Surging Rebels Look To Tame Their Bully

Las Vegas, Nevada

Red Hot Rebels enter Senior Night winners of 4 in a row and 9 out of 10

The Runnin Rebels host the defending Mountain West Champion San Diego St Aztecs Tuesday March 5th. While the Rebels are riding one of their best stretches in years, they face the team that has owned them for the better part of a decade. The Aztecs have won 9 out of the last 10 contest against the Rebels, and are looking to keep that trend going. They feature, the likely Mountain West Player of the year in Jaden Ledee, and an exprienced squad, that’s still in the hunt for a conference title. While the Aztecs have dominated UNLV over the last few years, this Rebels squad features a bevy of players, unfamiliar to the hold SDSU has had over them. DJ Thomas and the Boone twins, are arguably the team’s most important players and while they may have suffered an L in the first contest, none of them have the tramua resulting from the long term effects of losing to the Aztecs.

In the first game, one thing became abundantly clear, this team matches up well with the Conference bullies. Roberty Whaley vs Jaden Ledee is must see TV, and the aformentioned Thomas has a chance to solidify his MWC freshman of the year award, and perhaps an All Conference selection with a good showing in this game. If you break this matchup down, there is a lot of reason for optimism.

1) The Rebels have the deeper team – San Diego St is basically Ledee and the Ledeetes. While there are some other scorers, they will have to have a big game from the bruising forward in order to have a shot at a road victory. UNLV on the other hand has 5 guys that score in double figures, and that does not include Robert Whaley who has come on as of late.

2) The Aztec’s haven’t been road Warriors – San Diego St hasn’t beaten any of the top teams in the conference on the road. In fact in a few of those games, like the New Mexico game, they’ve been downright overpowered. Thomas and Mack ain’t what it used to be, but the Aztecs will still be entering into unfriendly confines.

3) Strength vs Weakness – What the Aztecs want to do is take away your ability to beat them from the three point line. What the Rebels want to do is bully you inside, it should be an interesting matchup to see if the Rebels can score on the interior, or even get Ledee in foul trouble.