Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

UNLV 2020-21 basketball schedule released (again)

1105_sun_UNLVMastodons2

Steve Marcus

UNLV Runnin’ Rebels head coach T. J. Otzelberger watches the Rebels take on the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons at the Thomas & Mack Center Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.

The Mountain West announced its league slate on Tuesday, and UNLV took the opportunity to unveil its revised non-conference lineup at the same time, giving us the first complete look at the schedule for the upcoming 2020-21 basketball season.

The scarlet and gray will open with a home game against Montana State on Nov. 25, then head to Asheville for the Maui Invitational from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2. From there, UNLV will stay on the road to play at Kansas State (Dec. 5), then return to Las Vegas for home games against Eastern Washington (Dec. 9) and Pepperdine (Dec. 14).

The Mountain West previously released its conference schedule last month, only to tear it up and try again with an eye toward limiting exposure to COVID-19. That led the league to adopt a format where teams will play consecutive games against the same opponent at the same home/road venue; UNLV will begin MWC play with two road games at Wyoming on Dec. 20 and Dec. 22, followed by two home games against San Diego State on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2.

In addition to those contests, UNLV will host “double headers” against New Mexico, Utah State, Air Force and Fresno State, while playing two-game series at Colorado State, UNR, Boise State and San Jose State.

In the end it will add up to 27 games, the maximum allowed by the NCAA this year.

After going 17-15 last season (12-6 in league play), UNLV is expected to contend in the Mountain West this year, the program’s second under head coach T.J. Otzelberger.

UNLV was picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West in the league’s preseason poll. Junior guard Bryce Hamilton was chosen as an All-MWC first team selection, while junior guard David Jenkins was named Newcomer of the Year and freshman guard Nick Blake was named Freshman of the Year.

The full schedule:

Nov. 25 — vs. Montana State

Nov. 30-Dec. 2 — Maui Invitational

Dec. 5 — at Kansas State

Dec. 9 — vs. Eastern Washington

Dec. 14 — vs. Pepperdine

Dec. 20 — at Wyoming

Dec. 22 — at Wyoming

Dec. 31 — vs. San Diego State

Jan. 2 — vs. San Diego State

Jan. 7 — at Colorado State

Jan. 9 — at Colorado State

Jan. 14 — vs. New Mexico

Jan. 16 — vs. New Mexico

Jan. 25 — vs. Utah State

Jan. 27 — vs. Utah State

Jan. 31 — at UNR

Feb. 2 — at UNR

Feb. 5 — vs. Air Force

Feb. 7 — vs. Air Force

Feb. 11 — at Boise State

Feb. 13 — at Boise State

Feb. 19 — at San Jose State

Feb. 21 — at San Jose State

Feb. 25 — vs. Fresno State

Feb. 27 — vs. Fresno State

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.

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