Wyoming vs San Diego State: 2019-20 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Joey Loose
Wyoming and San Diego State matchup in another Mountain West showdown; will the Aztecs coast or can the Cowboys pull off the unthinkable?
TV schedule: Tuesday, January 21, 11:00 pm ET. CBSSN
Arena: Viejas Arena in San Diego, California
Following a CBI title in 2017, it’s been downhill for head coach Allen Edwards and Wyoming (5-15). They’ve lost six straight games, haven’t won an MWC game, and have looked pretty punchless for the most part. They nearly upset Nevada on the road on Tuesday, but nearly isn’t good enough.
Despite the team’s struggles, sophomore guard Hunter Maldonado (17.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 4.0 apg) is quietly having a solid year. He leads the Cowboys in many statistical categories but had a poor 7-point outing in their home loss to Fresno State this past Saturday. Picking up some of the slack was senior guard Jake Hendricks (9.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg), who led the team with 12 points, but there just isn’t enough talent on this team right now.
Unsurprisingly, Wyoming is the worst team in the conference and the ratings agree, with the Cowboys sitting 299th in KenPom at the moment. The offense ranks as one of the very worst in the nation and this team just can’t grab offensive rebounds, dead last in the country in that statistic. Their combination of a slow pace and an inefficient offense has been a recipe for some really rough stretches of basketball this season.
Across from them sits San Diego State (19-0), a team that defeated the Cowboys on the road by 20 points just a few weeks ago. College basketball’s final unbeaten team took care of business against Nevada this past Saturday after a slow start and show no signs of slowly down in conference play. Coach Brian Dutcher’s team is a well-oiled machine and the advantage of playing at home cannot be understated.
With a roster filled with talent, none stand out like junior guard Malachi Flynn (16.5 ppg, 4.9 apg). The product from the state of Washington continues to show that he can score at ease while also racking up steals and assists. Another name to watch is senior forward Yanni Wetzel (12.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg), who led the Aztecs with 17 points in that win over Nevada. While the team will miss injured forward Nathan Mensah (6.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg), the recent play of junior forward Matt Mitchell (11.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg) has certainly helped to fill that void.
San Diego State has risen to 4th in the AP Top 25, ranking 2nd in NET, and 8th in KenPom to this point. As evident in the second half against Nevada, this Aztecs defense is fierce and tenacious, ranking near the top of the nation in field goal defense while also having the ability to force turnovers and avoid them on offense. Even while trailing at the half and giving up a season-high 10 3-pointers, this team didn’t panic and looks poised for a big run if their defense keeps up this play.
For the Cowboys, this looks like a near-impossible task, but they’ll need just about everything to go right to pull this off. They’ll need someone other than Maldonado to score the basketball regularly and they need to limit the Aztec offense, especially from outside the arc. For the Aztecs, maintaining that defensive intensity will be key. They have the Cowboys greatly overmatched in nearly aspect and merely need to avoid making foolish mistakes.
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This has been the kind of college basketball season where literally anything can happen, but nothing insane should result in San Diego on this night. The Aztecs are up to eleven straight contests allowing fewer than 70 points and I seriously doubt this Cowboys offense will break that streak. If the Aztecs hit their shots early, they could turn this into a laugher very quickly.