From Jordan Harper . .
SDSU Scouting Report
They have faced 4 Power 5 programs (Stanford, Ohio St, Arizona, and Arkansas) all back in December. They went 2-2 and lost to Arkansas in OT at the Maui Invitational. A mixed bag.
The MWC had an average KenPom of 93. SDSU is known to have an elite defense, but how good is the offense in the MWC? It had an average adjO of 94. To compare those two categories, the SEC's avg KP is 67 and avg adjO is 89.
SDSU is known for an elite defense and an anemic offense. So far in the NCAAT, they have struggled on offense and had very good defense against 2 mid majors in College of Charleston and Furman. Now, both are top 75 in adjO, but neither have a lot of length or athleticism.
In conference play, they gave up an average of 63 ppg and scored 70 ppg. The MWC is a pretty solid league, but it goes to show how tough it is for SDSU to score on offense. For example, they only scored 45 points in a narrow 2 point win over a 9 win Fresno State team in February.
SDSU averages 7 made threes per game on 35% shooting and shoots roughly 45% from the field and turns it over 12 times per game. They play a deliberately slow pace with the 263rd ranked adjT in the country, while Alabama is 5th. They will try to make it a half-court game.
Matt Bradley is their best player and most confident scorer. He averages 13 ppg on 36% from 3, but only 41% from the field. He takes bad shots often, but he is always confident. Micah Parrish and Adam Seiko are threats from 3 shooting 37% and 46% respectfully.
They have 3 guys that play 25+ minutes in Matt Bradley, Darrion Trammell, and Lamont Butler in their backcourt. The rest of the team averages between 15-21 minutes. They play 9 deep and rotate the front court pretty regularly due to foul trouble.
After seeing Nevada get blown out and Boise St/Utah St lose pretty handily in the tournament, it makes you wonder just how good the MWC is. SDSU gave up 87 to Arizona and 78 to Arkansas (in OT) back in December, but that still matters. Those teams are built similar to Alabama.
It's going to be a very interesting game to watch because of styles, but I am not a believer in the MWC overall. It's going to be tough for SDSU to score on Alabama's 3rd ranked adjD, #1 two point and #3 three point defense.
Alabama may struggle early on like they did against Maryland, but eventually teams get worn down by Alabama's style and they break. It may be a race to 60 to win this game and it is nearly a guarantee every game that Alabama will score 60+.
ROLL TIDE!!!
