San Diego State Scouting Report
Syracuse and San Diego State will meet for the third time ever when they square off in the NCAA Tournament on Friday. What should the Orange expect from the Aztecs?
BEST PLAYERS
F Matt Mitchell - 6-6, 235 lbs - Mitchell is San Diego State's leading scorer at 15.4 points per game. He also averages 5.5 rebounds, two assists and 1.5 steals. Mitchell can defend multiple positions and is a three level scorer. He shoots over 36% from beyond the arc.
G Jordan Schakel - 6-6, 200 lbs - A long wing who can play the two or the three, Schakel is an elite outside shooter at over 46%. He leads the team with 78 made three pointers. He is second on the team averaging over 14 points per game and is shooting 90.8% from the free throw line.
C Nathan Mensah - 6-10, 235 lbs - Mensah is a big who only plays about 21 minutes per game, but averages over eight points and six rebounds with 1.4 blocks. He is shooting over 57% from the floor.
G Terrell Gomez - 5-8, 165 lbs - Gomez is second on the team in assists, third in scoring and second in three point shooting. He hits over 41% of his three point attempts.
ROTATION
San Diego Diego State typically plays around nine or 10 players. Four or five off the bench usually play between eight and 15 minutes per game.
DEFENSE
San Diego State is one of the best defensive teams in the nation. The Aztecs hold teams to just 60.6 points per game (eighth in the nation) on 38.7% shooting (seventh in the nation). It snags over eight steals per game and rank 30th in the nation in that category.
Areas of weakness for the Aztecs include shot blocking (rank 208th with just 2.9 per game) and three point shooting. San Diego State holds teams to 32.7% from beyond the arc, which is solid, but ranks 121st in the country.
For reference, those numbers in the ACC would rank second in points allowed per game, first in field goal percentage defense, fourth in three point percentage defense, fourth in steals per game, and 13th in blocks per game.
REBOUNDING
San Diego State is a good rebounding team. It has a rebounding margin of +4 per game, which ranks 60th in the country. The team's leading rebounder is Nathan Mensah at 6.1 per game. That rebounding margin would rank fourth in the ACC. The Aztecs only snag 9.8 offensive boards per game, which ranks 174th in the nation and would rank eighth in the ACC.
SHOOTING
San Diego State is a good shooting team. It ranks 90th in the nation with a 45.5% team field goal percentage and 32nd with a team three point percentage of 37.5%. The Aztecs has two players shooting over 41% from three that are part of the regular rotation and one other over 36%. Off the bench, there are two shooters over 32% from the outside.
EFFICIENCY
KenPom rates San Diego State's offensive efficiency as 44th in the country and defensive efficiency as 11th. For reference, North Carolina is 53rd in offensive efficiency and 15th in defensive efficiency. Syracuse is 22nd in offensive efficiency and 89th in defensive efficiency.
TURNOVERS
The Aztecs turns it over 11.3 times per game, which ranks 48th in the country. So San Diego State does a solid job taking care of the basketball. On the other hand, the Aztecs defense forces 15.5 turnovers per game thank in part to snatching 8.3 steals.
