San Diego State Basketball: 2019-20 keys to make UNLV their 21st victim

Dominate the Defensive Glass

When you look at UNLV’s shooting percentages and turnovers it’s easy to wonder just how they’ve managed to find so much offensive success in 2020. Then you look at their rebounding numbers and it becomes very clear. They are grabbing an incredible 36% of available offensive rebounds available this season, which is the country’s 6th highest number. That has carried them through conference play so far as they have dominated most of their Mountain West opposition on the offensive glass. If the Aztecs are going to stay undefeated, they’ll need to change that in this game.

While their numbers aren’t as impressive, the San Diego State defense has been almost as strong on the glass as UNLV’s offense. The Aztecs have the country’s 37th highest defensive rebounding percentage, grabbing 77.6% of available defensive boards. There’s no question that the Aztecs have the size to negate UNLV’s advantage here and they’ve shown a strong commitment to hitting the glass all season, but in this game, it absolutely needs to be something their defense focuses on.

It might cost them some fast-break opportunities and it could even lead them to pick up some fouls, but San Diego State needs to limit UNLV’s advantage on the glass as much as possible. If they are successful then the Runnin’ Rebels offense should have a tough time finding any success against this stout defense.