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No. 8 San Diego State vs. No. 9 Creighton preview for March Madness first-round matchup

No. 8 San Diego State and No. 9 Creighton face off in the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament. We’ve got an initial preview of what and how to watch following Selection Sunday.

By DKNetworkStaff
NCAA Basketball: Fresno State at San Diego State
San Diego State Aztecs forward Chad Baker celebrates with forward Joshua Tomaic after defeating the Fresno State Bulldogs at Viejas Arena.
Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The NCAA Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 15th with the First Four, and then moves on to the first round on Thursday, March 17 and Friday, March 18. No. 8 seed San Diego State will face No. 9 seed Creighton in the first round on Thursday. Here’s an early look at what we can expect from the Aztecs and Bluejays in this year’s March Madness Tournament.

Once the odds from DraftKings Sportsbook are made available for this game, we’ll add that information below. We’ll also add the game time and TV channel once it’s settled.

Game date: Thursday, March 17
Game time: 7:27 p.m. ET
TV channel: truTV
Location: Fort Worth, Texas

Odds: San Diego State -2

No. 8 San Diego State

The Aztecs finished third in the Mountain West conference and played in the conference tournament championship. On offense, the Aztecs were led by guard Matt Bradley with 17.0 points per game and he was the only player on the team to average more than nine points per game. On defense, forward Nathan Mensah led the team in rebounds per game and blocks per game.

Record: 23-7, 13-4 Mountain West
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 158
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 2
Against The Spread: 17-14
Over Total: 12-19
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +20000

No. 9 Creighton

The Creighton Bluejays are back in the NCAA Tournament after reaching the Sweet 16 last season. Greg McDermott’s squad has done a lot of their damage on the defensive end of the floor, but they can struggle offensively where they do not rate well according to KenPom’s adjusted efficiency.

Creighton big man Ryan Kalkbrenner and Ryan Hawkins do a great job crashing the boards as the top two scorers and rebounders for the Bluejays. The Bluejays have done well in replacing point guard Ryan Nembhard, who is out for the rest of the season with a wrist injury.

Record: 22-11, 12-7 Big East
KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency: 124
KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency: 18
Against The Spread: 17-14-2
Over Total: 11-21-1
Odds to win NCAA Championship: +20000

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