Rebels focused on UNR with Mountain West title still possible

On the final day of the Mountain West regular season, the UNLV men’s basketball team still has a chance to claim a share of the conference championship.

However, that chance could be all but gone by the time UNLV tips off against UNR at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Lawlor Events Center in Reno.

UNLV (19-10, 12-5 Mountain West) is tied for third place with UNR (25-6, 12-5) behind the leader, No. 22-ranked Utah State (25-5, 13-4). Boise State (22-9, 13-5) is alone in second for the moment after beating San Diego State 79-77 in overtime Friday.

UNLV will need to beat the Wolf Pack and have Utah State lose at home to New Mexico to finish in a three-way tie for the title. The Aggies are 3-point home favorites against the Lobos in the 5:30 p.m. Saturday game.

The Rebels are 6½-point underdogs at UNR.

“We just got to focus on what we got to do,” fifth-year guard Luis Rodriguez said. “Whatever happens in (the Utah State) game is going to happen. We can’t control that. All we can control is us beating Reno, but we’ll definitely keep our eye on that game.”

Because Utah State defeated UNLV 87-86 on Jan. 13 in the teams’ lone regular-season meeting, the Aggies would win the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed at next week’s Mountain West tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center.

It would be UNLV’s first conference regular-season title since 2000. But coach Kevin Kruger said the focus heading into Saturday has solely been on UNR.

“That’s something you can’t waste any time thinking about, respectfully,” Kruger said on the possibility of winning the Mountain West title. “It’s another good opponent (in UNR). If we spend any time worrying about anything other than that, then it could end up costing us a game.

“I’m sure it’s reached everybody with all the what-ifs and scenarios and the possibilities (of the Mountain West title).”

UNLV has won five straight games and 10 of its last 11. The Rebels are coming off a 62-58 home win over No. 21 San Diego State.

The Rebels’ lone loss in that span was a 69-66 home defeat to UNR on Feb. 17 when they led by as many as 11 points in the second half. UNR began its current six-game win streak with that victory over UNLV.

“We’ve seen every part of it. We felt all the highs, felt all the lows of the season,” Rodriguez said. “It was an experience that added fuel to the fire for us to do what we needed to do. Everything we’ve been through has led us to where we are at now.”

UNR boasts two of the conference’s top scoring guards with Jarod Lucas, second in the conference with 17.5 points per game, and Kenan Blackshear, ninth with 15 points per game.

Kruger said Rodriguez has helped lead the Rebels’ improved efforts on defense.

“He’s a great leader on the defensive front in terms of giving us something that we can count on every single night,” Kruger said.

UNLV defeated UNR 69-67 in overtime last season in Reno. With the conference tournament approaching and UNLV appearing like a potential NCAA Tournament bid stealer, Kruger said the only letdown Saturday would be if the Rebels didn’t compete.

“There’s one game left in the regular season. We can’t go back to the drawing board,” Kruger said. “We can’t throw out the offensive and defensive playbooks. We’ve just got to continue to be solid, continue to play for each other, which is what we’ve been doing for a couple of months and really just go compete.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.