San Jose St comes to town. My natural instinct is to say here’s a good chance for UNLV to pick up a rare” W”. But further examination reveals that the win over the Rebels 76-72 on Jan 28th was just the beginning of a rather impressive three-game streak by San Jose St (12-10, 5-6).
They duplicated The Rebels finest hour, a win at the Pit. They beat the Lobos on their home court 78-68. They followed that up with something the Rebels haven’t done in what seems like a decade. They beat San Diego St 76-71.
It would appear like we flipped a switch, and the Spartans have suddenly become a contender. Which spells trouble for the Rebels today. In the first game, we were up by 20 in the first half and by 18 at halftime. We then went on a 13-minute scoring draught yet the game was still in doubt into the final seconds.
The point being that they didn’t appear to be very good. It’s just that we went very bad. Nonetheless, they’ve pulled it together since then. So this is definitely not an automatic win. The books have UNLV as a 3-point favorite, but I don’t feel like we should be favored at all based on recent results.
San Jose is led in scoring by Sophomore forward Brandon Clarke (18.7 ppg) and Sophomore forward Ryan Welage (12.7 ppg). Clarke also leads in rebounding (8.0 rpg). Junior guard Jalen James is the team’s assist leader (2.7 apg).
The Rebels starting five will remain the same as in recent games with JoVan Mooring at the point, Zion Morgan and Uche Ofoegbo in the backcourt and Christian Jones and Cheikna Dembele up front. Hopefully Jaylen Poyser will be able to shake off the extended slump that has seen him drop from team leader to an inconsistent sub. Joining him coming off the bench will be a recently rejuvenated Terrell Green and Kris Klyburn. Whether we see the likes of Troy Baxter Jr., Ben Coupet or Larry Bush will depend on Coach Menzies.
In one category, the Rebels are likely to reach a milestone. The 3-point FG record currently stands at 999. If they manage to convert a trey today it will be their 1,00th game in-a-row. Not the most exciting record, perhaps, but only we and Kentucky have managed to do it.
It would be nice if there was a decent turnout but honestly, I’ll be surprised if they get 5k for this one. Not exactly a sexy match-up today. The struggling Rebels and perennial cellar-dwellers San Jose St. But at least the tiny, but vocal crowd will be for the Rebels.
It’s a 3pm tip-off at the Thomas & Mack. If you can’t make it to the game it will be live-streamed via the Campus Insiders/Mountain West Network with Nate Kreckman and Richie Schueler calling the action. Radio coverage, as always, is on ESPN 1100 with Jon Sandler and Robert Smith.
Go Rebels!
They duplicated The Rebels finest hour, a win at the Pit. They beat the Lobos on their home court 78-68. They followed that up with something the Rebels haven’t done in what seems like a decade. They beat San Diego St 76-71.
It would appear like we flipped a switch, and the Spartans have suddenly become a contender. Which spells trouble for the Rebels today. In the first game, we were up by 20 in the first half and by 18 at halftime. We then went on a 13-minute scoring draught yet the game was still in doubt into the final seconds.
The point being that they didn’t appear to be very good. It’s just that we went very bad. Nonetheless, they’ve pulled it together since then. So this is definitely not an automatic win. The books have UNLV as a 3-point favorite, but I don’t feel like we should be favored at all based on recent results.
San Jose is led in scoring by Sophomore forward Brandon Clarke (18.7 ppg) and Sophomore forward Ryan Welage (12.7 ppg). Clarke also leads in rebounding (8.0 rpg). Junior guard Jalen James is the team’s assist leader (2.7 apg).
The Rebels starting five will remain the same as in recent games with JoVan Mooring at the point, Zion Morgan and Uche Ofoegbo in the backcourt and Christian Jones and Cheikna Dembele up front. Hopefully Jaylen Poyser will be able to shake off the extended slump that has seen him drop from team leader to an inconsistent sub. Joining him coming off the bench will be a recently rejuvenated Terrell Green and Kris Klyburn. Whether we see the likes of Troy Baxter Jr., Ben Coupet or Larry Bush will depend on Coach Menzies.
In one category, the Rebels are likely to reach a milestone. The 3-point FG record currently stands at 999. If they manage to convert a trey today it will be their 1,00th game in-a-row. Not the most exciting record, perhaps, but only we and Kentucky have managed to do it.
It would be nice if there was a decent turnout but honestly, I’ll be surprised if they get 5k for this one. Not exactly a sexy match-up today. The struggling Rebels and perennial cellar-dwellers San Jose St. But at least the tiny, but vocal crowd will be for the Rebels.
It’s a 3pm tip-off at the Thomas & Mack. If you can’t make it to the game it will be live-streamed via the Campus Insiders/Mountain West Network with Nate Kreckman and Richie Schueler calling the action. Radio coverage, as always, is on ESPN 1100 with Jon Sandler and Robert Smith.
Go Rebels!
