeting November 24, 2014)
WEBSITES: Goaztecs.com, the official San Diego State athletics website | BYUCougars.com, the official BYU athletics website
The Line: San Diego State Aztecs -3.5 — Over/Under: 154.5
Die hard Aztecs fans know that Brigham Young University was once a perennial thorn in the side of Montezuma. When BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe and then Cougars football coach Bronco Mendenhall declared that BYU would be the “Notre Dame of the West” they left the Mountain West.
Where are the Cougars now? Men’s basketball finished well behind Gonzaga and St. Mary’s last year in the lower-middling West Coast Conference, where they regularly play in 3,000- person capacity arenas, and it has been some time since the one-time NCAA Tourney fixture has gone to March Madness.
Because of their departure from the conference, and because Mountain West programs generally said “no” to BYU home-and-home games for several years, four years have passed since Aztecs basketball has faced the Cougars. During their last match, the Aztecs clinched the win 92-87 in November of 2014. The Cougars have not been to Viejas since 2011.
Those were the days of Jimmer vs. Kawhi, and in the history of the basketball rivalry, fans for both teams would argue that this was the fiercest and most entertaining rivalry between the two programs.
The Aztecs aren’t off to their greatest start in 2018, but they have faced the best of the best already. The Cougars are off to a pretty good start, but has the West Coast Conference made them soft? Tonight we will find out.
The Mountain West was known as San Diego State’s conference until the rise of Nevada, but just as we saw last season, never, ever count the Aztecs out. They started the season with a mediocre opening, but then defeated Gonzaga, and later went on a 9-0 run including back-to-back wins against the Wolf Pack to clinch the Mountain West Championship and an NCAA Tourney bid.
Jalen McDaniels is an NBA talent, and basketball ninja Devin Watson is a serious threat who can come alive both inside and outside the perimeter. The Aztecs have the potential to beat most any team- just ask Xavier.
BYU is no slouch, though. This team has its own specialists.
The Cougars’ marquee player Yoeli Childs is a WCC star, leading the conference in points per game. TJ Haws is a junior, who is averaging a career-high 17.5 points per game. Together they form a tandem for BYU that has strung together an 8-5 record but faces one of its toughest tests Saturday in San Diego.
San Diego State has been tested harder this season. They even faced off against highly formidable Duke. The Aztecs should have the upper hand playing at Viejas. Still, the Aztecs have had some trouble finishing on top.
Prediction: SDSU 80, BYU 79
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