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The Nevada Wolf Pack (12-3, 1-1) will look to get back on the winning track on Wednesday night as they host the San Diego State Aztecs in Reno. The Aztecs come into this contest with an 8-5 overall record and a 0-1 conference record after losing to New Mexico on Saturday.
The Wolf Pack are looking for their first win against San Diego State since they joined the Mountain West back in 2012. Since the move to the Mountain West, the Wolf Pack are 0-7 against the Aztecs and despite the struggles of San Diego State this season (losses to Grand Canyon, Arizona State and Loyola (Chicago) in the non-conference), the Wolf Pack’s road to winning the Mountain West still goes thru San Diego State for the time being.
The Wolf Pack must pick up the pieces after a one-point loss to Fresno State on Saturday. It was a game in which Nevada was plagued with too many turnovers on offense and on the defensive end they struggled there as the Bulldogs scored at will in the painted area and dominated Nevada on the offensive glass.
For the Wolf Pack to win on Wednesday, they must get back to defending the paint and stop Aztec forward Zylan Cheatham from dominating in the low post. Once again, the Aztecs are struggling on offense as they are second to last in the Mountain West in team field goal shooting percentage at 42 percent so the Wolf Pack should be able to shore up their defense against San Diego State.
This will be a close game between the Wolf Pack and Aztecs on Wednesday. San Diego State still has a defense that will stifle opposing offenses but this is not the same SDSU team from years past. The Wolf Pack have more weapons on offense (Marcus Marshall Jordan Caroline and Cam Oliver) this year that can put pressure on the Aztecs defense this season and on defense the Wolf Pack should be able to contain an anemic Aztec offense. In a must win for both teams, I think the Wolf Pack win a tightly contest.
Game Info:
Where: Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada
When: Wednesday at 8pm
TV/Radio: ESPN 2/94.5
Online: ESPN 3