New Hoops Preview: UNLV vs New Mexico - Game 20

UNLV vs New Mexico

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Runnin’ Rebels (10-9, 5-1) | New Mexico Lobos (15-4, 4-2)

 

The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (10-9) and the New Mexico Lobos (15-4) will be squaring off Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center at 6 p.m. PT. New Mexico, after having a strong start to the season, travels to UNLV for a Mountain West Conference matchup.

 

This season, the Rebels are 4-1 in conference play while the Lobos come in at 4-2. In mid-December, UNLV was sitting at a rough 4-8 before they caught the hot hand, resulting in six wins out of seven games, four of them being conference matchups. The one loss the Rebels suffered during that stretch came at the hands of Boise State.

 

The Rebels still haven’t let up, as they are coming into this matchup fresh off a win against San Jose State, 98-87. It was a high scoring affair as the Rebels led by just six points at the half, which then led to them outscoring the Spartans by five in the second half of the game. Marvin Coleman, played a big role in the previous matchup, as he led the Rebels with 17 points. Meanwhile, Bryce Hamilton and Amauri Hardy were both helping on the offensive end as well chipping in 16 points apiece.

Hardy is currently leading the Rebels with 14.9 points per game, while Cheikh Mbacke-Diong leads the team in rebounds at 9.1 per game. As for the leading assist leader, that goes to guard Elijah Metro-Long at 3.8 per game.

 

Recent play for the Lobos, however, they haven’t been as efficient as they were in comparison to the start of the season. Despite them having a record of 15-4, in the past couple of weeks, one of their top performers who had been averaging a double-double has recently been let go from the team, as well as the suspension of their top playmaker.

This past Wednesday, New Mexico traveled to Fort Collins, Colorado, where things didn’t pan out as the Lobos had hoped, as Colorado State handled business by taking the game 105-72. JaQuan Lyle leads the team in scoring with 16.9 points per game while Vance Jackson is now the top rebounder averaging 4.8 per game. Caldwell, despite being out on suspension, averages 5.6 assists. The offensive end for the Lobos has not seemed to be the problem for this squad this season, averaging 80.1 points per game, ranking 23rd nationally. All while shooting 49.9 percent from the field (7th).

 

On the defensive side, is where they seem to have struggled, as shown in their recent outing against Colorado, giving up 74.1 points per game. At the moment, The Lobos rank 291st in the NCAA. UNLV, on the other hand, averages about 70 points per game, ranking 213th nationally. The defensive side of things isn’t too bad for the Rebels either, giving up just 68.4 points per game. (168th) UNLV and New Mexico are no strangers when it comes to scoring the basketball.

The Lobos are averaging 80 points per game and that number can be attributed to Bragg and Caldwell in the lineup. With those two out of the picture, that number is subject to change.

 

This matchup is one UNLV is looking to take to keep the ball rolling for their winning streak.

 

Las Vegas! If you want another great place to watch the game, head to Al’s Garage in Summerlin. There are multiple televisions to watch all the games. Al’s has “Happy Hour” starting at 9 AM and ending at 9 PM. Al’s Garage is located at 11760 W. Charleston Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada 89135. Tell them, “The Franchise sent you!!”

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Buy Runnin’ Rebel tickets here

 

Terence Smith

 

 

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