UNLV Rebels guard Dedan Thomas Jr. (11) is congratulated by UNLV Rebels forward Keylan Boone (20) after making a free throw during the second half of an NCAA basketball game against the Colorado State Rams at the Thomas & Mack Center Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024.
Saturday, March 2, 2024 | 2 a.m.
- What:
UNLV vs. San Jose State - When:
Saturday, 7 p.m. - Where:
Thomas and Mack Center - TV:
CBS Sports Network - Radio:
1100AM, 100.9FM
UNLV continues its late-season push for the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, when Kevin Kruger’s squad hosts San Jose State (7 p.m., CBS Sports Network). A win would allow the Scarlet and Gray to keep pace at the top of the Mountain West standings heading into the final week of the season, so these 40 minutes are going to be big.
Three keys to watch:
Hard hat time
Kruger spent a significant portion of his media time after Friday’s practice extolling how hard San Jose State plays, and he’s got a point.
The Spartans jumped out to an early double-digit lead in the first meeting between these teams on Jan. 27, and a lot of that was built via sheer sweat equity. The Scarlet and Gray still trailed by 10 midway through the second half before bailing themselves out by making 14 straight field-goal attempts to close the game. Without that unprecedented streak, the outcome might have been different.
Kruger doesn’t think his team can count on making 14 in a row again, so he wants them to counter San Jose State’s maximum effort from the very beginning.
“It’s going to be a 40-minute fight,” Kruger said. “In terms of effort and guys that play as hard as they possibly can, [Alvaro] Cardenas and [Myron] Amey are going to be maybe 1-2 in my opinion in the conference. We’ve got a lot of guys that play hard, but those guys really leave it on the floor.”
Boone brings it
Senior center Kalib Boone was dominant in Tuesday’s overtime win at Wyoming, tallying 24 points and 12 rebounds while making 8-of-10 from the field. When he’s cooking in the low post like that, it makes UNLV very difficult to defend.
San Jose State did a good job on him the first time around, though, limiting him to nine points and four turnovers in 19 minutes. At that point in the season, opponents were just beginning to send aggressive double-teams at Boone, and it took some time to adjust; now that he’s seen those types of coverages, UNLV needs him to produce consistently.
Standings watch
UNLV heads into Saturday’s game tied for fourth in the Mountain West standings with UNR, as both teams sport identical 10-5 records.
UNLV needs two wins to clinch a top-5 finish, and therefore a bye in the first round of the MWC tournament. Beating San Jose State is a must, because the Scarlet and Gray close with San Diego State and UNR next week. Splitting those games won’t be easy, let alone winning both, so best to take care of the Spartans at home.
Who: UNLV (17-10, 10-5 MWC) vs. San Jose State (9-20, 2-14 MWC)
When: Saturday, 7 p.m.
Where: Thomas & Mack Center
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: 1100 AM, 100.9 FM
UNLV leaders
Scoring
D.J. Thomas: 12.9 points
Rebounds
Luis Rodriguez: 6.6 rebounds
Assists
D.J. Thomas: 5.4 assists
San Jose State leaders
Scoring
Myron Amey: 15.9 points
Rebounds
Myron Amey: 4.9 rebounds
Assists
Alvaro Cardenas: 5.4 assists
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
