May 19, 2009
LAS VEGAS -
The UNLV men's basketball team will face familiar foes as well as new challengers during the 2009-10 non-conference portion of its schedule, which was released by the athletics department Tuesday.
While Louisville, Kansas State and UNR are the headliners visiting Las Vegas this season, the rest of the home schedule - including the likes of Weber State, Southern Illinois and Holy Cross - will include a selection of teams that will make for a competitive schedule, according to UNLV head coach Lon Kruger.
The Runnin' Rebels will also hit the road for three road games in December at Arizona, Santa Clara and Southern Utah before finishing their non-conference schedule at the inaugural eight-team Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii, with potential match-ups against such teams as Southern California, St. Mary's and College of Charleston.
Louisville, Arizona, Kansas State, Weber State, UNR and potential Diamond Head Classic opponents Southern California, St. Mary's and College of Charleston all finished with more than 20 wins a season ago.
"It's a challenging schedule that will prepare us for conference play," UNLV head coach Lon Kruger said. "It's a good mix of strong programs from bigger conferences along with competitive programs from smaller conferences. We'll be tested at home, on the road and at neutral sites."
An afternoon marquee home game on Saturday, Nov. 28 (the UNLV football team plays a home game that evening) against Big East power Louisville will conclude an intriguing 11-day stretch at the Thomas & Mack Center in November, in which the Runnin' Rebels play four consecutive games against UNR, Southern Illinois, Holy Cross and Louisville.
Intrastate rival UNR will visit Las Vegas on Wednesday, Nov. 18 to face the Runnin' Rebels. Coming off its 21-13 2008-09 season, the Wolf Pack finished second in the Western Athletic Conference at 11-5 and is expected to be picked to remain near the top of the conference again this season.
The following Saturday (Nov. 21), Southern Illinois will visit the Thomas & Mack Center as part of the inaugural Challenge Series between the Mountain West and Missouri Valley conferences. The Challenge will feature head-to-head competition between nine MWC and nine MVC teams annually over the next four seasons. Despite posting a 13-18 mark last season, Southern Illinois made six consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2002-07, including advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2007.
Holy Cross will then visit the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, Nov. 25. Out of the Patriot League, Holy Cross finished 18-14 overall in 2008-09 (including in second place at 11-3 in league play) and lost to American University in the championship game of the conference tournament, which gave American an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Then that Saturday (Nov. 28), the Louisville Cardinals will try to avenge UNLV's 2008 New Year's Eve win in Louisville, which was shown on national television. Louisville advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2009 NCAA Tournament posting a 31-6 record and won both the Big East regular season and tournament titles. The Cardinals entered last year's NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. This will mark the third season in a row UNLV has faced Louisville.
The four-game stretch comes after UNLV holds its Opening Night when it hosts its first regular-season game at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday, Nov. 14 vs. Pittsburg State, a Division II team from Kansas. UNLV will play its only exhibition game of the season against Washburn, also a Division II school from Kansas, on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The game will be part of the 4th Annual Legends & Friends Classic, which features a golf event taking place on Monday, Nov. 9 as well as a special event later that evening honoring the 20th anniversary of UNLV's 1990 National Championship team.
Following the game against Louisville, UNLV will vacate the Thomas & Mack for the annual National Finals Rodeo road-trip and travel to Tucson to take on Arizona on Wednesday, Dec. 2. The Wildcats, out of the Pac-10, advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament last season after winning 21 games. It will be the fourth consecutive season the two teams face each other. Last season, UNLV beat Arizona, 79-64, in Las Vegas in December.
On Saturday, Dec. 5, UNLV heads to Santa Clara for a showdown with the Broncos out of West Coast Conference. The Broncos finished 16-17 last season, including losing at UNLV the night of Las Vegas' infamous snow storm in December.
UNLV will then return to Las Vegas and play a game at The Orleans Arena for the third consecutive year as the Runnin' Rebels face Kansas State out of the Big 12 on Saturday, Dec. 12. Kansas State finished 22-12 overall in 2008-09 and will be expected to compete for one of the top spots in the Big 12 this upcoming season. During the 2010-11 season, UNLV will play Kansas State at a neutral-site game in Kansas City. The unique pairing comes from Kruger's connection with the Wildcat program. Kruger won two Big 8 Conference Player of the Year awards in the 1970s prior to serving as Kansas State's head coach from 1986-1990. At the helm of the Wildcats, Kruger led the team to NCAA Tournament appearances in each of the four seasons he coached the program, including an Elite Eight appearance in 1988.
