Guard EJ Harkless scored 20 points, all after the first half, but UNLV was beaten by San Jose State in overtime Wednesday night in San Jose, California.
UNLV
The Rebels finished nonconference play 11-1, but they haven’t forgotten the Mountain West preseason poll which ranked them sixth.
“He won’t always light things on fire,” former Missouri quarterback Drew Lock said about new UNLV coach Barry Odom, “but he knows how to motivate players.”
Elijah Parquet, EJ Harkless and Luis Rodriguez had played a total of 294 games before joining the Rebels. Parquet and Harkless also have NCAA Tournament experience.
The Rebels have made a splashy hire at offensive coordinator, bringing in former Louisville and Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino.
UNLV coach Kevin Kruger and the legendary Jerry Tarkanian have something in common. In the past 32 years, they are the only two coaches who have led the Rebels to a 10-0 start to a season.
UNLV will put its best start since 2010-11 on the line against Washington State in the first game of the Las Vegas Clash Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden.
Senior Luis Rodriguez led the UNLV men’s basketball team to a ninth consecutive win to start the season, as the Rebels took down Hawaii at the Dollar Loan Center.
Barry Odom signed a five-year contract with a starting salary of $1.75 million. It increases by $250,000 in 2025 and again in 2027 while also including several performance bonuses.
UNLV hired former Missouri coach Barry Odom as the 13th football coach in program history.
Erick Harper is the UNLV athletic director who must identify the right coach to win in an ever-changing college football landscape that now favors the Rebels.
With former LSU coach Ed Orgeron and former Boise State coach Chris Petersen not in the running, that leaves former Arizona coaches Mike Stoops and Kevin Sumlin as likely candidates.