By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
They were told to wear red and the big crowd complied.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman proclaimed Wednesday “RebelRedDay” in Las Vegas.
UNLV Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois tweeted before the UNLV-Nevada, Reno in-state rivalry basketball game: “Great scene out here at the @UNLVathletics tailgate #flashmob.”
And the gray-haired UNLV hoops fans who still relish the university’s 1990 championship banner and wear their Larry Johnson jerseys were in the stands Wednesday night, too.
It seemed like old times at Thomas & Mack Center, where most red seats in the lower bowl were filled and the upper bowl had lots of seats occupied with Runnin’ Rebels fans, too.
There was energy in the building for this UNLV-Nevada, Reno game and the collective crowd pulse was comparable to that of the UNLV-Arizona game earlier this season before the Rebs lost to Arizona in overtime.
The attendance in Wednesday night’s box score was 13,997 — an impressive number given the low turnout at Th0mas & Mack for last Wednesday’s 77-64 loss to Fresno State a week earlier. And tonight was also senior night for guards Jovan Mooring and Jordan Johnson.
It’s been a time of transition for UNLV athletics, as a new athletic director is slowly and carefully implementing a new blueprint after the basketball team suffered through an 11-21 season in 2016-17, including a tied-for-last-place mark in the Mountain West with a 4-14 record.
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So, Wednesday night’s beat down loss to Nevada, Reno, a crushing 101-75 defeat, hurt UNLV not only in the standings but also was disappointing that so many fans bought into attending a game that was essentially over mid-way in the first half. The Runnin’ Rebels had a 10-7 lead and in a blink UNLV was down 28-14 and never recovered.
This is a new sports market that’s emerging in Las Vegas. It’s more competitive and now more is riding on opportunities such as Wednesday night’s UNLV hoops game. The Runnin’ Rebels ruled Las Vegas once. No more. The NHL first-year Vegas Golden Knights have eclipsed the local university’s basketball team this winter and there’s other way to describe Wednesday’s drubbing as a lost opportunity for UNLV to increase its profile in the sports market and inspire fans to keep going to Thomas & Mack.
This year’s team sports a 19-11 record — an eight-win improvement over last season. But it’s been a roller-coaster season with big wins over Utah and Nevada in Reno, and losses to Utah State and New Mexico at home. What UNLV team will you see when you come to the arena? You just don’t know.
And Wednesday, there was a chance to solidify the team’s turn-around season and give fans a reason to keep on attending home games.
Instead, UNLV was blown away by its in-state nemesis in the first half, trailing 54-28 at the half. The same fans who were so stoked at the start of the 8 p.m. contest were slipping out after 9 p.m. and beating the post-game traffic.
And the next time UNLV plays on its home court it will be next week during the Mountain West tourney.
How many fans will be there? Not as many as you would expect if UNLV played a competitive game Wednesday night.
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