Continue reading »]]> At the start of this basketball season, I surveyed the Mountain West because I am a fan of it by default. I live in Las Vegas. I am a friend of the program here in town. UNLV will be my alma matter when all is said and done and I am vested to my neck in it’s basketball program.

I knew San Diego State would be good. They were amazing last year, and that team did not lose anybody of note. I figured New Mexico would be down after losing Hobson and a few other important pieces. I also figured BYU would take a half step back losing a couple of key players and some front court depth.

I was wrong.

I cannot stand BYU. Really. Jimmer personifies what BYU is in a basketball player with the way he plays. I did not think it was possible for him to carry his team the way he has. Last night his performance over SDSU was amazing. They were at home, which helps a ton, but that shouldn’t take away from the performance. San Diego State had received a ton of acolades over the previous weeks, and deservingly so. Now, it’s BYU’s conference until the return trip to San Diego. That leaves plenty of time for BYU to Jimmer the rest of the conference and make me sick to my stomach.

Anyways, here I am. I penciled UNLV in as an easy #2 in the conference. Gimme my crow. I’ll eat some of it.

Until the Rebels make their way to Provo next week that is.

Continue reading »]]> This summer we saw the power conferences begin their quest to become super power conferences, ones that would yield the same super powers we saw from the old Soviet Union and the United States during the cold war.

Probably not. But in terms of college sports, it could be close. Nebraska to the Big Ten. Colorado and Utah to the Pac-10. It was like conference comissioners were playing a game of yahatzee and the dice are the schools. Shake them up and who ever lands the best TV markets is the winner.

An obvious loser of the reshuffling was the Mountain West. Adding Boise St, they looked to become an automatic qualifier and have a shot at an automatic birth into a BCS game for their best football program. Instead. Utah, bolts to the west coast, TCU joins the Big East, and BYU shoves their own heads farther up their asses thinking they are the Notre Dame of the west, and that THIS IS A GOOD THING?

This leaves the Mountain West a shell of it’s former self. Yes, they’ve added Nevada and Fresno St. They are currently looking to add Utah State, and possibly San Jose State. These are not replacements on the football field by any stretch, though I do enjoy Utah State hoops. What all of this shows is that the mega WAC is, was, and will continue to be a failure. The Mountain West is fishing for warm bodies to keep it afloat. In reality, it’s probably just a matter of time until it’s irrevelance in football and lack of a real TV contract (screw you the MTN) sink this thing for good.

So what does my school, UNLV, do with itself? Not a football power, it has no clout to draw interest from a power conference to request membership. I have always been an advocate in being happy with what you are, in UNLV’s case, a basketball school. It’s time to look for new options, and they start with Conference USA.

OK, Conference USA isn’t the most prestigious one out there. They are spread all over the map. This hardly matters if TCU is gonig to be a member of the Big East, why can’t UNLV also fly back and play in some eastern time zone cities. Exposure like this is critical. Also, there are some historically good basketball programs in CUSA including Memphis, Houston, UAB, Tulsa, etc. UNLV would fit in with the basketball mentality, and develop some new rivalries with schools who actually care about hoops.

Yes, San Diego State is great this year. Yes, New Mexico plays in The Pit, and that is cool. However, the bottom of this new Mountain West is going to be dreadful. Those that can leave, are leaving, even though the prospects for their sports teams may not fair the way they did in their current conference (hello, Utah, get ready to get your ass handed to you). I just feel this is the time for UNLV to look for further options, if there are any. This revolving door of the Mountain West is not a good situation.

Continue reading »]]> I apologize for my lack of site updates. Life has taken its course over the last couple months. This doesn’t mean I haven’t taken the time to watch my fair share of basketball games, just that I haven’t had the time to put those observances into words here.

I write this during the last week of January. Conference schedules are well underway. Rivalries are renewing themselves on an almost nightly basis. Kids (and myself) are back on campus. The cold weather has tightened its grip on the mid-west. The sun is out in Las Vegas. Things are as they should be. Or are they?

