UNLV can prove vital point vs. Aztecs

College basketball teams always have something to prove in March.

Are you worthy of an NCAA Tournament bid?

Should you be granted a high seed?

Can you shoot 3-pointers against San Diego State without looking as though your eyes are closed?

That last goal belongs to UNLV, headed for the madness next week and yet presented with a challenge tonight that could go a ways in determining how confident the Rebels will arrive in whatever city they are shipped.

San Diego State hasn't been a roadblock for UNLV. The Aztecs have been a 15-foot-high cement barrier. They have owned the Rebels of late in what have been frustratingly close scores, not dominant in an obvious way but definitely so in subtle ones.

UNLV secured its third game against the Aztecs this season by jumping to a 7-0 lead against Air Force on Thursday, essentially ending the game after five minutes on the premise that it's not mathematically or physically possible for the Falcons to rally from such a deficit.

The final score -- 69-53 before 12,325 fans who sounded like 2,325 -- was created in large part because UNLV continued making shots. The Rebels were 11-for-20 on 3-pointers. Chace Stanback was 6-for-8.

Happy belated Thanksgiving.

It's late November all over again.

UNLV likely resides today between the 7-10 lines of the NCAA bracket and headed to Tulsa, the latter only a guess given that it and Anadarko seem the only Oklahoma towns that haven't hosted the Rebels for a regional game.

It could only help UNLV's seeding to beat a top-10 team with 30 wins in a Mountain West Conference tournament semifinal, but beside securing the best possible NCAA matchup is the task of proving shots that have been falling so effortlessly the last few weeks can also find net against the Aztecs.

San Diego State has won the last four meetings and seven of the last eight and is 4-2 against UNLV in this event. The Aztecs won by margins of 55-49 and 63-57 this season, when the Rebels were bothered enough by San Diego State's size and length and athleticism to make a whopping 2 3-pointers in 33 attempts.

"It's not exciting basketball when we play them," San Diego State assistant head coach Brian Dutcher said. "It's hard, aggressive defense by both teams. Unless you're an aficionado of the game, it's hard to watch sometimes. It's good basketball, just not high scoring. The Rebels are playing well. Everyone knows that. It's going to be a very tough game that will go down to the final few minutes, because when doesn't it when we play?"

It can be as little as an inch here or an arm angle there, just enough doubt as athletes fly at you to throw off a shot. Stanback shot 6-for-25 in the first two games against San Diego State and rarely appeared confident. What all the UNLV bricks have done is allow the Aztecs to defend the drive and, while not offering free 3-point looks, dare the Rebels to make more than one a lifetime.

It was the opposite when San Diego State lost twice to Brigham Young, which stretched the Aztecs defensively with some guy named Jimmer. The only thing UNLV has stretched against San Diego State is a list of misses.

Winning or losing tonight probably won't dramatically influence UNLV's placement in the NCAA draw, but there is no better trait for a shooter than confidence, particularly this time of year.

The Rebels know how inept they have been against San Diego State.

They can count.

"We want to win regardless if it's four straight (losses) or if we were coming off a win against them," senior Tre'Von Willis said. "We're going to come in with the same mindset, not doing anything differently, just keep improving as a team ... It's always a tough game against them."

The semifinal matchups -- BYU against New Mexico and UNLV against San Diego State -- have already assured a sellout and promise to deliver an atmosphere far superior to a Thursday evening session that was more calm than crazy.

For the Rebels, there will soon be time to debate brackets and seeds and whether they will enjoy the comforts of Cleveland or Tulsa or Tampa or somewhere else.

But for tonight, for one game, one 40-minute window, the goal is to prove what they have done so well against others can also be executed against San Diego State.

That's the challenge, one significant piece of the big picture.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.