Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

sports betting:

Vegas Play of the Day: UNLV at San Diego State

0127UNLVSanDiego2

Steve Marcus

UNLV Rebels forward Shakur Juiston (10) pulls down an offensive rebound between San Diego State Aztecs forward Matt Mitchell (11) and forward Max Montana (10) during a game against San Diego State at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday, Jan. 27, 2018.

We’re entering the fourth season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.

Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. Ray Brewer won back-to-back titles in the 2015-2016 and 2016-17 seasons, after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-2015.

UNLV plus-4.5 at San Diego State, $880 to win $800: Yes, San Diego State has the best home court advantage in the Mountain West. And, yes, UNLV has painfully struggled against its rivals. But the Rebels are hot and SDSU is struggling. There’s no reason why UNLV can’t win this game straight up.

The Rebels earlier this month snapped an 11-game losing streak against the Aztecs. Also, San Diego State has dropped two of its last three games, and are in eighth place of the league standings. Yes, the mighty have sure fallen.

A bet on UNLV, though, is more about how the Rebels have played in the past two weeks. They’ve won five of their last six games, and the one defeat came at the buzzer on the road against league-leading Boise State.

UNLV is one of the nation’s best teams in points per game (85.8 to rank sixth nationally) and field goal percentage. It’s an offensive-minded team. San Diego State relies more on its defense, meaning it won’t be able to pull away from UNLV — if the Aztecs get ahead, that is.

Current Standings: Granger (16-12, $13,079), Keefer (21-21-1, $9,426), Brewer (23-21, $9,310), Grimala (10-18, $4,415)

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21