San Diego State vs UNLV Pick & Prediction for Tuesday

There's a massive matchup from the Thomas & Mack Center tonight. These two teams are both one game back in the Mountain West regular season standings and are fighting for seeding for the conference tournament.

This is the second time these two teams have met up this season. The first meeting resulted in an 11-point win for San Diego State, as the Aztecs led the entire game and covered the 8.5-point spread.

San Diego State is in for another great run in March, as it has the core of its team intact and has looked as solid as ever this season.

The biggest advantage the Aztecs have against UNLV is their defense. UNLV sometimes struggles on the offensive side, which is not what you want to do against San Diego State.

Thanks to their length and rim protection, the Aztecs will swallow any offense that's not confident or playing at its best.

After a mediocre game in the first meeting between these two programs, Jaedon LeDee will surely bounce back. The big man is having a career year, as he's upped his point-per-game average from 7.9 to 20.8 this season.

UNLV has shown signs of brilliance this season and some big holes. It's a very volatile team with a massive ceiling; it's beaten Colorado State, New Mexico (x2) and Boise State and has lost to LMU, Southern and Air Force.

The Rebels are led by the Boone brothers down low and leading scorer Dedan Thomas Jr. at point guard. This trio has massive boom-or-bust equity, as this is their first season playing together.

I mentioned above how the offense really struggles at times, but I'm buying the Rebels to put it together in a big spot.

In the first meeting vs. SDSU, UNLV only shot 39% from the field, less than 10% percent below its season-long effective field goal percentage.

At home, that number will rise up, and I expect the Rebels to shoot much closer to their season-long baseline.

I'm expecting the Boone brothers to be a real problem down low, as defending both of them can truly be a matchup problem for San Diego State.

The Aztecs will surely put up a fight on the road — as both of these teams have a ton to play for — but I'm rolling with the home team to cover this one and possibly pick up the win.

Ride with the Rebels to pick up their shooting baseline tonight.

Pick: UNLV +2.5