San Diego State vs. Wyoming Jan. 19 Free Pick
Wyoming earned some early press in the national media this year when they began the campaign by winning their first 13 games. A 1-2 start in the Mountain West has cooled down the Cowboys and the road doesn’t get any easier. San Diego State comes to town Saturday night (7:30 ET tip) for a game that is opening up as a 1.5 point favorite.
Free Pick
I still hold the opinion San Diego State is the best team on the West coast, and of course in their conference. UNLV, New Mexico and others are challenging in what is a very competitive MWC this year. After wins over Fresno State and Colorado State to begin conference play, the Aztecs fell on their home floor to UNLV on Wednesday. SDSU features one of the best duos in the nation with guards Jamaal Franklin and Chase Tapley (18.4 and 15.2 ppg respectively). On top of scoring in high volume, Franklin also compensates for SDSU’s guard-heavy rotation by putting up over 10 rebounds a game.
Wyoming is beginning to be exposed in conference play, especially without the services of leading-scorer Luke Martinez, who is still out after his role in a bar fight in late December. Martinez was injured in the altercation before being eventually suspended by the team. Seniors Leonard Washington and Derrious Gilmore have had to pick up the slack with Martinez out and Wyoming’s offense has sputtered at times. They have failed to hit 50 in either of their last two games but they do return home where they have already beaten nationally-ranked Colorado.
San Diego State will look to run when they can against Wyoming, who is not fun to play in a half court offense at times. Tapley and Franklin were just about the only two that did show up against UNLV, and although their supporting cast is not the strongest, I expect Xavier Thames and company to be motivated to prove their worth. If San Diego State is able to extend this game with extra possessions in terms of a quicker pace than I expect the truth to come out and for the better team to go on and win this game. Wyoming certainly has their shot at this game on their own floor but it will require more things to go right in order to do so. Waiting for a second half play on San Diego State may also be a sharp angle to look at attacking this game from. In the end, I believe the better team takes this game despite it being incredibly tough to win anywhere in the Mountain West on the road. Take the road team in this one with the Aztecs.
Free Pick: San Diego State -1.5