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

Take What the Defense Gives Them

We know that San Diego State regularly lights it up from 3. We also know that UNLV has been pretty bad defending the 3 this year. However, UNLV’s 2 point defense isn’t much better than their 3 point defense and could be left susceptible to SDSU’s offense if they try to take away the 3. The key in this game is going to be for San Diego State to take advantage of whatever openings a porous UNLV defense gives them.

The fact that UNLV is going to be playing in front of what should be a rowdy crowd for such a big

home should draw a little bit better of a defensive performance than they usually give, but they are still going to need to pick their poison against SDSU. They can either protect the paint and let a prolific 3 point shooting team light them up or they can take away the three-ball and hope the Aztecs don’t dominate inside.

SDSU hasn’t played many games in front of hostile opposing crowds against teams that could actually challenge them. If UNLV can get the crowd involved in this game and even maintain a lead for a decent stretch of the game, then SDSU may find themselves in situations where they’re tempted to try to do something spectacular to quite the crowd. They are going to need to avoid that urge and continue to play the controlled, intelligent game that they’ve played all season.

They have the tools on offense to score from anywhere they choose and the fact that UNLV struggles to avoid putting their opponents on the foul line will just give the Aztecs another avenue to score points.

There will be openings for SDSU to score consistently throughout this game. The key will be for them to stay composed, avoiding forcing shots, and exploit the holes in UNLV’s defense, wherever their gameplay may leave those holes.