UNLV Defeats Air Force, 71-59, at Thomas & Mack Saturday, Moves to 8-8 on Season
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
It was the first Saturday night of 2020 in Las Vegas, a night to pay 20 bucks or so and catch a UNLV basketball team that’s rolling up wins after a tongue lashing from the new coach a few weeks ago last month.
But the crowd wasn’t that much bigger than usual. The UNLV basketball players didn’t seem to care. They continued their hustling ways and won their fourth consecutive game with Saturday evening’s decisive win over Air Force to even their 2019-2020 record at 8-8, including four wins in a row. The Runnin’ Rebels are 3-0 in the Mountain West Conference.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Rebs do on the road at Boise State Jan. 8 and Wyoming Jan. 11.
As usual, the UNLV score sheet reported attendance with a number (7,633) that appeared to be more than the actual number of bodies inside Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus.
What’s disheartening is the small presence of students at games. Sure, they’re on holiday break. But there’s plenty of students who are local in Las Vegas — and plenty of alums, too. Why are they not attending UNLV games that were once the hottest ticket in Las Vegas? (Yes, I know, it’s all about winning.)
The arena emcee, local radio personality Chet Buchanan, does his best to get the fans in the building to scream and make noise.
The new coach, T.J. Otzelberger, is a straight-arrow family-and-basketball guy from the Midwest (Wisconsin) and his harsh words for his team after a lackluster loss to Pacific at Thomas & Mack Dec. 18 seem to have lit a fire under his squad.
“The team is growing in front of our eyes,” Otzelberger said during his postgame chat.
For the record, the Rebs win, 71-59, over Air Force, with guard Amauri Hardy scoring 21 points. The team is playing with more passion on defense and more ball movement on offense. Mbacke Diong, the center, is also showing a deft touch on offense, while snaring rebounds and blocking shots of defense. Diong scored 12 points and snared eight rebounds against Air Force.
Otzelberger has high praise for guard Marvin Coleman, who had 10 rebounds, six assists, six points and a lone turnover. He’s become the field general on the court for the Rebs.
Let’s see if locals and students buying in and start showing up for home games. There are lots of open seats.
From UNLV Athletics
Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter and Instagram. Like LVSportsBiz.com on Facebook.
