FSM Essential Preview: UNLV vs San Diego State - Game 24

Photo Credit: Terrence Quiates Franchise Sports Media

FSM Essential Preview: UNLV vs. San Diego State – Game 24

UNLV (11-12) vs. San Diego State (19-4)

UNLV meets their toughest opponent all season when they host San Diego State.

The Runnin’ Rebels will look to win their second straight when they host the San Diego State Aztecs on Wednesday night. San Diego State is the 19^th ranked team in the nation and has won ten straight games. The Aztecs are starting to play some of their best basketball at the right time as we have now reached the month of March. They have a record of 19-4 and 13-3 in the Mountain West. UNLV is 11-12 and has an even 8-8 record in conference play.

The Runnin’ Rebels will need to be effective on the offensive side of the ball to pull off the upset.

UNLV is coming off a home series which resulted in a series split with the Fresno State Bulldogs. UNLV fell 67-64 in the first game but bounced back with a 68-67 win in the second game. They were down by 8 points at the halftime break; however, they had a solid defensive second half limiting the Bulldogs to 27 points. They were led by Caleb Grill who finished 18 points leading the Runnin’ Rebels team.

Bryce Hamilton also finished with 13 points and 7 rebounds. He leads the team averaging 18 points per game and has been the most consistent player for UNLV this season. David Jenkins averages 14 points per game, which ranks second on the team. Mbacke Diong leads the team with 8 rebounds a game, and UNLV is consistently better when he is dominating the boards.

San Diego State comes in having won their previous ten games, with the last two coming off a two-game series sweep of the Boise State Broncos. They won by 22 points in the first game and held on to the close 4 point victory in the second game-winning 62-58. It was an explosive second half in which both the Broncos and the Aztecs both scored 38 points. Jordan Schakel had 17 points leading all players in the game.

Schakel is the second leading scorer on this Aztec team averaging 14 points. He is behind the leader of this San Diego State team, that being Matt Mitchell who leads the team with 15 points per game and a steal and a half per game.

UNLV will look to avoid their third straight loss to San Diego State at the Thomas and Mack Center.

The Aztecs defense has been a big reason for their success this season and their current ten-game win streak. They have only allowed 60 points per game this season to their opponents, ranking 4^th in the entire country. Scoring will be a difficult task for UNLV, not only because San Diego State ranks at the top of defensive categories, but also because the Runnin’ Rebels only average 70 points per game which ranks 200^th in division 1 basketball.

San Diego State will look to win their 11^th straight game when they travel to Las Vegas to play UNLV for one game on Wednesday. UNLV will look to win their 2^nd straight and get back to .500 on the season before their final game of the season, which is at Wyoming on Saturday.

The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels host the San Diego State Aztecs at 6:00. Wednesday’s television announcers will be Jason Horowitz and Chris Walker. Jon Sandler and former Runnin’ Rebel Curtis Terry will handle the UNLV radio call, which may be heard live on ESPN Radio 1100 in Las Vegas.

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-Jarret Thompson – Franchise Sports Media

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