Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020 | 10:58 a.m.
The Mountain West announced its league slate on Tuesday, and UNLV took the opportunity to unveil its revised non-conference lineup at the same time, giving us the first complete look at the schedule for the upcoming 2020-21 basketball season.
The scarlet and grey will open with a home game against Montana State on Nov. 25, then head to Asheville for the Maui Invitational from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2. From there, UNLV will stay on the road to play at Kansas State (Dec. 5), then return to Las Vegas for home games against Eastern Washington (Dec. 9) and Pepperdine (Dec. 14).
The Mountain West previously released its conference schedule last month, only to tear it up and try again with an eye toward limiting exposure to COVID-19. That led the league to adopt a format where teams will play consecutive games against the same opponent at the same home/road venue; UNLV will begin MWC play with two road games at Wyoming on Dec. 20 and Dec. 22, followed by two home games against San Diego State on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2.
In addition to those contests, UNLV will host “double headers” against New Mexico, Utah State, Air Force and Fresno State, while playing two-game series at Colorado State, UNR, Boise State and San Jose State.
In the end it will add up to 27 games, the maximum allowed by the NCAA this year.
After going 17-15 last season (12-6 in league play), UNLV is expected to contend in the Mountain West this year, the program’s second under head coach T.J. Otzelberger.
UNLV was picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West in the league’s preseason poll. Junior guard Bryce Hamilton was chosen as an All-MWC first team selection, while junior guard David Jenkins was named Newcomer of the Year and freshman guard Nick Blake was named Freshman of the Year.
The full schedule:
Nov. 25 — vs. Montana State
Nov. 30-Dec. 2 — Maui Invitational
Dec. 5 — at Kansas State
Dec. 9 — vs. Eastern Washington
Dec. 14 — vs. Pepperdine
Dec. 20 — at Wyoming
Dec. 22 — at Wyoming
Dec. 31 — vs. San Diego State
Jan. 2 — vs. San Diego State
Jan. 7 — at Colorado State
Jan. 9 — at Colorado State
Jan. 14 — vs. New Mexico
Jan. 16 — vs. New Mexico
Jan. 25 — vs. Utah State
Jan. 27 — vs. Utah State
Jan. 31 — at UNR
Feb. 2 — at UNR
Feb. 5 — vs. Air Force
Feb. 7 — vs. Air Force
Feb. 11 — at Boise State
Feb. 13 — at Boise State
Feb. 19 — at San Jose State
Feb. 21 — at San Jose State
Feb. 25 — vs. Fresno State
Feb. 27 — vs. Fresno State
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.