The Mountain West basketball tournament could offer several surprising results after a close race during the regular season.
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The once-proud program has now gone a decade without qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
The Thomas Mack Center felt just like Laramie, minus about 5,000 feet of elevation. Hosting the MW Tournament isn’t any sort of home-court advantage for UNLV. Hasn’t been for some time.
UNLV, which struggled to defend the 3-point line most of the season, held Air Force to 0 of 9 in the first half and 2 of 18 overall on 3s in Wednesday’s blowout.
For long stretches, particularly in the second half, the Rebels didn’t play well at all in an 89-82 win Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
When he was young, Cheickna Dembele would have to walk more than 30 minutes to find a basket at which to shoot, because that’s what everyone did. They walked.
How much — and early — a UNLV fan base that can be as unrealistic as it is passionate buys into the newest version of the Rebels is anyone’s guess, but never underestimate how a team might respond to the perception of those who watch it.
UNLV’s basketball program is in for some major changes when the season ends, and it is highly likely the faces of those coaching and several of those playing won’t return next year. But credit the Rebels for this: No one has picked up a white flag.
I remember the telephone conversation, the optimism in his voice and determination to build a winning basketball program and excitement about coming home. Dave Rice was talking from his car that afternoon, en route with his family from Provo, Utah, to Las Vegas.
At the same time UNLV called a news conference to announce that Dave Rice had been fired — er, came to a “mutual agreement” with his athletic administration that he would step down as Rebels basketball coach — people were parking their cars and SUVs for “Disney on Ice” at the Thomas & Mack Center.