Point spread, betting odds for San Diego State vs. New Mexico Mountain West Tournament semifinal

The San Diego State Aztecs will have their NCAA Tournament fate on the line when they face long-time nemesis New Mexico for the final time as Mountain West rivals in the semifinals of the conference tournament on Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

The No. 2-seeded Aztecs (21-10) have been set as 2.5-point favorites against the No. 3 Lobos (23-9) according to Fanduel.com. The over/under is 150.5 points. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. PT at and the game will air on CBS Sports Network.

The winner will get a chance to play for the MW’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament in Saturday’s championship game, against the winner of the Utah State-Nevada semifinal.

With New Mexico and SDSU decidedly on the bubble, bracket experts are calling this a de-facto NCAA Tournament elimination game.

A loss by the Aztecs would be a massive letdown after they came into the season with high expectations due to a roster led by guards Miles Byrd, Reese Dixon-Waters and 7-footer Magoon Gwath. Their NCAA Tournament resume was battered by a rough non-conference stretch. They got back on their feet with a seven-game winning streak but then staggered down the stretch by losing four of their last six regular-season games.

The big picture

San Diego State has reached the championship game in its previous two times as

the 2-seed. It won the title in 2011 and was the runner-up in 2015.

New Mexico leads the series 53-47. The Lobos are 6-3 against the Aztecs on neutral courts. The teams have met four times for the MW tournament championship, with the Lobos winning three times.

The teams swept the season series, with each team winning at home. The Aztecs prevailed 83-79 at Viejas Arena on Jan. 17 and the Lobos beat the Aztecs 81-73 in their final visit to The Pit on Feb. 28.

The Aztecs will move into the reconfigured Pac-12 next season, along with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Utah State. The Lobos are among the teams staying behind in the MW.

Keys to the game

SDSU advanced by beating No. 7 Colorado State 71-62 with some unusual stats. They made only 1 of 11 3-pointers and were just 22 of 42 from the free throw line, while outrebounding the Rams 43-31 and outsourcing them in the paint, 42-8.

The Aztecs know that poor free-throw shooting can doom them.

“We escaped tonight with some bad free-throw shooting,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “I'm going to fire the free-throw coach, but it's me, so I'm going to give myself one more day to try to get it right.”

New Mexico routed San Jose State 93-77 in the quarterfinals.

Notable trends

- New Mexico is 23-9 overall and 17-14 ATS

- San Diego State is 21-10 overall and 14-16 ATS

New Mexico vs. San Diego State betting odds

Spread: San Diego State -2.5 (-110)

Over/Under: 150.5 (-115)

Moneyline: San Diego State (-138), New Mexico (+115)

Game time: Friday, March 13 at 9 p.m. PT

TV: CBS Sports Network

Odds courtesy ofFanDuel Sportsbook. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.