Michigan State has taken a nose dive in many fans eyes. The hope and promise of a top 5 ranking to start the season has now given way to despair as the Spartans now sit at 12-7, 4-3 in the Big Ten. Hardly the record Spartan fans (including myself) figured MSU to have at this point in the season. They’ve lost games to good teams including UConn, Texas, Purdue, Duke, Syracuse etc. That’s a pretty tough schedule. They’ve won a few decent game including versus Wisconsin, Minnesota and Washington out in Hawaii. Those wins don’t erase the hope that developed during the summer, which stemmed from an amazing Final Four run last March.

So what’s the problem? It’s plain to see they are not who we thought they were. Good vibes, clutch play and a few lucky bounces contributed to another Izzo Final Four, some the lofty Spartan expectations. Last year they were a #5 seed, which puts them squarely on the bottom end of the top 25. This is about where they’ve played this season. They lost a huge impact player in Raymar Morgan. Adrian Payne and Keith Appling have done their best to step up and fill some of the void, but are still learning the college game at this point. Lucas isn’t even a shadow of his former self. Lucious can only hit a shot with two seconds on the shot clock. Delvon Roe tries, bless his heart, and had a nice outing at Purdue on Saturday, but it’s hardly enough. The team is not a cohisive unit, and doesn’t have a consistant player beyond the big dancing teddy bear. They are who I think they are, a #4 seed at absolute best, and a hopeful sweet-16 team. That is, unless Izzo turns on some of that March Magic, and ignights the college basketball world yet again come tourney time. One can only hope.

Speaking of hope, there’s little I can muster up for UNLV and a Mountain West championship at this point. A solid non conference season gave way to losses at home against BYU and the Jimmer Fredette show. As painful as that was, they’ve also dropped one to Colorado State. Hardly what needs to happen if you want to contend for the Mountain West these days, as both SDSU and BYU have claimed top 10 spots in the polls, and are angling for seeding in the tourney at this point. The loss to CSU puts UNLV behind them in Mountain West pecking order, and puts pressure on the Rebels to win at CSU for the return trip. It also puts pressure on UNLV to pick up a big time win either at BYU (not likely) or at home vs SDSU. Considering UNLV played SDSU very well on their home floor a few weeks ago, it’s possible to pick up a resume buidling win there, and cement UNLV’s status into the tournament. Time well tell. The way they’ve played lately, they can’t afford to look ahead on the schedule and concentrate on winning at Wyoming tonight, and at home vs a Utah team that has played better in recent weeks.

My Western Michigan Broncos are a different story all together, and I wonder how much more I can take of following Hawkins and his merry men through boring .500 seasons. It’s sad to watch, as when I was a student at WMU, the trio of Ben Reed, Mike Williams, and Anthony Kahn led the Broncos to a tournemnt birth, and what should have been an upset victory over Vanderbilt. Instead, it’s the status quo, and I wonder if a coaching change is needed to spark some interest and fire in the program once more. Sam tells me this will never happen, as the administration is happy with .500, which just frustrates the shit out of me. Oh well. I’m removed from the Kalamazoo area, and really cannot affect change. All I can to is sit back and watch them lose to Toledo.

A few side notes – my 50 games project is scraped again this year in favor of not skipping school. I should end up in the 20′s somewhere. I am putting serious thought into heading to Houston for the Final Four by my lonesome this April as well.

That’s what’s up in my basketball world.

Continue reading »]]> Tonight marked my second game of this NCAA College Basketball season. UNLV scheduled two cream puffs to play exhibition games against starting last week Tuesday against Grand Canyon, and ending tonight against Washburn. Chase Stanback did not play either first half for an academic issue, and Tre’Von Willis has sat out both games serving two of a minimum three game suspension from his little dust up this summer with some broad. Pish Posh.

