Seven days after Bishop Gorman teammate Rosco Allen ended his lengthy recruitment by committing to Stanford, 6-foot-8 Gaels senior power forward Ben Carter chose Oregon over UNLV and Utah.
It wasn't ]the outcome on the scoreboard that mattered for UNLV on Saturday in a closed scrimmage against Loyola Marymount at the Thomas & Mack Center. For first-year Rebels coach Dave Rice, some of the most valuable information taken away was what came from a post-scrimmage sit-down with former UNLV coach and long-time friend Max Good, who is entering his third season running the show at LMU.
To defeat the machine that is fifth-ranked Boise State — one that is tough to throw off in all facets of the game — it would take the perfect performance from UNLV. The Rebels played one of their best halves of the season in the first 30 minutes Saturday night against the beastly Broncos at Sam Boyd Stadium. But the 48-21 final score was a stiff reminder that 30 strong minutes isn't nearly enough.
UNLV will always have that first half. The Rebels kept it interesting for a little more than 30 minutes of game time, but ultimately, the fifth-ranked team in the nation, predictably, was too much to hold down for an entire 60. Boise State came, saw and conquered UNLV on Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium, 48-21.
So much for your typical homecoming game. Instead of welcoming in an opponent it should be able to handle on Saturday, UNLV is hosting the fifth-ranked team in the nation, as undefeated Boise State (7-0 overall, 2-0 Mountain West) comes to Sam Boyd Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. showdown. How long will the game remain a showdown? Well, that's what many are curious to see, as the Rebels (2-5, 1-1) have struggled for the better part of the 2011 campaign
Following an ugly 58-50 victory over Washburn in Tuesday's exhibition at the Thomas & Mack Center, UNLV was left with plenty to clean up and correct before next Friday's start of the regular season against Grand Canyon. Now, the Rebels will be doing so short-handed.
Pretty much every piece of advertising around the Las Vegas Valley promoting the 2011-12 UNLV men's basketball season contains the slogan "Let's Run." In Tuesday night's exhibition opener at the Thomas & Mack Center against Washburn, it was clear that it had been drilled into the players' heads so thoroughly that they had the look of a team that was pressing in order to do so.
Between recruiting, running practice and several other duties that have kept him busy in recent weeks, Dave Rice said that he hasn't had time to think about one notable aspect of Tuesday night's exhibition against Washburn. It will be his first time on the sidelines as a head coach. The highly-anticipated Rice era at UNLV begins at 7 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Mark Rosco Allen down as the first member of a loaded senior class at Bishop Gorman who will take his hardwood talents outside of the city limits next season.
When facing truths, the reality is that UNLV's two best shots at wins before the end of the 2011 season will come in the next three weeks. On Nov. 12, they head to Albuquerque to face New Mexico, who remains as the lone winless team in the Mountain West. That's also where UNLV last claimed a road win, doing so late in Mike Sanford's final season in 2009. But first, Colorado State comes to Sam Boyd Stadium this weekend, where UNLV hasn't taken the field since a momentum-killing 41-19 loss on Sept. 24 to FCS foe Southern Utah.
Apparently, UNLV fan Josh Meeter is taking the 'enough screwing around' approach when it comes to doing his part to help his beloved Rebels lure in the biggest hoops recruit in the city's history. Meeter, who by trade is an art director, created a 30-second fake Nike commercial set to a T.I. track, portraying Shabazz Muhammad waving his arms to a crowd while wearing a No. 15 UNLV jersey.
For the first time this season, we have a change atop the rankings, and really, there's very little debating it. Meanwhile, the middle of the pack continues to be a jumble, and will be the most interesting portion to watch as we head into the final week of the regular season. Let's get down to it ...
The top two spots are again solid, but under the surface, the rest of the league continues to shift around. UNLV's monster win at Colorado State over the weekend and Utah's wild buzzer-beater to upset New Mexico in The Pit forced a decent amount of movement. If you're wanting to see San Diego State's stranglehold of the No. 1 ranking loosen, check back in a week, because it will if the Aztecs don't take care of BYU on their home floor next Saturday. For now, on to this week's rankings …
Once again, San Diego State and BYU have separated themselves from the pack a bit. And, again, the league's most intriguing race is between the Nos. 3 and 5 slots in the league standings. Colorado State is back up to third, UNLV has dropped to fourth and New Mexico's off weekend kept them right there at fifth. But did they move around at all in this week's Power Rankings? Well, that's why you look here every week, right?
Apologies for the delay this week with the rankings, but I've got a good excuse in tow, folks … As of late Wednesday night, Mountain West Conference play hit its official mid-way point for all nine league teams. So, you can essentially consider this mid-year report card of sorts. The cream is now starting to rise, and we're seeing the true identities of the league's contenders and pretenders. And … here … we … go … (Pardon me, just watched The Dark Knight the other night. Channeling the inner Joker here)
The boldest moves this week involve Colorado State and New Mexico, who continue to be heading in opposite directions. The Rams are tougher than they've gotten credit for, while the Lobos it appears might have some chemistry issues behind their slide away from NCAA tournament at-large status. Here we go ...
Sorry to disappoint those looking for a bunch of shake-up near the top this week. Most of the movement is among the league's current bottom-feeders, but a couple of early upstarts are holding strong in the middle of the pack. Lets get to it.
OK, so after a few boring weeks of little shift in the weekly rankings, we finally have something substantive to go off of with a week of conference play in the books. I remind you: No cursing.
League play is officially here, as Colorado State came back from a surprising double-digit first half deficit to defeat Wyoming in Fort Collins, Colo., on Tuesday night, 73-60. Six of the other seven teams get going on Wednesday. That said, here's the final non-conference Mountain West hoops power rankings of the winter (well, sort of, as it'd be unfair not to count CSU's win in its resumé, right?). Oh, and Happy New Year, too.