While San Diego State wants to win its first game in the NCAA Tournament since 2015, things are personal for the Aztecs too.
Matt Bradley, the leading scorer on poor teams before his transfer to SDSU, pronounced himself “really grateful for this moment.” Adam Seiko, who has had a taste of March Madness before, now will watch his younger brother Arthur Kaluma experience it too – and against him no less.
But the bottom line, Trey Pulliam said before the team departed for their first-round game against Creighton Thursday, is channeling their excitement to rise to the moment.
“I feel like going into the tournament, for us to make this run, I’ve got to take it to another level,” he said. “I know everybody on the team feels the same way.”
The No. 8 seeded Aztecs (23-8, 13-4 MW), runner-up to Boise State in the Mountain West Championship tournament, will face the No. 9 seeded Bluejays (22-11, 12-7 AAC) at approximately 4:30 pm. at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Tex. The game is set to be broadcast on TruTV.
The Bluejays, led by forward Ryan Hawkins and guard Alex O’Connell, enter the tournament having faced two AP Top 25 teams in the Big East tournament – first upsetting Providence in the semifinal, then losing 54-48 to Villanova in the final.
Kaluma, a forward who Seiko called “very skilled,” averaged nearly 10 points a game this season and despite being a freshman, started all but one game for Creighton. The team, however, is without another freshman, guard Ryan Nembhard, who broke his wrist last month.
Coach Brian Dutcher pointed to Pulliam and Lamont Butler as his hot hands, and noted that “for the most part we played pretty well offensively” in the conference tournament.
On the other hand, his team’s strong defenders must contend with Hawkins and O’Connell.
“If we lose O’Connell or Hawkins, they’re going to make open threes,” he said.
He thinks though that the specter of March Madness has overwhelmed his teams in the past. Now Dutcher wants them to be bold against Creighton.
“No scared team is going to win games in the NCAA tournament,” he said. “So take your shot, if you miss it, so be it. Play your game, play aggressively, play with great confidence and don’t play timid.”
That’s a must because looming for Thursday’s winner is Kansas, the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region. To move on to Saturday’s second-round contest, Kansas (28-6, 14-4 Big 12) must beat Texas Southern (19-12, 13-5 SWAC), winner of Tuesday’s First Four matchup against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
The Aztecs have played Creighton seven times in program history, most recently on Nov. 28, 2019, in the Las Vegas Invitational semifinal game, winning 83-52. Overall, San Diego State is 3-4 against the Bluejays.
This is the ninth tournament appearance for San Diego in the last 13 years, its 14th overall and third in the five years since Dutcher took over the program. The Aztecs suffered a first-round loss to Syracuse last year, falling 78-62.
SDSU is one of four MW representatives in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Colorado State (25-5), a sixth seed, faces No. 11 Michigan (17-14) at 9:15 a.m. Thursday on CBS. Boise State (27-7), also a No. 8 seed, plays No. 9 Memphis (21-10) at 10:45 a.m. Thursday on TNT.
Wyoming was eliminated Tuesday in a First Four 66-58 loss to Indiana.