UNLV tips off its regular season on Friday against UC Riverside.

Several discussions over the past few weeks have found me realizing that I am indeed a friend of the program here in Las Vegas. I am now vested more than ever before in UNLV Runnin’ Rebel Basketball. This is not a bad thing, and wish to discuss why.

If you know me, you know I am a huge college sports fan. I have always been an avid follower of college football and college basketball. Recently, I have realized that my passion for college football has declined, for two reasons. First, the college football scene here in Las Vegas is brutal to say the least. Second, the teams I follow are horrible. UNLV is garbage. Western Michigan has been crap lately, recently losing a gimmie game to 2-7 Central Michigan. It’s hard to even type that. Michigan State has had a stellar year, but anybody who knows MSU Football knows that this year is not the norm. I expect 7-6 next year.

This leaves me with college hoops. My bread and butter. My beautiful baby. My one and only.

1. UNLV – Bringing back an amazing cast, and only adding stronger pieces down low. Tre’Von Willis could challenge the prophet up in Provo for POTY honors in the MWC this year. Oscar Bellfield is a heady PG with a sweet touch, and quick feet on the defensive end. Derrick Jasper is coming off knee surgery, again, but looks comfortable on the floor to start the season. I expect a big start to the campaign from him. He looks hungry. Chase Stanback scored 23 points in 14 minutes in the second half tonight, going 9-10 from the floor. Yeah, he’s ready (and can I say his game is SMOOTH?). Brice Massamba in the middle is his usual vocal self to start off. He’s active, and that’s half the battle right there. Those are the starters. Coming off the bench is another story all together. Anthony Marshall might be the best pure athlete in the conference. He can score at will, and will look to improve his shot off 1 made 3-pointer last year. Justin Hawkins is exactly that on the ball – a hawk. Another athlete, never gives up on the play, 100% hustle. Quintrell Thomas, transfer from Kansas, has looked excited to be on the floor. Dude looks like a tank. Excited to see what he has to offer. Carlos Lopez, redshirt freshman. 6-11. Athletic and smart from what I’ve seen so far. Will have to control his body a bit better and avoid the fouls, but I see a great player in the making. Looks like the lead singer from Rage Against the Machine, so he’s got that going for him too. To sum this up, UNLV is talented, and deep. Brian Shaw (failed drug test) and Kendall Marshall (ACL) are both gone for the year, and were the teams best 3-point options last year. This is the only blip on the Rebel’s radar. Expectations from my side are high. Lon Kruger has this thing going, and I like where it’s taking me.

2. Michigan State – After last year, what else can be said? Korrie Lucious grew up before our eyes in the tournament, sending Maryland fans packing, and me smashing holes in the ceilings of sports arenas in Buffalo. No, really. Kalin Lucas will be back, hopefully all healed up and ready to go. Dre Dre mixing things up in the paint, scoring Izzo hustle points all around. There are many reasons to like this team, but only one reason to LOVE this team. Tom Izzo. Enough has been said about him. I’ll say only this – Izzo is the reason I root as hard as I do, because I believe he needs me to.

3. Western Michigan – Kalamazoo’s basketball messiah, otherwise known as David Kool is gone. Most people would think this is a bad thing. I am one of them. However, his departure into the great wide open may give the Broncos a chance to find themselves again. Without Kool to dominate the ball and bail them out of trips down the floor, maybe we will see somebody step up to the plate. The reigns of the team are up for grabs. Who knows who will take the chance. I like Hawkins, and hope he gets this thing figured out. I dream again of watching WMU playing in the tourney again.

Continue reading »]]> While Christmas time gives Tourney time a run for its money, in the end it loses out, as tournament style college basketball is the greatest thing on this planet.

The past several days have been epic.

1. UNLV vs Wyoming – The Rebels wrapped up their regular season taking Wyoming to the woodshed. The Cowboys looked like a sad basketball team, and UNLV didn’t play around with them. Final score was 74-56, and it wasn’t even that close. This wrapped up the regular season for UNLV, and was my 23rd game of the season.

