No. 6 Nevada will travel down to Los Angeles to defend their record against No. 20 Arizona State. Nevada has pieced together a record of 8-0 with some great, dominant wins over their opponents. Arizona State has had much of the same success that Nevada has had so far.
How Nevada Can Win
Shoot well and defend well. Nevada has taken good looks all year when they’ve played. This is seen across most of the starters as well, as many of them shoot at a high percentage. And for their defense, they have been playing built as a unit with holding teams to 68.0 points. The Wolf Pack’s defense has shown to been playing a larger brand of defense as the season has drawn on and will most likely show tonight.
How Arizona State Can Win
Crash the boards and produce turnovers. With Arizona State having some big wins early on, they feel they have the tools to top the Wolf Pack. This Arizona State team averages 46.0 rebounds a game that will help them control Nevada. Also, Arizona State has found a knack for causing turnover trouble for the other team at the rate of about 6.4 a game. Watch for this Arizona State team to stress their strong-suits against a tough Nevada team.
Players to Watch
Nevada: Caleb Martin, for this Wolf Pack team, does a lot of everything at forward. With averaging 19.9 points a game, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists, he does a great deal for their route to victories. Watch for Martin to draw up another great stat line this game.
Arizona State: Luguentz Dort has cemented himself at the guard spot as a freshmen for the Sun Devils. Dort has averaged a total of 21.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists. With an imposing style of play that has gotten this team a great deal of wins this season, Dort will need to have a great game.
Score Prediction
We haven’t seen a whole lot of close games out of the Wolf Pack this year and that may pose some problems. However, with such a storied lineup in terms of years of experience, I don’t see Nevada falling. Nevada will get this win, but Arizona State is a team to keep an eye on this year. Nevada 76, Arizona State 71
Photo Credits: http://nevadasportsnet.com/news/reporters/1000-words-how-good-in-nevada-basketball-were-about-to-find-out
