San Diego State basketball: Keys vs Air Force in mountain west tourney

San Diego State Basketball: 2019-20 keys vs Air Force in Mountain West tournament

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 26: Malachi Flynn #22 of the San Diego State Aztecs drives to the basket against Cheikh Mbacke Diong #34 of the UNLV Rebels during their game at the Thomas & Mack Center on January 26, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Aztecs defeated the Rebels 71-67. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

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ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO – JANUARY 29: KJ Feagin #10 of the San Diego State Aztecs (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /

Make Air Force Pay from 3

It isn’t all that easy to pinpoint exactly what makes Air Force’s defense so bad. There are plenty of culprits that could be the thing that causes them to give up the 46th most points per game in the country, but there is an obvious facet to their defense that San Diego State should be able to take advantage of.

Air Force’s 3-point is absolutely awful. They’ve allowed opponents to shoot 37.5% from behind the arc this season, which puts them in the bottom 40 in the country. Even in their win over Fresno State on Wednesday, they allowed the Bulldogs to shoot 44.4% from 3, knocking down 16 of them.

We know how good San Diego State’s 3-point attack has been throughout the season. Their 37.8% shooting currently has them at 16th in the country and that shooting has been one of their greatest weapons throughout the season.

The first time these two teams met, they knocked down 14 of their 27 attempts from outside the arc. That accounted for nearly half of their scoring in that game. Something even resembling a repeat performance would make the Aztecs extremely difficult to beat in this game.

Air Force is going to give them plenty of opportunities to get hot from outside. They need to make Air Force pay for as many of them as possible to win this game in convincing fashion.