2. After this game, it became apparent that my dream of attending 50 college basketball games in one season would continue to be a dream. Attending classes and turning in required assignments took precedent over the WCC tournament, which was a requirement of mine previously. Such is life. It will be here next year, along with the WAC tournament. Options galore!

3. As Nate mentioned below, our very own Jimmy led his Allen Park Jags to a playoff victory against some team called the Crestwood Chargers. I know nothing about the high school basketball make up of the south eastern Michigan area, but I know that Jimmy is a good coach because his drills are excellent. Jimmy ended up losing another heart breaker to some team from Dearborn, but it doesn’t matter, because he’s still better. Just the way we feel.

4. Having cleared my calendar for the next week for a certain trip to Buffalo, NY, I decided to break down and pick up a few duckets to attend the MWC quarterfinal session last night with my beautiful baby. New Mexico vs San Diego State, and BYU vs UNLV. Quite the lineup of games, teams, and story lines from this season.

As you can see, we bought our tickets at the last second, which resulted in us sitting right behind the San Diego State student section in the upper deck level of the Thomas & Mack. This student section is fucking classic though. Their chants are dead on and organized, they crowd surfed some kid in a giant gecko outfit, and then suggested to the New Mexico contingent (which was at least 10,000 strong arena-wide) to sell their tickets once it was apparent the game was over. It was a fun game to watch, example 1 on why March basketball is the greatest shit ever. 1 seeded New Mexico falls to 4 seed San Diego State 69-72. Game was won behind hot shooting from behind the arc for SDSU (to the tune of 10-16), and Billy White’s 11-14 from the field, 5-5 from the line, 28 point domination of the New Mexico defense.

Game two was an entirely different set of circumstances.

Thanks in part to San Diego State’s knocking off of New Mexico, we were able to grift a new set of seats in the lower bowl, in the middle of New Mexico-ville, for the BYU vs UNLV game. New Mexico fans hate BYU as much as any other normal person in this country should hate them. BYU hadn’t won at UNLV vs UNLV in it’s five previous games. BYU was fresh off a victory over TCU, with brother Fredette racking up the shittiest stat line that ever represented 45 points.

• 45 points. 10-23 from the field (including 2-10 from 3), and 23-24 from the FT line. Yes, that is not a joke. This really happened.

Needless to say, I was a bit worried. Fredette was coming into the UNLV game believing he was the prophet Joseph Smith himself.

Now I’m not a bigot or a hater or anything. I know plenty of people who practice the Mormon faith and are perfectly nice normal people. The fast majority are well represented by the parity you’ve probably seen on South Park a few years back. Super nice. Super perfect. Blonde haired, blue eyed giver outters. They all have really cool jackets and want to go home and make brownies or help you build a bookshelf.

I’ll build my own.

BYU and UNLV came out shooting hot, to the tune of each squad trading 3 pointers. After it was 9-9, this dogfight settled out into the dogfight it was meant to be. UNLV’s press after made baskets gave BYU fits in the first half, leading to a few run outs. BYU’s patented fast break offense was a blur off of missed UNLV shots, and the game stayed sort of close, the Rebels up by 7 at the half behind a sweet looking jumper from Chase Stanback.

The second half saw the prophet casting a light on Jimmer Fredette, and him contorting his gangliy body into the bodies of his foes, and getting to the line with the righteous accomplishment only a BYU fan could be proud of. He also hit some sick deep jumpers. What’s ironic about this guy is that when a questionable call goes the other way, he freaks out, cries, pouts, and stomps all over the floor. He was also called for traveling twice in the second half, which almost made his head explode. Tre’Von Willis gutted out a twisted ankle in the final minutes, made a crazy glasser shot, and the FT’s a leader is expected to make to seal up the victory, regardless of what super natural forces may have been conspiring against the sinners of Southern Nevada. BYU 66, UNLV 70.

