Busting Brackets
Fansided

San Diego State Basketball: 2019-20 keys to end losing streak at Boise State

By John Vaccaro

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 01: The SDSU student section displays a giant Kawhi Leonard cut-out prior to the game between the San Diego State Aztecs and the Utah State Aggies at Viejas Arena on February 01, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 01: The SDSU student section displays a giant Kawhi Leonard cut-out prior to the game between the San Diego State Aztecs and the Utah State Aggies at Viejas Arena on February 01, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 28: Jordan Schakel #20, Yanni Wetzell #5 and KJ Feagin #10 of the San Diego State Aztecs (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 28: Jordan Schakel #20, Yanni Wetzell #5 and KJ Feagin #10 of the San Diego State Aztecs (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Play through Yanni Wetzell

As I pointed out in the keys for the last clash between these two teams, the obvious weakness of the Boise State defense is their interior defending. They don’t have a ton of size outside of Robin Jorch and he usually plays less than half of the available minutes for Boise State. He also commits a ton of fouls, which would make it difficult for Boise to make him any bigger of a piece of their strategy anyway. This lack of strong interior defenders has led to the Broncos allowing opponents to shoot the 23rd highest percentage in the country from inside the 3-point line.

The 3-point shooting from the Aztecs is what has gotten most of the attention on the offensive end this season, but they are also a strong offensive team inside and their most recent game gave the appearance that they might have a burgeoning inside presence on their hands. Yanni Wetzell absolutely dominated the Lobos on Wednesday. He scored 20 points in the game on 7/9 shooting and made life miserable for the Lobo defense. That’s a Lobo defense that at least has some size in Corey Manigault and some tall guards to help defend the paint. Boise State doesn’t have either of those things and should have a ton of trouble with Wetzell.

Wetzell should be the focal point of the offense in this game and should be able to easily top his average for the season of 12 points per game. In fact, if the Aztecs play through him I wouldn’t be shocked to see him beat the 20 he scored the other night. They should get the ball in his hands as frequently as possible to spark the offense on the road.