In the 5 vs. 12 matchup in the West Region, the UConn Huskies take on the WAC champion New Mexico St. Aggies. Will the Huskies prevail and move on, or will the Aggies pull off the upset?
TV schedule: Thursday, March 17, 2022, on TNT at 6:50 p.m. EST
Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo NY
For the first time since the 2018-19 season, the 12 seeded New Mexico State Aggies (26-6, 14-4) are back in the Big Dance as they look to take down the 5 seeded UConn Huskies (23-9, 13-6) in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Both schools will be looking for their first tournament win in over five years when they clash in Buffalo.
In their last game, New Mexico St. took down Abilene Christian in the WAC Tournament Championship Game by a score of 66-52. The Aggies were the favorites in the tournament as they were the No. 1 seed after finishing the season in first place in the WAC with a record of 14-4.
In the championship game, the Aggies were led by 15 points and eight rebounds by senior guard Clayton Henry. Senior forward Johnny McCants stuffed the stat sheet as well, with eight points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. Overall, the Aggies played great defense vs. the Wildcats, forcing 11 turnovers, and blocking six shots.
New Mexico St. had yet another strong season during the 2021-22 campaign. For the fifth time in the past six seasons, they won at least 25 games and continued to prove themselves as one of the best mid-major programs in the country. All the Aggies and head coach Chris Jans do is win, as in his tenure, the team is 121-31.
They were led this year by Nebraska transfer and junior guard Teddy Allen. Allen was named WAC Player of the Year after averaging 19.3 PPG and 6.8 RPG. The only other double-digit scorer that the Aggies have is junior guard Sir’Jabari Rice, who put up 12.2 PPG this season.
On the other side, UConn head coach Dan Hurley has the Huskies back in the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. They are led by their dynamic trio of senior guard RJ Cole (15.7 PPG, 4.1 APG), sophomore forward Adama Sanogo (14.9 PPG, 8.9 RPG), and senior guard Tyrese Martin (13.7 PPG, 7.6 RPG). The Huskies are one of the best teams in the nation at protecting the rim, ranking second in the nation at 6.5 BPG. They are also an elite team on the offensive glass, with 14 offensive rebounds every night, which ranks them third in the country.
In their last matchup in the Big East Tournament Semifinals, UConn lost a close game to the Villanova Wildcats by a score of 63-60. In the game, the Huskies struggled to shoot the basketball, shooting under 40% from the field and just over 60% from the charity stripe.
The ‘Big Three’ for the Huskies all has solid games, with Martin scoring 19 points and grabbing seven rebounds, Sanogo putting up a double-double with 15 points and 13 boards, and Cole putting up a stat line of 11 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. Despite this, it wasn’t enough to knock off the mighty Wildcats as there wasn’t enough production outside of this group.
In their last NCAA Tournament game back in 2019, the Aggies lost a 5-12 matchup to the eventual region champion Auburn Tigers by a score of 78-77 after former guard Terrell Brown missed two of three free throws with his team down by two with one second to play. Two current Aggies played roles in this one, with Henry being in the starting lineup and McCants coming off the bench to score a team-high 16 points.
As for the Huskies, their last NCAA Tournament game also didn’t go their way as last year they were a 7 seed and ended up falling to the 10 seed Maryland Terrapins by a score of 63-54. One thing that the Huskies are bringing to this year’s tournament is postseason experience, as every single player who suited up last week against Villanova also suited up last year against the Terps. Cole and Martin combined to go an abysmal 4-22 from the field and accounted for just 11 points, so look for them to definitely improve vs. the Aggies.
Overall, this game will be closer than most people may think. Both teams play a similar style of defense before offense and this is probably a game that will be closer to the 50-60 range as opposed to the 70-80 range. With that being said, I think that the Huskies avoid the upset and march on to the Round of 32.
Prediction: UConn 68, New Mexico St. 59