UNLV’s best chance to win another game is Saturday

Coach Marvin Menzies stood outside the UNLV basketball locker room Wednesday understandably frustrated and upset after a 104-77 loss at UNR.

It’s a familiar look over the past couple of weeks as the Rebels have gone into a five-game tailspin, and Menzies’ mood isn’t likely to improve much in the final six regular-season games.

If he’s going to emerge from the locker room smiling, Saturday is the best chance to do so. The last-place Rebels’ 3 p.m. game against San Jose State at the Thomas &Mack Center is their last best chance to pick up a victory.

Gold Sheet handicapper Bruce Marshall said Saturday’s is the last game he expects the Rebels to be favored. They have three home and three road games remaining.

UNLV (10-15, 3-9 Mountain West) is a 2½-point favorite over the Spartans (12-10, 5-6), but San Jose State has won three in a row, including a 76-72 victory over UNLV to begin the streak.

“That’s a team that we played really close on the road,” Menzies said. “That’s a much improved team from last year, but we’re at home. We need to win that game Saturday.”

“We need to win games. We need to win a game. We haven’t won a game in five games, so we’ve got to put our best foot forward on Saturday.”

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