Busting Brackets
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San Diego State Basketball: 3 keys for Aztecs to move to 27-0 against UNLV

By John Vaccaro

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 11: Fans of San Diego State Aztecs cheer during the first half of a game against the New Mexico Lobos at Viejas Arena on February 11, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 11: Fans of San Diego State Aztecs cheer during the first half of a game against the New Mexico Lobos at Viejas Arena on February 11, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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BOISE, ID – FEBRUARY 16: Guard Jordan Schakel #20 of the San Diego State Aztecs (Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images)
BOISE, ID – FEBRUARY 16: Guard Jordan Schakel #20 of the San Diego State Aztecs (Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images) /

Dare the Rebels to shoot

The UNLV offense has been slightly above average throughout the season, but that’s just about entirely because of what they do inside the paint. They have been a dominant rebounding team and they’ve made 50.7% of their shots inside the 3-point line throughout the season. On the other hand, they are a pretty terrible 3-point shooting team. Their 31.6% 3 point shooting percentage is in the bottom 100 of the country.

SDSU should pack the paint in this game and just dare UNLV to shoot the 3. SDSU has been better defending the 3 than the 2 this season, but they should be shifting their focus in this game. They don’t need to worry about UNLV scoring consistently from 3, especially on the road and if they do, it’ll be an easy adjustment to take the 3 away again.

UNLV’s clearest path (and even their clearest path is pretty blurry against SDSU) to victory is repeatedly getting the ball inside and bullying the Aztecs to score points. If the Aztecs can keep UNLV out of the lane and off the free throw line, then UNLV should have a ton of trouble scoring and SDSU should have a great day on the defensive end.