—–

So here I am. I’m going to bail on headed to the MWC title game this afternoon in favor of watching several other games from across the country. I’ve attended 25 college basketball games thus far, with the best yet to come.

5. Western won a game in its conference tournament, and should have probably faced Eastern after that. Thanks to #pixelvision, I was able to watch both teams, including Carlos Medlock’s spirited effort against Akron. EMU fell short, as did WMU against Akron yesterday. WMU will not be dancing this year, and the David Kool era is over in Kalamazoo.

6. Michigan State lost yesterday to Tubbs. Sam called this 100%. Not sure how I feel about Sparty headed into the Tourney. In Izzo I trust though. I don’t know what era is about to end for MSU over the next couple of weeks though. This team / season has been so confusing. I have this feeling that the team is being held together by a thread.

The only way to find out is to play the games.

Continue reading »]]> This week I had one game, Wednesday, TCU at UNLV. UNLV dispatched these clowns in easy fasion, just as they have the couple of scrubs they’ve played recently (besides Utah). Final Score was 78-62, but it wasn’t even that close. It was a 30+ point game in the second half with 11 minutes left. Take it for what it’s worth. Game 22 of 50 for me. 50 looking quite difficult. Still going to give it the ol college try though.

Good news on the ticket front this week as well. Some randoms from Buffalo, NY sent over a few tickets for us to attend some hoops games, the same ones we’ve been talking about. So that’s good news:

I also managed to track down my set of Final Four tickets:

So now we can get into these places we’ve spoken about so much. The Final Four tickets were pretty hard to track down. The wonderful people at the NCAA ticket office did not change my mailing address, even though I sent the proper information to them, and even received conformation back that it was. It’s all good though, as it worked out in the end.

Wyoming @ UNLV for the last Rebel game of the year is next Saturday. I will also be at the WCC tournament at the Rhett’s Basketball viewing arena, AKA, the Orleans Arena. That starts on Friday.

Currently watching Richmond @ Xavier (dynasty). Looking forward to some USA hockey, and MSU @ Purdue. Things are rounding into shape nicely. They should be, tomorrow is March, and it is MY month.

Continue reading »]]>

Headed into the last week of February, if you are thinking of making the tournament, and advancing in the tournament, you had better be rounding into top form.

UNLV coming off a 3 game losing streak against New Mexico, San Diego State, and Utah, found their hoop game against Colorado State yesterday afternoon, and used it to gain a 70-39 win at home against the Rams. Colorado State is a decent squad, with some good pieces and will look to be a player in the league next year. UNLV started the game out on a 10-2 run, had balanced scoring, including 12 points from Anthony Marshall and Chace Stanback, and 11 points from Kendall Wallace and Tre’Von Willis. The Thomas and Mack was a bit empty, but that did not prevent the Rebels from having some great defensive pressure for almost the entire 1st half. The Rams only managed 16 points by halftime. The second half was mostly coasting, with a small Colorado State run squashed by UNLV.

This is called taking care of business. This is a game UNLV should have won, and had to have when you consider the three previous losses. They have TCU and Wyoming at home and Air Force on the road to finish out the season, and should win all 3 games rather easily. They’ll need to to ensure a favorable match up in the 1st round of the conference tournament. Losing the first game in the conference tournament on your home floor is not a good idea.

Michigan State is sitting in another boat. After losing three games, they won two easy road games against Penn State and Indiana. This left them headed into two game, at home vs Ohio State, and on the road at Purdue. Ohio State handled Sparty this afternoon, which is disapointing. Now, the road game at Purdue seems rather important, as the Spartans haven’t proven they can beat good squads lately, and may need the confidence boost a Purdue win would bring, in order to get their minds right for March.

I’m hoping the Rebels will win out in convincing fashion to eliminate any doubt that they should be in the field of 65. I’m also hoping Michigan State starts to hit their stride, knocks off Purdont, and starts off March on the right foot.

