RUNNIN’ REBELS HOST NEW MEXICO WEDNESDAY AT 8 PM
UNLV, which has won six of its last seven games, won season’s first meeting at The Pit on Jan.
15
The UNLV men’s basketball team, which has won two straight games, six out of its last seven and 14 of its last 18, will host New Mexico at the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 8:05 p.m.
UNLV is coming off a road win at Utah State (73-62) on Saturday. Khem Birch was one block shy of a triple-double as he recorded his 12th double-double of the year with 11 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high nine blocks. Kevin Olekaibe led the team in scoring with 21 points (16 in the second half) as he was 8-for-12 from the field, including 4-for-8 from 3-point range. In addition, Bryce Dejean-Jones contributed 17 points on 7 of 11 from the field, while Deville Smith had a career-high eight assists with only one turnover.
This will be the second meeting in the regular season this year between the Runnin’ Rebels and Lobos. UNLV won the first meeting, 76-73, on Jan. 15 at The Pit. UNLV is all alone in third place in the Mountain West at 8-4, while New Mexico is alone in second place with a league mark of 10-2 (one game behind first-place No. 6/7 San Diego State).
Wednesday’s game against the Lobos will be televised by ESPN2 and Brent Musburger and Bobby Knight calling the action. Jon Sandler and Robert Smith will handle the radio call, which may be heard on ESPN Radio 1100/98.9 FM. The radio broadcast listen link along with Gametracker are available at UNLVRebels.com.
The Runnin’ Rebels are fourth in the country in blocked shots per game at 6.6, fifth in the nation in 3-point field-goal defense, limiting their opponents to just 27.8 percent from behind the arc, are seventh in effective field-goal percentage defense at 43.0 and 14th in rebounding at 40.0 per game. Birch is second in the country in blocked shots (3.8 bpg), while Roscoe Smith is fourth in the nation in rebounding (11.3 rpg). Smith is fourth in the country in double-doubles (14), while Birch is 14th (12). Dejean-Jones leads the team in scoring with 13.7 ppg.
GAME #26
NEW MEXICO (19-5, 10-2 Mountain West)
at
UNLV (17-8, 8-4 Mountain West)
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 2014
TIME: 8:05 p.m. PST
SITE: Tarkanian Court, Thomas & Mack Center (18,500), Las Vegas
TV: ESPN2 (Brent Musburger, Bobby Knight)
RADIO: ESPN Radio 1100 AM/98.9 FM (Jon Sandler, Robert Smith)
ONLINE: Radio (audio) & Gametracker at UNLVRebels.com
