SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's basketball team received word of its postseason destination on Sunday, earning the No. 8 seed in the Midwest Region against No. 9 seed Creighton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Aztecs (23-8, 13-4 MW), who finished runner-up in the Mountain West Championship tournament, will face the Bluejays (22-11, 12-7 AAC) on Thursday, March 17, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Tip is scheduled for 7:27 p.m. ET, 4:27 p.m. PT, and the game will be broadcast on truTV.
This is SDSU's ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 13 years, its 16th overall and third in the five years since head coach Brian Dutcher took the reins of the program. The Aztecs, as the 3-seed in the Mountain West tournament, defeated No. 23/24 Colorado State 63-58 in the semifinal round before falling to Boise State 53-52 in the final.
The Bluejays enter the tournament with a 22-11 overall record after finishing 12-7 in the Big East. Creighton upset No. 11 Providence in the Big East tournament semifinal but lost 54-48 to No. 8 Villanova in the final.
The winner of the SDSU-Creighton clash will square off on Saturday, March 19, against the victor of No. 1 Kansas (28-6, 14-4 Big 12) and the winner of the First Four matchup between Texas Southern (18-12, 13-5 SWAC) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (23-11, 7-7 Southland), which will be played March 15 in Dayton, Ohio.
The Aztecs have played the Bluejays seven times in program history, most recently on Nov. 28, 2019, in the Las Vegas Invitational's semifinal game and posted an 83-52 victory in that game. In total San Diego State is 3-4 against Creighton, but 2-0 in neutral site matchups (the game in the Las Vegas Invitational and in an 80-68 win in the Wooden Legacy in Fullerton, Calif., on Nov. 29, 2013).
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Aztecs Face Creighton in NCAA Tourney First Round
