RUNNIN’ REBELS WILL PLAY THURSDAY AT 2:30 PM IN MW
TOURNAMENT
UNLV men’s basketball team tied for third in Mountain West this season, will be No. 4 seed
and play No. 5 Wyoming in quarterfinals at Thomas & Mack Center
2014 Mountain West Men’s Championship Bracket
Release | 2014 MWN Men’s Basketball Championship Bracket
Video | 2014 Mountain West Basketball Championship Central
The UNLV men’s basketball team finished the regular season tied for third place in the Mountain West standings and will be the No. 4 seed for the Reese’s MW Men’s Basketball Championship, which will be held at the Thomas & Mack Center, Wednesday-Saturday, March 12-15.
The Runnin’ Rebels (19-12, 10-8) will face No. 5 seed Wyoming (18-13, 9-9) in the 2:30 p.m. quarterfinal game on Thursday, which will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
UNLV is 3-0 vs. the Cowboys in MW Tournament play, winning a 2000 semifinal and in the 2005 and 2012 quarterfinals. UNLV holds a league-best 23-10 all-time record in the MW Tournament, while Wyoming is 8-14. The Runnin’ Rebels won this season’s only meeting with Wyoming, 48-46, on Feb. 8 at the Thomas & Mack Center and lead the overall series by a 33-15 margin.
UNLV is 12-1 all-time in the quarterfinals of the MW Tournament, with its only loss coming in 2009 to San Diego State. The MW Tournament has been held in Las Vegas 11 times (2000-03, 2007-13) and UNLV has won the title on three occasions (2000, 2007, 2008). The Runnin’ Rebels have advanced to eight MW Tournament championship games (seven in Las Vegas and one in Denver).
Regular-season champion San Diego State enters the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed for the third time in the league’s 15-year history. New Mexico finished second to earn the No. 2 seed. Nevada, Reno tied with UNLV for third and earned the No. 3 seed by winning the head-to-head tiebreaker with a regular-season sweep. Wyoming, Boise State and Fresno State all tied for fifth place with the Cowboys winning the three-way tiebreaker by virtue of their season split with SDSU, while the Broncos are seeded No. 6 because of their 1-1 record vs. UNM. Fresno State is the No. 7 seed.
Utah State and Colorado State finished tied for eighth place with the Aggies winning the tiebreaker based on their sweep of the Rams. CSU is the No. 9 seed, while Air Force is No. 10 and San José State is No. 11.
Three first-round matchups will be played on Wednesday, March 12, all airing on the Mountain West Network. The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will take place on Thursday, March 13 and Friday, March 14, respectively, and will be televised on CBS Sports Network. The championship game will be broadcast on CBS at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 15.
The top five seeds earned first-round byes into Thursday’s quarterfinals.
The MW Tournament has produced six different champions in 14 years. UNLV, San Diego State and New Mexico are the only current MW teams to have won multiple titles, while Colorado State has captured one. The No. 1 seed has won the tournament just three times. The winner of the league tournament will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
All-session and single-session tickets for the 2014 Reese’s Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship may be purchased at the Thomas & Mack Center box office, online at UNLVTickets.com, by calling 702-739-FANS (3267) or by visiting any one of the UNLVTickets outlets in Las Vegas.
2014 REESE’S MOUNTAIN WEST MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Wednesday, March 12 (First Round)
2 p.m. PT, #8 Utah State vs. #9 Colorado State, Mountain West Network
4:30 p.m. PT, #7 Fresno State vs. #10 Air Force, Mountain West Network
7 p.m. PT, #6 Boise State vs. #11 San José State, Mountain West Network
Thursday, March 13 (Quarterfinals)
Noon PT, #1 San Diego State vs. Utah State/Colorado State Winner, CBS Sports Network
2:30 p.m. PT, #4 UNLV vs. #5 Wyoming, CBS Sports Network
6 p.m. PT, #2 New Mexico vs. Fresno State/Air Force Winner, CBS Sports Network
8:30 p.m. PT, #3 Nevada vs. Boise State/San José State Winner, CBS Sports Network
Friday, March 14 (Semifinals)
6 p.m. PT, SDSU-USU/CSU Winner vs. UNLV/WYO Winner, CBS Sports Network
8:30 p.m. PT, UNM-FS/AFA Winner vs. NEV-BSU/SJSU Winner, CBS Sports Network
Saturday, March 15
3 p.m. PT, Championship Game, CBS