UConn Will Continue First Half Dominance

San Diego State University vs. UConn, 7:40 ET, Thursday

This is a very exciting week for all of us sports fans. Of course, we have college basketball in the middle of the NCAA Tournament and the Sweet 16 coming up. We also have MLB's Opening Day, which they foolishly put on the same day, but we get an opportunity to watch baseball all day long then switch to some strong college hoops games. My goal is to put a play on every one of the Sweet 16 games. I'll have baseball games and other plays later as well, but this has been such a good college basketball season, I want to get as many bets in as I can before the season is over. This one will be on a game between #5 San Diego State University and UConn.

San Diego State has made yet another run in the Tournament. If you remember last year, they were able to reach the National Championship. Do you remember who they had to face in that game? Well, it was none other than UConn, the same school they have to face on Thursday. They lost the title to the Huskies by 17 points, so it wasn't exactly a close game. There are some kids still on the roster from that loss and I have to imagine they are looking to get a bit of revenge in this game. Last year, Jaedon LeDee only played 18 minutes, expect him to get more run this game and be the focal point of the Aztec offense once again. There are only two starters from the Championship game who are still on the team, Darrion Trammell and Lamont Butler. The biggest problem that I have the team is that they aren't a very diverse offensive team. They only have on guy shooting over 40% from deep, and it is LeDee who has put up only 42 attempts and does most of his damage down low. After escaping with a victory over UAB in the opening round, they dominated Yale in the second round, winning by 28-points. LeDee has put up 58 points and 17 rebounds in the two games so far. 

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MARCH 26: Ryan Nembhard #2 of the Creighton Bluejays fouls Darrion Trammell #12 of the San Diego State Aztecs during the second half in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at KFC YUM! Center on March 26, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

UConn is too good of a team to expect them to allow LeDee to get whatever he wants. The biggest question is if the Aztecs are going to find a way to score against this UConn defense when LeDee can't get things rolling. So far in the tournament, UConn has looked like the best team. That isn't a surprise as they were the best team most of this season as well. In the first game they took care of Stetson, winning by 39-points in a game where they showed just how talented they can be. UConn was efficient on offense and elite on defense (mostly in the first half, they seemed to just kind of coast in the second half). Their second matchup against Northwestern wasn't quite as strong of a performance, but they still were ridiculously dominant in the first half. They held Northwestern to only 18 points. UConn still found a way to win despite some poor shooting from deep. The Huskies were just 3-for-22 from beyond the arc. Unlike San Diego State, UConn has four or five guys who can carry the team on offense. San Diego has a good team, but probably won't be able to keep up with all five of the main contributors from UConn.

I'm going to stick with the idea that UConn will come out with a defensive intensity in the first half. I think San Diego probably will make adjustments at halftime, but the way UConn has played in the first two first halves of the opening games it will probably over for the Aztecs anyway. Right now, the team total for the Aztecs is 29.5 in the first half of the game. I'm taking the under. UConn has held their first two opponents to 19 and 18 points in the first half in the first two games. I think they will dominate this one in the first half once again and will take the under. I will also sprinkle on UConn -6 at halftime as well. 

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