MOUNTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT – SEMIFINAL
UNLV to face Colorado State Friday at 8:30
p.m. at Thomas & Mack Center
The UNLV men’s basketball team (24-8) defeated Air Force, 72-56, on Wednesday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Reese’s Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship at the Thomas & Mack Center to advance to Friday’s night’s semifinal. It was the Runnin’ Rebels’ sixth win in their last seven games and improved their record at the TMC to 17-2 this season.
The Runnin’ Rebels will now face No. 2 seed Colorado State (25-7) on Friday, March 15, at 8:30 p.m. in the second semifinal game of the evening. UNLV finished in third place in the league standings this season, three games out of first and one game back of CSU, and is the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament.
Friday’s game will be will be televised by CBS Sports Network with Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and Lauren Gardner (sidelines) calling the action. Jon Sandler and Robert Smith will handle the UNLV radio call, which may be heard live in Las Vegas on ESPN Radio 1100 AM/98.9 FM and online at UNLVRebels.com through the subscription-based All-Access feature.
The Runnin’ Rebels, who won their 100th game in the past four seasons on Wednesday are 2-1 all-time vs. the Rams in MW Tournament play, winning semifinal matchups in 2004 and 2007, and losing in the championship in 2003. UNLV holds a league-best 22-9 all-time record in the MW Tournament, while Colorado State is 9-12. The Runnin’ Rebels split this season’s series with the Rams and lead the overall series by a 34-11 margin.
UNLV is 7-4 all-time in the semifinals of the MW Tournament, including 0-2 in the last two years. The MW Tournament has been held in Las Vegas 10 times (2000-03, 2007-12) and UNLV has won the title on three occasions (2000, 2007, 2008). The Runnin’ Rebels have advanced to seven MW Tournament championship games (six in Las Vegas and one in Denver).
UNLV was 16-2 at the Thomas & Mack Center during the regular season this year and had a 14-game winning streak in the building snapped in its regular-season finale loss to Fresno State on Saturday. The Runnin’ Rebels are now 34-3 in the TMC over the last two seasons and had won 16 straight regular-season home games against Mountain West foes before Saturday’s loss.
MOUNTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT – SEMIFINAL
COLORADO STATE (25-7, 11-5 Mountain West, No. 2 Seed)
at
UNLV (24-8, 10-6 Mountain West, No. 3 Seed)
DATE: Friday, March 15, 2013
TIME: 8:30 p.m. PDT
SITE: Thomas & Mack Center (18,500), Las Vegas
TV: CBS Sports Network (Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas, Lauren Gardner)
RADIO: ESPN Radio 1100 AM/98.9 FM (Jon Sandler, Robert Smith)
ONLINE: Radio broadcast and Gametracker at
UNLVRebels.com (All-Access subscription required for audio at UNLVRebels.com)