NCAA Basketball: Power ranking top 10 team defenses of 2022-23 season
By Mark Remsa
8. Saint Mary’s Gaels
The Gaels are one of the West Coast Conference’s toughest and most efficient defensive teams. The Gaels are only committing 16.5 fouls per contest and they generate 7.2 steals per game while holding their conference foes to 32% shooting from beyond the arc.
Saint Mary’s possesses one of the nation’s best scoring defenses as they are holding opponents to 58.7 points per game (4th nationally). It’s no wonder their opponents don’t score many points against them because they are holding teams to just 40.6% shooting from the field (35th nationally).
7. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Oklahoma State is consistently defending at a high level this season, especially in the Big 12. The Cowboys are first in the conference in scoring defense, blocks per game, and defensive rebounds per game. They are only giving up 64.3 points per game (37th nationally), averaging at least 5.2 blocks per game (15th nationally), and grabbing 26.23 rebounds per game (75th nationally).
The Cowboys are holding their opponents to 38.9% shooting from the field (5th nationally) and they are elite at defending the perimeter as their opponents are only shooting 29.9% from deep (20th nationally).
Oklahoma State big man Moussa Cisse is one of the reasons why the Cowboys have done a great job defensively this season. Cisse is one of the top shot blockers in the country at 2.14 per game (21st nationally) and he also leads the Big 12 with 8.3 rebounds per game.