UNLV prepares to face Boise State with Dwayne Morgan sidelined

BOISE, Idaho — In this crazy Mountain West basketball season in which there is almost no such thing as an upset, UNLV has the chance to pull off something quite surprising.

The Rebels appeared to be stuck with having to play on the Wednesday of the Mountain West tournament, but now they could move up the standings to get a first-day bye.

They by no means have an easy path, but one exists, and to get to that point, the Rebels must beat Boise State at 8 p.m. PST today at Taco Bell Arena.

Boise State (17-10, 8-6 MW), a 6-point favorite in the game that will be televised on ESPNU, is tied with UNR (16-10, 8-6) just ahead of sixth-place UNLV (16-12, 7-8) in the standings. The top five teams avoid the first day of the conference tournament on March 9.

"Having a day off, especially as shorthanded as we are, would be a benefit," UNLV interim coach Todd Simon said. "We haven't gotten that far ahead of ourselves, but obviously if you can play three games instead of four, it's to your advantage."

The Rebels hope to least get one player back soon. Forward Stephen Zimmerman Jr., who averages 10.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, has been cleared to return to practice after spraining his left knee on Feb. 6 at Fresno State. When/if Zimmerman will play this season is uncertain, however.

Forward Dwayne Morgan, who separated his right shoulder in the shootaround on Saturday, did not travel to Boise. He is out indefinitely, but an MRI showed no major damage to his shoulder, which is sprained. Morgan also won't play in Saturday's home game against Wyoming.

"Dwayne injured his shoulder on a normal basketball play that probably happens 100 times a day," Simon said in a statement. "We are happy that it isn't a serious injury and are looking forward to getting him back as soon as possible. He has already begun the rehab process."

Making the top five in the standings wouldn't be easy for a UNLV team at full strength. Winning at Boise State will be challenging enough, and then after facing Wyoming (13-15, 6-9), the Rebels close the regular season March 5 at San Diego State (20-7, 13-1).

So UNLV would have to win two games in which it won't be favored, and both are on the road. The Rebels are 2-8 in true road games this season.

But now they take potential momentum into this final stretch.

UNLV, down to six scholarship players, beat UNR 102-91 in overtime on Saturday. Patrick McCaw's running 3-pointer at the buzzer forced overtime and electrified the crowd.

The Rebels then rolled in the extra session, and maybe there will be some carry-over effect. They also take the momentum of having won three of their past four games.

"When they execute the gameplan and it works, it helps validate why you're doing all this hard work and why you're still believing and why you're still grinding," Simon said. "It was euphoric (Saturday night). It was a really fun locker room. Guys just had a ball, and it was one of those moments that these guys are going to hold on to probably forever."

Now the Rebels want to create more memories.

A victory over Boise State would be a special one, particularly given the circumstances. Circumstances that demand that UNLV get creative.

The Rebels used four defenses — man-to-man, 2-3, 1-3-1 and matchup zone — against UNR, so expect something similar against the Broncos.

"We're going to throw everything out there," Simon said. "We've got a few more tricks that will be available to throw out there."

— Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65