WAC quarterfinal: Three keys and a prediction

Seattle is an enigma.

I think the Redhawks are the second most athletic team in the conference. It's hard to make that argument with 5 league wins and their size took a hit when they lost Deshaun Sunderhaus with a knee injury. I think anytime you have a scorer like Isiah Umipig though, you have a chance. I just remember when San Jose State's Adrian Oliver was within a shot of sending San Jose to the semifinals a couple years ago.

NMSU has had little trouble with Seattle this year, but I have a feeling that tonight's game could be a little bit tighter, at least for the first 30 minutes. If the Aggies don't get off to a good start, teams have been able to hang around this season against them.

Seattle matches NMSU to start, but the Aggies pull away, 83-76

3-point line: In Seattle's best WAC victory of the season Seattle made 10 3s. Umipig made seven of them and had 32 points. The Aggies now have their best shooter in the starting lineup with Kevin Aronis. It will be interesting to see who Aronis guards tonight. I would guess it would be Dvonne Picket. Picket could be a tough matchup on the other end of the court as well. 6-5 guard Clarence Trent has tried to post up the Aggies smaller guards with little to no success. Trent is an interesting player who plays the four or five as well. He tries to make the NMSU bigs move their feet. I think hes a x factor, but he hasnt played well against NMSU so far.

Handle the press: Seattle has pressured NMSU in past games, but not for an extended period of time. Daniel Mullings has done well the past two games, even agaiinst a pressing Bakersfield team. When he has had high turnover games, it has come against pressing teams.

Read the double teams: NMSU's big men have done very well reading the defense out of double teams this year. In fact, I would say that is NMSU's best offense. Get the big guys the ball and play off of them. If Seattle tries to play straight up, I expect Nephawe and Bhullar to have a huge game. Otherwise double teams open things for Aronis to spot up or Mullings to cut and get the ball inside the paint.