Analyst Names 'Only Way' San Diego State Can Beat UConn

29/03/2024 01:06

San Diego State is set to face UConn on Thursday night in the Sweet Sixteen.

It's a rematch of last year's national championship game, a game in which the Huskies pulled away from the Aztecs for a relatively comfortable victory.

If San Diego State doesn't want its season to end at the hands of the same team that eliminated them a year ago, one analyst says there's only one way they can come out on top in Thursday night's matchup.

"The only way to beat UConn is to go over the top," said CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein. "They don't allow you to penetrate inside because of [Donovan] Clingan and they don't allow you to post up because of Clingan."

"I would say for San Diego State to have any chance, it has to make a minimum of 8 threes."

The Aztecs were hot from beyond the arc in their last game, hitting 13 threes in their victory over Yale in the second round. They may need a similar performance from three in order to take down another school from the state of Connecticut.

The bad news for San Diego State is that UConn is one of the best defensive teams in the country. 

They've won several games this season by holding their opponents to long stretches of missed shots and bad possessions down the stretch.

Head coach Brian Dutcher and his team are well aware of how good UConn is, but they'll need to potentially play their best game of the season to avoid an early exit from the tournament on Thursday night.

The winner of the UConn/San Diego State game will face the winner of Thursday's Illinois/Iowa State game on Saturday for the right to play in the Final Four.