Rebels try to work out kinks in Game 2
UNLV’s second regular-season game is a meeting with Texas-Pan American in the first round of the Global Sports Classic at the Thomas & Mack Center.
The tournament’s first two rounds are played at campus sites, with the third and final rounds to be at the Thomas & Mack Center on Nov. 28 and 29. Thursday night’s game against Northern Arizona will be the second-round game.
The goal for tonight is the same as for any early season game. The Rebels must continue to solidify their rotation and work out some of the kinks that were so apparent in Saturday’s win over San Diego.
On the positive side, UNLV was able to learn some lessons in a victory.
So often, a team that struggles early in the season has to deal with trying to learn from a loss.
In this case, the Rebels have a win against a probable NCAA Tournament team under their belts and now face three winnable games over the next five nights to try to get things in order before hitting the road.
Dare to be a showman
George Dare performed the national anthem before tonight’s game.
He is best known to UNLV fans as the author of “Runnin’ Rebel Fever.”
His voice during the anthem sounded very much like Neil Diamond's, but Dare added his own flair to the song.
He did a great deal of gesturing and motioning, almost as if he was trying to act out the song as he sang it.
The performance wasn’t necessarily bad, just a tad unorthodox.
Kruger no stranger to UTPA
UNLV coach Lon Kruger’s first head post was at Texas-Pan American.
Kruger was 52-59 in four years at the school from 1982 to 1986.
It was there he began his reputation as a coach who can turn around a program.
The team was 7-21 in his first season but finished an impressive 20-8 in his final year on the job.
