REGULAR-SEASON FINALE SATURAY
UNLV men’s basketball at San José State at 7 p.m.; Runnin’ Rebels down to six scholarship players because of injuries, game may be seen on ESPN3
The UNLV men’s basketball team will travel to San José, Calif., for its Mountain West regular-season finale against San José State on Saturday, March 7, at 7 p.m.
The Runnin’ Rebels are looking to sweep the season series with the Spartans, after winning the first meeting – 74-40 – on Jan. 10 in Las Vegas.
The Runnin’ Rebels, who are 2-4 since leading scorer Rashad Vaughn went down to injury, had won six of their last 10 games before falling by two points to San Diego State (60-58) on Wednesday at home. Prior to the loss at Utah State on Feb. 24, UNLV had lost three of its previous four games by a combined seven points. 10 of the Runnin’ Rebels’ 17 Mountain West games have been decided by an average of 3.1 points per game (two one-point games, four two-point games, three five-point games and a six-point game). In the other seven games, UNLV is 5-2 with an average margin of victory in those five wins of 15.4.
UNLV is also without freshman guards Patrick McCaw (concussion) and Dantley Walker (knee) this Saturday, while it has been without junior guard Daquan Cook (knee) all season.
UNLV, which had to replace all five starters from a year ago, used a rotation for most of this season that included five freshmen, one sophomore and two seniors. Vaughn, a freshman guard, is out of action after suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee on Feb. 10 vs. Fresno State. He had led the team in scoring with an average of 17.8 ppg, which ranks second in the Mountain West and second in the country among freshmen. Sophomore forward Christian Wood has 17 double-doubles this year, which ranks seventh in the country, and has averages of 15.0 ppg (7th in MW), a team-high 10.1 rpg (2nd in MW, 17th in the country) and 2.8 bpg (2nd in MW, 14th in the country). Freshman forward Goodluck Okonoboh leads the team in blocks with 2.9 per game (1st in MW, 12th in the country and first among all freshmen). Senior guard Cody Doolin leads the squad and MW with 4.0 apg and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.5, which leads the conference and is fourth nationally. McCaw is fifth in the MW in assists per game (3.4) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1) during conference-only games.
As a team, the Runnin’ Rebels are third in the nation in blocks per game (6.8), third in total blocks (205) and 12th in defensive rebounds per game (26.63).
Saturday’s game will be shown on ESPN3 with Trey Bender and Kyle Macy calling the action. Jon Sandler and Robert Smith will handle the UNLV radio call, which may be heard live on ESPN Radio 1100 AM/100.9 FM in Las Vegas. All internet links along with live stats will be available at UNLVRebels.com.
GAME #31
UNLV (16-14, 7-10 Mountain West)
at
San José State (2-27, 0-17 Mountain West)
DATE: Saturday, March 7, 2015
TIME: 7 p.m.
SITE: The Event Center (5,000), San José, Calif.
TV: ESPN3 (Trey Bender, Kyle Macy)
RADIO: ESPN Radio 1100 AM/100.9 FM (Jon Sandler, Robert Smith)
AUDIO: UNLV Gameday App & UNLVRebels.com
STATS: Gametracker at UNLVRebels.com
TWITTER: @UNLVAthletics
