UNLV basketball rises to 11th in AP poll, 13th in ESPN/USA Today poll

The UNLV men's basketball team, coming off a pair of overtime victories in Mountain West Conference road games last week, climbed one spot to 11th in The Associated Press Top 25 rankings released Monday. The Rebels gained two spots to No. 13 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.

The No. 11 AP ranking is the Rebels' highest in either poll since reaching No. 10 in the coaches poll on Feb. 8, 1993.

The Rebels survived a pair of upset bids last week, beating Boise State 77-72 on Wednesday and edging Air Force 65-63 on Saturday to improve to 20-3. The back-to-back overtime games were the first for UNLV since dropping extra-period outcomes to San Diego State and New Mexico in February 2009.

UNLV sophomore forward Mike Moser was named Mountain West Conference player of the week for his performances in leading the Rebels to their two road victories.

On Wednesday at Boise State, Moser had 14 points and 14 rebounds after halftime, and blocked Thomas Bropleh's 3-point attempt with one second left in regulation to force overtime. He finished with a team-high 18 points and career-high 21 rebounds while adding two assists, two steals and two blocks in 34 minutes.

On Saturday at Air Force, Moser scored a game-high 27 points and added 12 rebounds in 38 minutes. Moser was battling the flu in both games.

UNLV returns to conference play Wednesday when it hosts Colorado State at the Thomas & Mack Center at 7:30 p.m. (The Mtn., Channel 334).

Kentucky (21-1), Syracuse (22-1), Ohio State (19-3) and Missouri (19-2) were ranked Nos. 1-4 in both polls this week, with North Carolina (18-3) fifth in the AP poll and Duke (18-3) fifth in the coaches poll.