Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV BASKETBALL:

Rebels still unranked in AP poll, rise to 20th in ESPN/USA Today

Undefeated New Mexico rises to 13th in AP poll, K-State 12th

UNLV vs. South Carolina Upstate

Leila Navidi

UNLV head coach Lon Kruger talks to his team during Saturday’s game against South Carolina Upstate at the Thomas & Mack Center.

USC Upstate vs UNLV

Kendall Wallace and Oscar Bellfield led the Rebels with 16 points each as UNLV cruised to an 88-58 victory over South Carolina Upstate on Saturday night.

Three wins on the heels of the season's first loss earned UNLV some more votes in this week's AP Top 25 poll, but not enough to put Lon Kruger's club back in the rankings.

UNLV (10-1) received 126 votes — 30 more than last week — and was the second team listed in the 'Others receiving votes' portion of this week's tally, just one vote behind Florida State.

Meanwhile, UNLV's standing in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll moved up slightly, as the Rebels rose from No. 23 a week ago to No. 20.

This week's AP Top 25 includes three teams with 3-loss records, and nine with 2-loss records.

UNLV defeated Southern Utah (77-59), Weber State (72-63) and South Carolina Upstate (88-58) this week, and Tuesday begins stretch of three games in four days at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu. The first game is at 7:30 p.m. against SMU and can be seen on ESPNU.

For the second straight week, the Mountain West Conference's only ranked team in the AP poll is New Mexico (12-0), which is ranked 13th. BYU received 20 votes.

Kansas State, who handed UNLV its lone loss of the season Dec. 12 at the Orleans Arena, was equally impressive following a week-long layoff, winning at Alabama on Saturday night, 87-74. The Wildcats are now the No. 1 RPI team in the nation, while UNLV checks in at No. 41.

The top eight in this week's AP poll all remained the same from a week ago: Kansas, Texas, Kentucky, Purdue, Syracuse, West Virginia, Duke and Villanova.

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