AP FILE PHOTO
Monday, March 14, 2011 | 2:15 a.m.
The Rebel Room
Rebel Room: Selection Sunday Edition
The UNLV basketball team received a No. 8 seed Sunday for the NCAA Tournament and will play Illinois at 6:20 p.m. Friday in Tulsa. The winner will likely play top-seeded Kansas. UNLV has been in Kansas' pod in its last three tournament appearances. Additionally, Rebels' coach Lon Kruger is a former coach at Illinois, leading them to three appearances in the NCAA second round before leaving in 2000 to coach the NBA Atlanta Hawks. His successor? Current Kansas coach Bill Self. Ray Brewer, Ryan Greene and Case Keefer discuss the coaching storyline, the rest of the intriguing angles and offer opinions elsewhere within the field of 68.
Related content
- Dancing with old friends: UNLV’s NCAA draw includes Illinois, storylines galore
- Las Vegas sports books reluctantly crown Ohio State as NCAA Tournament favorite
- Illinois faces UNLV in tournament after frustrating season full of close calls
- Rebels will open NCAA tourney Friday against Illinois
- Selection Sunday awaits UNLV following 74-72 loss to San Diego State in MWC semis
- INSTANT ANALYSIS: Give Rebels credit for rallying back, putting a scare into No. 7 SDSU
- 2010-11 UNLV Schedule
- All Sun UNLV men's basketball coverage
Reader poll
UNLV will head to its fourth NCAA tournament in the last five years later this week. The Rebels drew a No. 8 seed on Sunday and take on No. 9 Illinois this Friday night, and have an uphill climb ahead of them if they want to make it into the to the tourney's second weekend.
Here's a closer look at the rest of the UNLV's four-team pod in Tulsa, Okla.
No. 9 Illinois
Record: 19-13 overall, 9-9 Big Ten
RPI: 48
Strength of schedule: 19
Quality wins: Gonzaga, Wisconsin
Bad losses: Illinois-Chicago, Indiana
Who to watch for: Senior point guard Demetri McCamey is the Illini's ringleader, averaging 14.8 points and 6.1 assists per game. He's capable of a monster game at any moment. Two guys who have been up and down this season but are also capable of exploding are former McDonald's All-Americans D.J. Richardson and Jereme Richmond. Richardson, who played his senior year of high school ball at Findlay Prep two years ago, averages 8.1 points per game and is a 40.4 percent 3-point shooter, while the 6-foot-7 Richmond is both super-skilled and versatile.
Why they're dangerous for UNLV: One word — Length. Between the senior trio of Bill Cole, Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale and freshman Meyers Leonard, the Illini have four guys standing at least 6-foot-9 to throw at the Rebels. They'll often two on the floor at the same time, which may force UNLV to break some of its normal rotation patterns. While the guards are a wash, the 7-foot-1 Tisdale could be a big difference-maker. He averages 10.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and can also step outside to score, shooting 43.5 percent from long range this season.
Why UNLV is dangerous for them: It's a matter of momentum. UNLV won six straight before dropping a two-point decision to seventh-ranked San Diego State on Friday night in the Mountain West Conference tournament semifinals. In other words, they're playing some of their best ball of the season and head to Tulsa with a full head of steam. Illinois, meanwhile, is 8-12 in its last 20 games after starting the season 11-1. The Illini haven't won consecutive games since Jan. 6. Where will their heads be at after sneaking into the field of 68?
No. 1 Kansas
Record: 32-2 overall, 14-2 Big 12 (conference regular season and tournament champions)
RPI: 1
Strength of Schedule: 9
Quality wins: Arizona, UCLA, Memphis, Michigan, Texas, Kansas State, Missouri (x2), Texas A&M.
Bad losses: None
Who to watch for: Kansas's leading scorer this season is junior forward Marcus Morris … and the Jayhawks basically have two of him. Marcus and twin brother Markieff combine to average 30.9 points and 15.4 rebounds a game, and can throw an opposing defense completely off-balance. They can score in several ways inside, but also step out to cash the three.
Why they're dangerous for UNLV: It's not just the Morris twins who post a problem to the Rebels, but it's KU's depth. The Jayhawks have 10 guys who average at least 11.3 minutes per game and waves of guys to throw at opponents at seemingly every position. UNLV isn't alone on the list of teams that KU can simply overwhelm in numbers.
Why UNLV is dangerous for them: Like UNLV, Kansas's outside shooting has come and gone at times this season. If the Rebels were to defend against the Jayhawks like they did in Friday's second half against San Diego State, they can hang with just about anyone. One of Kansas's strengths in the Bill Self tenure has been its defense, but it's gotten into many more shootouts this season than normally accustomed to, which could play into UNLV's hands as well.
No. 16 Boston University
Record: 21-13 overall, 12-4 America East (conference tournament champions)
RPI: 129
Strength of Schedule: 216
Quality wins: Vermont (x2), George Washington
Bad losses: Marist, Northeastern, New Hampshire
Who to watch for: 6-foot-5 senior swingman John Holland is the Terriers' rock, leading the team in scoring (19.2 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg). He and second-leading scorer Darryl Partin combined to hoist 11.7 3-point attempts per game.
Why they're dangerous for UNLV: The odds of BU getting past Kansas are beyond slim, but they chuck up enough threes that, if they happen to be hitting, they'll be dangerous to anyone.
Why UNLV is dangerous for them: It would take a massive, near-perfect effort to become the first No. 16 seed to take down a No. 1. If it so happened that both Boston and UNLV advanced, the Terriers would have the Rebels' attention and likely ratchet up the intensity on the defensive end big-time, likely overwhelming the America East champs.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy