Losers of two straight and three of the last four outings, the
UNLV Runnin' Rebels find themselves now ranked 21st in the country as they
await the arrival of the Boise State Broncos for a Mountain West Conference
showdown at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Just a short time ago it was the Rebels and San Diego State fighting for the
top spot in the MWC standings and now both of those squads are trying to catch
up to New Mexico, the same New Mexico that throttled UNLV on Saturday in a
65-45 final in Albuquerque. The scoring output by the Rebels was easily the
lowest of the season for the squad and was a far cry from the 97 points the
team tallied against TCU just four days earlier in a five-point overtime loss.
Now tied with the Aztecs for second in the conference standings, UNLV is
undefeated at home through 14 games so at least the team has that going in
their favor after a difficult couple of weeks.
As for the Broncos, this is their first year in the MWC after making the move
over from the Western Athletic Conference and early on the transition was
clearly a difficult one for the program. However, since dropping seven in a
row to begin conference play, BSU has turned the corner and rattled off three
straight victories, the latest of those coming against TCU on Saturday in a
thrilling 65-64 final. Even though Boise State is still tied for last place in
the conference standings, the team certainly has reason to be encouraged.
UNLV leads the all-time series by a count of 3-1, but the Rebels had to go to
overtime to take out Boise State on the road at Taco Bell Arena in the first
meeting of the season by a score of 77-72.
Anthony Drmic knocked down a pair of free throws with 0.9 seconds remaining to
give the Boise State Broncos a thrilling one-point win over the TCU Horned
Frogs in Mountain West Conference action at Taco Bell Arena on Saturday
afternoon. Drmic finished the afternoon with 10 points for the Broncos,
followed by Derrick Marks who accounted for 13 points and seven rebounds and
Kenny Buckner 12 points and six boards for the hosts. BSU survived despite
shooting only 4-of-16 behind the three-point line. The epitome of balanced
scoring, the Broncos have only one player scoring in double figures this
season and still the squad is generating 70.5 ppg. Drmic checks in with 12.3
ppg, although his mere 38.5 percent accuracy from the floor is certainly
questionable. Marks (9.2 ppg) and Buckner (9.0 ppg) pick up some of the slack
as they convert 51.3 and 60.9 percent from the floor, respectively.
Playing in The Pit is never easy for the competition and the Runnin' Rebels
were reminded of that on Saturday as they were crushed by the Lobos. UNLV
finished the contest shooting a mere 14-of-45 from the floor and ended up with
more turnovers (17) than made baskets. While it would not have made enough of
a difference in the outcome, had the Rebels shot better than 11-of-21 at the
free-throw line perhaps the visitors could have gone about it another way.
Anthony Marshall was the only player in double figures for the Rebels as he
dropped in 18 points, adding 10 rebounds to pace the team in that department
as well. Completely taken out of his game was Mike Moser who delivered just
eight points and four rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Moser is the one who
makes this run-and-gun offense move, averaging 14.7 points and 11.0 rebounds
per game, so when he is brought to a halt so is the team. Chace Stanback is
responsible for 13.1 ppg as he gives the squad a presence on the perimeter
where he is shooting 45.7 percent, but even with the Rebels hitting 62 more
three-pointers than the competition running the floor and pushing the ball
inside is still what makes this group tick.
The Rebels don't go bend to the competition in their own building and don't
think that the hosts don't remember what happened in the first meeting of the
season and how BSU pushed UNLV to the limit.