Continue reading »]]> Happy Valentines Day. I offer you a picture of my broken basketball heart.

say it ain't so baby

The week that was in college basketball may have been just like any other week. There are teams fighting their way onto the bubble, teams tripping themselves off the bubble, and teams that don’t know what that is, because they don’t roll dolo’s like some other schools do.

If you’ve read any part of this weblog of our basketball trials and tribulations, it’s not hard to know that we root for a few core teams. I tend to follow the Western Michigan Broncos, Michigan State Spartans, and UNLV Runnin’ Rebels. Quite the combination. I bet nobody else west of the Mississippi has a wall of fame hanging in their man cave with Ben Reed, Anthony Kahn, and Mike Williams on it.

Last week, things seemed to be great. UNLV was coming off a win at home against rival bible thumps BYU.  The Broncos won at home against Bowling Green. Michigan State had lost earlier that week at Wisconsin, and had looked to get back on track at Illinois (without Kalin Lucas). Ever since then, it has been a brutal run.

1. Western Michigan has lost two straight road games to Ohio and Eastern Michigan. Now they have a sub-.500 conference record. Not quite the note you want to hit when you’re heading into your final hand full of games before the conference tournament. I always believe that if they can get there, David Kool will bust out some flip mode sequence and pull off a miracle. He’s gone after this year, and deserves to see the NCAA Tournament. We deserve to see him and his squad play there too. Doesn’t seem so likely at this point.

2. Michigan State lost to Illinois. They probably would have won had Kalin Lucas played. Afterwords, they lost at home to stupid boiler up Purdue and their trio of clowns that everybody thinks are sweet at basketball. They have since won at Penn State yesterday, but come on, everybody has done that this year. Penn State hasn’t won a conference game to date. Sparty had been in line to challenge for a #1 seed, and an easy road to the round of 16, and hopefully beyond. Now, they’re looking at a 3 or 4 seed. It is possible to improve to a 2, but, I’m not holding my breath, or my lungs will look like the hoop rock just above.

3. UNLV played host to New Mexico, and did their best BYU impression on Wednesday. Yesterday, I saddled up tonto and rode up to the b-dubs down the street to watch UNLV play at SDSU on Versus, only to be disapointed in my investment. It was really hot in there. I hung out until I knew it was over. The Rebels lost the game, have now lost two in a row, and can basically kiss the regular season conference title good-bye. In addition, their next game at Utah is now a must win. I’m sure you remember what happened last time these two teams met, right?

So there you go. Happy Valentines Day. My second lover (my first being my very beautiful and loving wife), has forsaken me. I am no front runner. I follow the teams I do for very specific reasons. No Duke fan here. MSU is logical, because I’m from Michigan, and the Spartans are not the Wolverines. WMU is my pseudo-alma matter, and UNLV is the only sports gig here in Las Vegas. How could I not go? It would be easy to root for Villanova or something, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.

Basketball is a brutal lover. The highs are so high, and the lows are so low. The coming week poses challenges for all the teams I mentioned here. It is my hope to see some of them in March, at neutral sites, and having a blast. If they aren’t there, it will be OK, because the Trip is perpetual, and it’s not about our teams. It’s just icing on the cake. After last year’s Final Four, perhaps we are spoiled.

So, I guess I will treat this relationship like a troubled marriage. You have to work to make it work.

I’m not turning my back on you baby.

Continue reading »]]> UNLV hosted New Mexico tonight and lost in fairly brutal fashion 66-76. Game number 20 for me.

It’s disappointing because UNLV was ranked again, gained a lot of national attention after the win over the weekend against stupid BYU. UNLV had a chance to solidify their spot in bracket projections, and put themselves on top of the MWC. It did not happen that way though.

