The No. 25th San Diego State Aztecs will host the first place team in the Mountain West Conference the No.17th ranked New Mexico Lobos at a sold out Viejas Arena (12,414). The Aztecs will enter Saturday’s game as the underdogs against New Mexico. The players to watch in Saturday’s game are Jamaal Franklin and Chase Tapley. Jamaal Franklin enters the game against New Mexico averaging 17.8 points and 9.6 rebounds in 18 games this season. Chase Tapley enters the game against New Mexico averaging 14.9 points and 3.4 rebounds in 17 games this season.

The Aztecs are still trying to improve with shooting from the floor and behind the arc. The Aztecs are shooting 44.2% from the floor and 33.3% from behind the arc.This team has a plethora of shooters and can blow out teams when they are shooting their best as they did against Arkansas Pine Bluff, UCLA, UCSB, first half of the Colorado State game and second half of the Nevada game.The Aztecs need major improvement in the free throw game but have improved their free throw shooting average to 67.8%.The Aztecs have also been working harder this season on offensive and defensive rebounds. Rebounding is the number one weakness of San Diego State. San Diego State has been out-rebounded in three of the past four games by Colorado State, UNLV and Wyoming. The Aztecs have a ton of work to do in the rebounding game. The Aztecs have been out rebounded teams this year 704 to 650.

The Aztecs are ranked 25th in the USA Today coaches’ poll. The Aztecs must win this game. The Aztecs starting five for Saturday’s game will be Xavier Thames, Chase Tapley. Jamaal Franklin, JJ ‘O Brien and DeShawn Stephens. Once again the only San Diego State freshman who is red-shirting this season is Matt Shrigley. Look for Skylar Spencer, Winston Shepard, Dwayne Polee and James Johnson to receive a lot of minutes in Saturday’s game.

The Lobos have some height on their team with Devon Williams (6-7), Tony Snell (6-7), Merv Lindsay (6-7), Nick Banyard (6-8), Cameron Bairstow (6-9) and Alex Kirk (7-0). The smallest players on the New Mexico team are Jamaal Fenton (5-9), Chris Perez (6-2) and Demetrius Walker (6-2). The Lobos have a good-sized squad that will put up a fight on the boards against a talented Aztec squad.

Poll Question

Game Day Information

Game information: Tipoff 1:00 p.m. PT at Viejas Arena (12,414) in San Diego, California.

Radio: KOGO 600 – for link to internet radio please Click Here

TV: NBC Sports Network

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