San Diego State vs Creighton Prediction, Game Preview, Live Stream, Odds & Picks
San Diego State Looking for an Encore
In a region with No. 1 overall seed Alabama, Pac-12 tournament champion Arizona and former national champions Baylor and Virginia, this is not the matchup in the South Region title game that most who bet online were expecting.
San Diego State wasn’t favored to make it out of the first round thanks to a matchup against Charleston, which was the pick among the No. 12 seeds to pull off one of those 5-12 upsets. Creighton had tough tests against North Carolina State and Baylor in the first two March Madness games.
San Diego State fell to Utah State in the Mountain West title game and also had a late-season loss to Boise State. Creighton lost to Xavier by 22 points in the Big East semifinals and split its last six games during the regular season.
After winning the three tournament games by 11, 9 and 9 points, No. 6 seed Creighton is listed by the college basketball odds as the slight favorite.
When looking at the college basketball news, Mason Miller is questionable with a leg injury for Creighton. The Blue Jays’ top nine players have combined to miss just eight games this season.
San Diego State has played without freshman forward Miles Byrd since late December. However, fellow freshman Demarshay Johnson Jr. returned earlier in March after playing in one game in the previous month. He doesn’t play much but the 6-foot-10 Johnson could earn some minutes against Creighton’s talented frontcourt.
San Diego State is 18th in both the Associated Press and coaches’ polls. Creighton is 22nd in the coaches’ poll and came up five points shy of returning to the top 25 in the AP rankings.
According to the odds to win March Madness, Michigan State (+2500) is ninth and Kansas State (+3000) tied for 10th in the odds to win the national championship.
All Hands On Deck
Creighton is so dangerous because the offense can come from a variety of places.
Both 7-foot-1 junior center Ryan Kalkbrenner and sophomore guard Ryan Nembhard have 30-point games during the NCAA tournament.
Five Creighton players average at least 11.8 points per game during the season.
In the tournament, Kalkbrenner is averaging 21 points per game on 67% shooting and he is 12 of 13 from the foul line. Nembhard is contributing 16.3 points to go with 13 assists and just five turnovers, Trey Alexander (15 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3 assists) Baylor Scheierman (13 points, 7 rebounds) and Arthur Kaluma 10.3 points so all five starters are contributing right now. That has played a role in the NCAA basketball odds favoring the Bluejays.
It can be hard to get offense outside of the five starters with 16 bench points in the three tournament games.
Creighton is 6-1 against the college basketball betting lines in its last seven games.
Let’s Get Physical
San Diego State has had teams put up better defensive numbers than this year’s squad However, the Aztecs did hold top overall tournament seed Alabama to 32% shooting in the regional semifinals and a stunning 3 of 27 from 3-point range to make a surprising appearance in the regional final.
Put the nation on notice.#TheTimeIsNow | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/Ofdx7lC32k
— San Diego State Men’s Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) March 25, 2023
San Diego State got to play double-digit seeds in the first two rounds so it was hard to know what to expect from the Aztecs going into the matchup with Alabama.
San Diego topped the Crimson Tide even with top scorer Matt Bradley being limited to six points on 2 of 9 shooting. Darrion Trammell, who spent the previous two seasons lighting it up at Seattle, came through as he matched his season high with 21 points after managing a total of 17 in the first two games in the NCAA tournament.
Each of San Diego State’s last 11 games have gone over the NCAA Las Vegas basketball odds total.
San Diego State vs Creighton Game Injuries
San Diego State vs Creighton Head-to-Head
Creighton has won four of the previous seven meetings against San Diego State. This will be the second straight NCAA tournament when the Blue Jays and Aztecs square off. Creighton won 72-69 in overtime in the first round of the 2022 Midwest Region when listed by the sportsbook as a 2½-point underdog.
This is the fifth meeting in the last 13 seasons. The teams also met three times from 1970-74.
The winning team has also covered against the spread in each of the last four meetings with three of those games finishing over the total.
San Diego State vs Creighton Information
- Game: Creighton Bluejays (23-12) vs Kansas State Wildcats (25-9)
- Location: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY
- Day/Time: Sunday, March 26, 2:20 p.m. ET
- San Diego State vs Creighton Live stream: TBS.com
San Diego State vs Creighton State Betting Lines
San Diego State vs Creighton picks and Prediction
All season, the Big East and Mountain West delivered results that had them putting up power ratings not far off what was happening in the Power-5 conferences so it seems fitting that Creighton out of the Big East and San Diego State from the Mountain West will meet with a spot in the Final Four on the line.
Creighton ranks fourth nationally in defensive rebounding per game so getting extra possessions against the Bluejays can be challenging. Creighton is also in the top 50 in assists per game, free throw percentage, rebounding and total fouls per call so Creighton doesn’t beat itself.
San Diego State is fourth in adjusted defensive efficiency according to the Pomeroy college basketball ratings. Creighton looks like the more well-rounded team as the Blue Devils are in the top 25 in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
Creighton is 19-17 and San Diego State 18-15-2 against the spread this season.
Creighton is 24-7 when listed by the sportsbook as the favorite. San Diego State is 2-2 when listed as the underdog.
Creight is listed at -125 while San Diego State is at +105 in a game with a Final Four spot at stake.
The Creighton are listed at -125 in our Vegas NCAAB lines. This means that if you wager $100 on Creighton , you have a chance to win $80. TheSan Diego Stateare +105, offering a chance to win $105on a $100 wager.
The implied probability attached to the Las Vegas college basketball lines gives Creighton a 55.56% chance to win, with San Diego State at 48.78%
