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New Mexico State vs Auburn March Madness Odds / Live Stream / TV Channel, Date / Time & Preview

New Mexico State vs Auburn March Madness Odds / Live Stream / TV Channel, Date / Time & Preview

Written by on March 21, 2019

March Madness Trends, Rumors & News, NCAA Basketball Betting News

Few Power 5 Conference teams enter the NCAA Tournament playing better than SEC champion Auburn, but not even the Tigers are as hot as their opponent in Thursday’s first round in the Midwest Region: New Mexico State. Auburn is a 5.5-point NCAAB betting favorite.

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How to Bet New Mexico State vs Auburn March Madness Odds & Game Info

Why Bet on New Mexico State?

The Aggies were regular-season WAC champions at 15-1 and then rolled to the conference tournament title, beating Grand Canyon 89-57 in the final. NM State finished its dominating performance with a .508 clip from the field as a team and .436 clip from 3-point range. The 17 threes NM State hit was a new WAC Tournament record as well as its 39 attempts. NM State’s bench was huge, outscoring the GCU bench 50-9. The Aggies also dominated the glass with a 47-28 edge.

New Mexico State has now won seven of the last eight WAC Tournament titles and has nine conference tournament titles total the last 14 years. NM State also moved to 32-5 all-time in the conference tournament. NMSU is 30-4 overall on the year and extended its program record for wins in a season. In addition, the 19-game winning streak for NM State ties Wofford for the longest active streak in the country.

The team’s star is Terrell Brown, who earned First-Team All-WAC honors and All-Newcomer Team accolades. The 6-1 guard led the Aggies with 12.9 points per game in conference play while knocking down 48.5-percent of his shots from 3-point range. This is a deep team with 13 different Aggies playing at least 11 minutes per game and they have had nine different leading scorers this season.

Thursday’s battle vs. fifth-seeded Auburn will be New Mexico State’s 22nd all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies are 7-23 all-time in the Big Dance with all seven of their wins coming from 1968-70. The last NM State win in the tournament came against St. Bonaventure in the NCAA Consolation game, 79-73, during its Final Four run in 1969-70.

This will be New Mexico State’s third time playing an NCAA Tournament game in Salt Lake City with an overall record of 1-1. The last played there in 1991. In the last 10 losses for NM State in the Big Dance, two have come by single digits. Those two single-digit losses came against No. 13 San Diego State (73-69 OT) in 2014 and No. 12 Michigan State in 2010, 70-67. NM State is 2-3 all-time when playing as the 12-seed.

Team Stats

Offense
  • Total Score: 78.00
  • Field Goal Percentage: 45.90
  • Three-Point Percentage: 33.62
  • Free Throw Percentage: 67.54
  • Total Rebounds: 38.59

Defense

  • Total Score: 64.06
  • Field Goal Percentage: 41.80
  • Three-Point Percentage: 33.29
  • Free Throw Percentage: 70.41
  • Total Rebounds: 29.15

Why Bet on Auburn?

Auburn is the SEC Tournament champion, upsetting Tennessee 84-64 in the final. It was the Tigers’ first SEC Tournament title since 1985. The defense was terrific in the first half, forcing 10 turnovers and holding Tennessee to just 23 points. On offense, Auburn made 10 of 20 shots from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes, and the lead grew to as many as 23 at one point. Bryce Brown and Chuma Okeke led the way with 19 and 18 points, respectively.

Brown, the tournament MVP, set the record for most 3-pointers in an SEC tournament (18) after knocking down five triples in Sunday’s final. The senior scored in double figures in all four of Auburn’s games this week and averaged 16.5 points per game for the tournament. Okeke scored 14 of his 18 points after halftime and made 4 of his 6 shots from deep. The sophomore big man also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds and helped hold Tennessee’s two stars, Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield, to a combined 17 points.

New Mexico State vs Auburn is going to be a close one.

Center Austin Wiley returned to the court in the SEC tournament after missing nine games due to a leg injury and the Tigers dominated. He flashed the potential worthy of a five-star recruit in the first half of the season, scoring 17 points against Duke in the Maui Invitational and posting eight double-figure scoring games by Christmas.

Auburn, on an eight-game winning streak, is headed back to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year and the 10th time in program history. The 5 seed is tied for the third-highest seed in program history. The Tigers were a 4 seed a year ago, and they earned a 1 seed in 1999. Including last year’s 62-58 win over College of Charleston in the first round last year, Auburn has won at least one game in eight straight NCAA tournament appearances.

The Tigers lead the nation in defensive turnover percentage — opponents surrender the ball before attempting a shot on 25.2 percent of possessions. Auburn ends a trip with a steal 12.8 percent of the time and blocks 15.9 percent of opponents’ shots, ranking top-five nationally in both categories.

Team Stats

Offense
  • Total Score: 79.57
  • Field Goal Percentage: 44.78
  • Three-Point Percentage: 37.64
  • Free Throw Percentage: 71.30
  • Total Rebounds: 34.60
>Defense
  • Total Score: 68.11
  • Field Goal Percentage: 43.32
  • Three-Point Percentage: 35.32
  • Free Throw Percentage: 70.67
  • Total Rebounds: 34.94

New Mexico State vs Auburn March Madness Betting Trends

  • Aggies are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 non-conference games
  • Aggies are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 NCAA Tournament games
  • Tigers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record
  • Tigers are 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 neutral site games
  • The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Auburn’s last 15 games
  • Auburn is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
  • New Mexico State is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games

Expert March Madness Betting Prediction

New Mexico State 68 – Auburn 77

2019 March Madness Expert Betting News

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