SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS
 Coach: Steve Fisher |  Record: 24-8

 
Overview: Head coach Steve Fisher has done this NCAA Tournament thing a few times, which definitely works in San Diego State's favor. This is a good shooting team from the field, making its shots at an excellent 47.2% clip. That excellent shooting has carried over to both the 3-point and free-throw percentages. The Aztecs are shooting 40.8 percent from behind the 3-point arc, their best percentage since the 1987-88 campaign, while also connecting on 77.7% of their free throw attempts.

Potential Difference Maker: Once a walk-on, senior guard John Sharper has turned into the long distance shooter that every NCAA Tourney team likes to have in its pocket., but also Mountain West Conference history. He knocked down a Cox Arena-record eight 3-pointers en route to a career-high 26 points in the regular season finale against South Dakota State. Sharper ranks third on the Aztec charts in both 3-point field goals made and 3-point field goal percentage. Mario Jointer is a prolific scorer.

On Offense: In the halfcourt they play a lot of two-man with Brandon Heath and Marcus Slaughter. They shoot it very well and are actually pretty effective in the halfcourt, but they would prefer to be in transaction. They can be scary when they have the transition game working.

On Defense: They will throw a 1-2-1-1 press at you and fall back to man in the halfcourt. They do a nice job with their man-to-man pressure. They led the Mountain West Conference in steals.

Strength: The inside-outside game with Heath and Slaughter. Heath is much more under control this season, not trying to do too much. They are very good at beating you at the point of attack and Slaughter is a monster on the glass. He’s the best offensive rebounder in America.

Weakness: They aren’t a really good low-block team, which means they will struggle to get points if their perimeter shots aren’t falling.

Key to Success: Slaughter’s ability to control the boards at both ends. His ability to get second chance points is ridiculous.

How to Beat Them: You have to break their pressure and it’s imperative you get a body on Slaughter when the shot goes up. You cannot let them get second-chance opportunities. That is their bread and butter.