Rebels prepare for first-place showdown
UNLV is set to host its second straight team ranked in the top 25 at the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday night.
New Mexico, ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 19 in the USA Today poll, is the opponent. Both teams are 7-2 in Mountain West play, as is BYU, which is off until Saturday.
The winner of tonight’s game will be in front by a half game in the standings.
The Lobos dropped the first two games of league play, but are on a seven-game winning streak. The Rebels have won five in a row.
What’s his story
New Mexico star Darington Hobson played a year of high school basketball in Las Vegas before relocating to Houston where he played at Gulf Shore Academy.
He then took a circuitous route to Albuquerque through junior college, as well.
There never seemed to be any reason to believe his departure from Las Vegas was under any kind of shady circumstances--until now.
Hobson dodged all personal questions from Las Vegas reporters in interviews leading up to the game.
That sent up plenty of red flags as he continuously said he would only answer basketball-related questions.
Does anybody know Hobson’s story? Feedback is always appreciated.
Revenge
New Mexico will be looking for revenge for a 74-62 UNLV victory in Albuquerque last month. It is the only home game the Lobos have lost all season.
It was also the last time New Mexico lost anywhere.
Filling up early
The students have been in place in ready to go for quite some time already.
The doors opened up about 75 minutes before tipoff and it wasn’t long after that the student section was filled beyond capacity.
The students were screaming at New Mexico players as they warmed up more than an hour before the game was supposed to begin at the late 8 p.m. start time.
UNLV’s Steve Jones was on the court long before that. Nearly two hours prior to the game, Jones was out on the court by himself shooting jumpers.
For all of the Jones haters out there, he was knocking them down at about an 85 percent clip.
