San Diego State Basketball: 3 keys for Aztecs to move to 19-0 against Nevada

Slow the Game Down

San Diego State isn’t a team that tends to let their opponent dictate the pace of play and they’ll need that to remain true against Nevada to stay undefeated. Nevada thrives on a sped-up game, but San Diego State likes to keep things controlled.

At this point in the season, Nevada is currently averaging 4.4 possessions per game more than San Diego State. That’s in spite of the fact that they are a worse offensive rebounding team than SDSU and they don’t create as many turnovers per game as the Aztecs. That means they must play at a very high pace to get so many possessions in a game. The Aztecs can’t let that happen.

They need to keep the game slowed down and milk the clock on their end, avoid turnovers, and get back on defense instead of crashing the offensive glass. All of these things will slow the game down and hopefully drag Nevada into exactly the type of game that they don’t want. Based on their possession stats, it seems like Nevada is the type of team that tries to score early in the shot clock. SDSU needs to force them to play deep into the shot clock and settle for the exact types of tough looks they don’t want from long possessions.

This should also throw off the rhythm of their shooters. If they’re used to taking a lot of their shots early in the shot clock or on fast breaks, then being forced to settle into the half-court offense and try to knock down shots after extended possessions could be something that takes the shooters out of their comfort zone.

We know that San Diego State can score in the half-court after an extended possession. They should make Nevada prove that they can consistently too. I believe they’d struggle with this type of game and SDSU would put up another stifling performance on defense en route to their 19th consecutive win.