At least one Alabama Crimson Tide basketball player was hoping to not face San Diego State.

Alabama forward Noah Gurley had wanted to run into some familiar faces for the Sweet 16 in Louisville. Gurley is a transfer from Furman, who SDSU knocked off in its second-round NCAA Tournament matchup a few hours before Alabama did the same to Maryland. Instead, Gurley and the Tide will spend the next week preparing for the fifth-seeded Aztecs for a showdown in the KFC Yum! Center.

“I know they switch them one through five. I know they got a defensive player of the year on their team. I know their coach. I talked to him a little when I was in the transfer portal. I know they won the Mountain West. I know they’re a very respectable team so I know we gotta take this week of preparation very seriously,” Gurley said.

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The San Diego State blockade Gurley is referring to is Nathan Mensah, the 6-foot-10 reigning Mountain West defender of the year. Mensah has recorded four blocks and 14 rebounds across the Aztecs’ first two rounds, which included wins over College of Charleston and Furman.

The coach of San Diego State who recruited Gurley is Brian Dutcher. Like most coaches in the survive-and-advance mode of March Madness, has just been focusing on the next game and didn’t “know a thing” about the Tide as of its win on Saturday.

“I didn’t even watch the San Diego State game today. I was busy still watching Maryland film,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “With the short turnaround, I just — I’m a big fan, but when we got a game to win, I try to lock in on the team we’re playing. So I know San Diego State’s defense is elite. That’s what I’ve been told by our staff. Furman is a really good team and they shook Furman out, so we’re going to have to spend a lot of time prepping for them. We’ll spend a lot of time tomorrow. The players will be off tomorrow, but the coaches will be in working.

Both Nick Pringle and Rylan Griffen said they watched a bit of San Diego State’s two wins while enjoying the rest of an upset-filled weekend. They noticed the Aztecs are a physical, lengthy team, kind of like Alabama. San Diego State is rated 14th overall on KenPom and fifth defensively in adjusted efficiency (Alabama is second).

“I watched them earlier, they were pressuring everybody hard and denying everybody hard,” Griffen said. They’re here for a reason.”

The Aztecs haven’t let an opponent score more than 70 points since allowing 71 to New Mexico on Feb. 25. Opponents have hit that threshold against San Diego State just 11 times across 35 games. It allowed Charleston and Furman to shoot 50% from the floor. Maryland, another defense-first team, held Alabama to a 39.7% team field goal rate. But 16 second-chance points and six threes delivered a blowout victory.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].