RUNNIN’ REBELS HOST FRESNO STATE SATURDAY
The UNLV men’s basketball team will be back in action at 7:05 p.m. at Thomas & Mack Center
The UNLV men’s basketball team, which has won two of its last three games and nine of its last 12, will host Fresno State on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7:05 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center. The Runnin’ Rebels are coming off a 62-42 home win over Utah State on Wednesday night. Only four times in the past 20 years has UNLV held opponents to fewer points and the 42 that the Aggies scored was their lowest scoring total in a game since 1999. The Runnin’ Rebels are now the nation’s top team in 3-point field-goal defense limiting their opponents’ shooting from behind the arc this season to just 25.6 percent.
Prior to Wednesday’s game, the Runnin’ Rebels recorded a split in arguably their toughest road trip of the season: a 76-73 win at New Mexico on Jan. 15 at The Pit, and a 63-52 loss last Saturday at No. 7 San Diego State.
Saturdays game vs. Fresno State will be televised on CBS Sports Network with Rich Waltz and Bob Wenzel calling the action. Jon Sandler and Robert Smith will handle the radio call, which may be heard on ESPN Radio 1100/98.9 FM. A radio broadcast listen link and Gametracker will be available at UNLVRebels.com.
After six straight games at home to open the season, UNLV played two road games during its “Rodeo Road Trip,” losing a close one at then-No. 2 Arizona (63-58) on Dec. 7, then beating Southern Utah on Dec. 14 in Cedar City, which started a seven-game win streak. In the loss to the Wildcats, the Runnin’ Rebels held what is now the nation’s top-ranked team to its second-lowest scoring output of the season and its fourth-closest game in terms of margin of victory.
Roscoe Smith, who leads the nation in rebounding average with 12.5 rpg, is second in the country in double-doubles with 13. He had just one in two seasons at UConn. Smith grabbed 10 or more rebounds in the first six games of the season (now 15 of 19) with totals of 19, 21 and a career-high 22. Khem Birch, who has eight double-doubles this season (21st in the nation), is sixth in the country in blocked shots with 3.5 per contest. He has had double-figure rebounding totals in nine games and has blocked at least four shots in a game nine times this season. Bryce Dejean-Jones leads the team in scoring with 14.7 ppg (fifth in Mountain West play at 19.0 ppg), while Smith (12.1 ppg, 12.5 rpg) is second on the team in scoring and is averaging a double-double. Birch is just shy of averaging a double-double (10.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg).
GAME #20
FRESNO STATE (8-12, 1-6 Mountain West)
at
UNLV (12-7, 3-3 Mountain West)
DATE: Saturday, January 25, 2014
TIME: 7:05 p.m. PST
SITE: Tarkanian Court, Thomas & Mack Center (18,500), Las Vegas
TV: CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Bob Wenzel)
RADIO: ESPN Radio 1100 AM/98.9 FM (Jon Sandler, Robert Smith)
ONLINE: Radio (audio) & Gametracker at UNLVRebels.com