For those who were not at the game, and had to endure through a 4OT women’s basketball game, you missed New Mexico hitting their first 5 three-pointers. You missed New Mexico setting the tone on both ends of the floor, denying the lane to Tre’Von Willis and Oscar Bellfield.

UNLV missed Derrick Jasper, and his ability to switch on the wings. Kendall Wallace may be an amazing 3 point specialist, but he cannot guard a soul to save his own life, and Steve Alford exploited this repeatedly in the 1st half. If Jasper had been playing (UNLV’s best defender), those open 3′s would not have existed, and this game would have had a drastically different start.

You can’t get out rebounded 2-1, give up 20 second chance points, and let a team shoot 50% from 3 point land, and expect to win a game. Yet, somehow, UNLV managed to get this to within two points at the under 4 time out. I can’t even explain it really. Just doesn’t make sense, but I watched it happen. That tells me this team has grit. They didn’t fold up in a ball and die, or shrug it off like it just was not their night.

It’s bad to lose, but its not horrible to lose to a good team. New Mexico had a plan tonight, they executed it, and won the game. UNLV coming off the emotional high of winning against BYU on Saturday, couldn’t possibly replicate that energy two times in a row. The large crowd (over 18,000 again), tried to will them on, and it almost happened.

I may comment more on this later. Just wanted to get these thoughts out there. It’s not the end of the world. Just time to hit the road on Saturday vs San Diego State and put those clowns out early. Then on to Utah, and do the same thing. No doubt about the fact that UNLV should be better than both teams.

Good Talk.

Continue reading »]]>

Tre'Von rollin dolo's. (Photo by Louie Traub/RebelNation.Net)

I last attended a college basketball game on January 17th when UNLV lost to Utah at home. It was a bad loss.

Since then, UNLV has won a few road contests, and a home game vs Air Force I could not attend. To say I was looking forward to today’s game is an understatement. I have deprived myself of Big Monday’s and Super Tuesday’s. I’m doing what I have to do, but I am missing my favorite sports season, and I’m bummed about it sometimes.

That being said, UNLV playing host to BYU was game #19 for me. It was quite the game.

UNLV game out slanging nerve gas on BYU. I have never seen anything close to what I saw in person today. The Rebels were ready to play. It was evident after they started the game on a 11-2 run, with Tre’Von Willis getting whatever shot he wanted. BYU came out flat, seemed pouty for most of the game, and really never even competed. I have seen BYU play a ton of games (second only to UNLV) over the past hand-full of years. They recruit talent, seem to be well coached, and probably deserved their high rankings they’ve had this year. They can’t play against UNLV though. The Rebel’s choked away the game in Provo earlier this year. They were up at the under 4 time out, and just did not make plays they’ve made all year. BYU didn’t win that one, UNLV lost it. BYU rolls into town this afternoon (1pm local tip is  a good deal) and they get the covers blown off their golden bible. Tre’Von Willis put his stamp on his MWC POTY opinion, by throwing in 33 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 0 turnovers. He also played some very nice near lockdown defense on this Jimmer kid, holding this supposed all world MWC guy to 21 points on 4 of 15 shooting. Oscar Bellfield also played a part in this. Both guys are fast, and did a great job in keeping Jimmer in front of them all afternoon.

The final was 88-74, but it wasn’t even that close. It was over at halftime, with UNLV being up 22 going into the break. UNLV was up by as much a 29 before halftime.

Another little tidbit – for everybody claiming Fredette is the clear cut MVP of the MWC, think again. Willis is scoring more per conference game than Fredette, and has owned him in both head to head meetings. Spare me that ‘oh, he was sick’ crap. Willis played well on the road in the heart of Provo. Fredette stunk it up today. The only open shot he could get was a NBA+ three. Who’s your prophet?

UNLV hosts New Mexico Wednesday night. They beat the airbrushers today to create a 3-way tie on top of the MWC. UNLV has the previously mentioned New Mexico game, then heads to SDSU and Utah. Then they play all the clowns at the bottom of the league.