RUNNIN’ REBELS TRAVEL TO BOISE FOR TWO THURSDAY & SATURDAY
UNLV to face Broncos at 7 p.m. PT both days, on CBS Sports Network then FS1
- Game Notes at Boise State (PDF)
- Season Stats (web) | Season Stats (pdf)
- Media Guide | Schedule
- @UNLVAthletics | @TheRunninRebels
After sweeping Air Force, which was its seventh win in eight games at home, the UNLV men’s basketball team will head back out on the road for a two-game Mountain West series at Boise State on Thursday, February 11 and Saturday, February 13. Both contests are scheduled for 7 p.m. PT with Thursday’s being televised by CBS Sports Network and Saturday’s on FS1.
The two Air Force wins (68-58 on Saturday and 69-64 on Monday) marked UNLV’s second series sweep over a MW opponent this year (New Mexico was the other). Prior to that, the Runnin’ Rebels dropped two games at UNR.
Because of COVID-19 issues, the Runnin’ Rebels went 33 days without a game before playing at Colorado State on January 7 for its first MW series of the season. However, since resuming play, UNLV has played a total of 12 games in a 32-day span.
Coming off a tie for second place in the Mountain West standings last season, UNLV has an entirely new look this year as 10 of its 13 scholarship players had yet to play in a game for the Runnin’ Rebels as the 2020-21 season began.
UNLV’s returners included senior forward Mbacke Diong, and junior guards Marvin Coleman and Bryce Hamilton. It was announced on January 16 that Coleman would miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his right leg. Other returners from last year’s roster include junior transfer guard David Jenkins Jr., sophomore transfer forward Moses Wood, and walk-on junior guard Trey Hurlburt. Of the nine newcomers added to this year’s roster, seven are freshmen.
Hamilton was the team’s leading scorer last season. The Runnin’ Rebels’ first First-Team All-Mountain West recipient in seven seasons, he averaged 16.0 points per game as a sophomore. Diong led UNLV in rebounding at 7.9 per contest as a junior. Hamilton was also named a Preseason All-MW honoree in November, while Jenkins Jr. was selected as the league’s Preseason Newcomer of the Year and freshman guard Nick Blake was named the conference’s Preseason Freshman of the Year.
Hamilton is the team’s leading scorer this season and is third in the MW at 18.2 ppg. He missed the series at UNR with an ankle injury but returned vs. Air Force. He also leads in assists with 3.8 apg (5th in MW), steals with 1.6 spg (1st in MW) and field-goal percentage at .429 (8th in MW). Diong is the team’s rebounding leader (8.3 rpg, 4th in MW). Jenkins Jr., is also averaging in double figures in scoring with 14.9 ppg, is second in the MW in 3-pointers made (2.8 per game) and is second in 3-point percentage (.436).
Boise State is 14-4 overall this season and 10-3 in MW play. The Broncos are coming off two losses at UNR last week after having won 14 of 15 games. The team is led in scoring by Derrick Alston with 16.9 ppg, rebounding by Mladen Armus with 7.4 rpg and assists by RayJ Dennis with 3.4 apg.
Thursday’s television broadcast will be called by Tom McCarthy and Julianne Viani, while Saturday’s announcers will be Daron Sutton and Wyking Jones. Jon Sandler and former Runnin’ Rebel Curtis Terry will handle the UNLV radio call, which may be heard live on ESPN Radio 1100 in Las Vegas. All streaming links and live stats are available at UNLVRebels.com.