Following the Kansas State match-up, UNLV will play three games in five days starting Tuesday, Dec. 15 at Southern Utah in Cedar City, Utah. The less than three-hour drive up I-15 gives UNLV fans the chance to travel with the Runnin' Rebels.
UNLV will then return to the Thomas & Mack Center for its first home game in nearly three weeks to face a quality Weber State squad out of the Big Sky Conference. Weber State finished 21-10 last season including going 15-1 in league-play to win the regular-season conference title. The Runnin' Rebels will then complete their home portion of the non-conference schedule with a game on Saturday, Dec. 19 vs. South Carolina-Upstate out of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
The Runnin' Rebels will conclude the non-conference portion of it schedule the following week at the inaugural Diamond Head Classic, which will be played on Hawaii's campus in Honolulu. The tournament will feature 12 games through three days with the action taking place on Tuesday, Dec. 22, Wednesday, Dec. 23 and on Christmas, Friday, Dec. 25, as the event is designed to sandwich the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl football game, which will be played on Thursday, Dec. 24. The eight-team tournament is being run by ESPN Regional Television, Inc., which is a subsidiary of ESPN. Ten of the games are scheduled to be televised from the Classic, which is set to include host Hawaii, UNLV, USC, SMU, College of Charleston, Saint Mary's and Western Michigan. The last team is yet to be determined. ESPNU will air seven of the games, while ESPN2 will show three.
Including UNLV, four teams playing in the Diamond Head Classic reached the postseason in 2008-09 (USC in the NCAA Tournament, UNLV and Saint Mary's in the National Invitation Tournament and College of Charleston in the College Basketball Invitational). USC won the 2009 Pac-10 Tournament, while Western Michigan claimed its second straight MAC West regular-season title. Saint Mary's, which advanced to the NIT quarterfinals in March, was ranked among the nation's top 25 teams for a good stretch of last year's regular season. College of Charleston is coming off a 27-win season.
Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through a bracket-tournament format. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in a championship game on Dec. 25. For more information on the tournament, including travel packages, visit the tournament's official web site at DiamondHeadClassic.com or by clicking here.
The Runnin' Rebels finished the 2008-09 season with an overall record of 21-11, earning a postseason invitation for the third straight year. UNLV also won over 20 games for the third straight season in 2008-09, which marked the first time the program had three straight 20-plus-victory seasons since 1990-93, a span of 16 years.
In 2009-10, Kruger will be in his sixth season as head coach of the Runnin' Rebels. He has a five-year record of 112-53 (.679) leading the UNLV men's basketball program. Since the start of the 2006-07 season, the Runnin' Rebels have turned in a record of 78-26 (.750).
UNLV will return six letterwinners from last year's team, including two starters. Five players who redshirted last year will be eligible in 2009-10, along with three additional newcomers. The Runnin' Rebels lost in the first round of the NIT to Kentucky to end their season in March.
UNLV's full schedule for the 2009-10 season may be accessed on UNLVRebels.com or directly by
clicking here.
* * * * * * *
Additionally, registration is ongoing for this summer's UNLV Runnin' Rebel Basketball Camps.
Day Camps will be offered from June 15-17 and August 3-5. Both camps will have three sessions. The first will be from 9 a.m. - noon (ages 8-10), the second will be from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. (ages 11-13) and the third will be from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. (ages 14-18).
The UNLV Runnin' Rebel Basketball Camp is a fun and challenging learning resource for every player. Players of all levels will improve their skills through intense and detailed instruction on the proper execution of offensive skills and fundamentals. Players will receive individualized training from UNLV coaches, staff, players and high school and college coaches. Each camper will participate in individual contests and team competition as well as receive a camp T-shirt and ball. A full-time trainer and medical personnel will be present at the camp, which takes place in air-conditioned facilities at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion. A Parent-Child Camp will also take place August 7-8.
The cost of each camp is $150 per session. June 13 is the registration cutoff for Camp 1, while Camp 2 needs to be registered for by August 1. For more information and to register online, visit the camp website, which can be accessed from the men's basketball page at UNLVRebels.com, by visiting UNLVBasketballCamp.com or by
clicking here. For more information, please call the UNLV men's basketball office at 702-895-3295.
