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Shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip.
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada –– After a month of A’s stadium board meetings, Formula 1 road work alerts and Raiders losses, it’s time for a sport that put Las Vegas on the national landscape as a place where glamor and athleticism converged.
October has rolled into November with college basketball action only a few miles apart at T-Mobile Arena and UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center Tuesday night.
College basketball has become big business in Las Vegas, which hosts the NCAA men’s college basketball Final Four at Allegiant Stadium in 2028 after Las Vegas’ hoops lore is filled with stories about the Runnin’ Rebels making the Final 4 in 1977, 1990 and 1991.
This market hosts four college basketball tournament (Big West, Mountain West, West Coast and WAC) in March.
And promoters also use November and December to put on one-off college hoops events like women’s college basketball powerhouse and defending NCAA champion South Carolina against Michigan and a men’s matchup of Texas vs Ohio State. It’s part of the Hall of Fame series put on Position Sports. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) sponsored the Hall of Fame series event tonight.
Only a few miles away down Tropicana Avenue to the east at Thomas & Mack, the UNLV women’s team tackled Loyola Marymount at 6:30 PM and UNLV’s men played Alabama State at 8:30 PM.
Next month over at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, eight college teams — four women and four men — go at it Nov. 25-27 in the Ball Dawgs Classic. College basketball promoter Brooks Downing is staging the Ball Dawgs Classic event. Downing’s company has put on high-profile college basketball games before in Las Vegas.
Basketball has a special place in the Las Vegas sports industry because the UNLV team was the first team sport that brought the community together in a way the Vegas Golden Knights do now. The UNLV basketball team was a factor behind the construction of 18,000-fan, multi-purpose Thomas & Mack Center. The arena also hosts the NBA Summer League in July and the National Finals Rodeo in December.
The Lady Rebels began their season with a 73-57 win over Loyola Marymount, while the men played an entertaining game against Alabama State.
At T-Mobile Arena, number one ranked South Carolina defeated Michigan’s women’s team, 68-62, as their famed coach Dawn Staley, who has been at South Carolina for 16 years with three national championships. In the second Hall of Fae series game, Ohio State defeated Texas, 80-72, in a game that matched colleges with powerful football programs.
UNLV’s men’s team looked solid against Alabama State in a 93-79 win where new big man Bear Cherry was 10 of 11 from the field and finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds while second-year point guard Dedan Thomas, Jr. was steady wit 17 points and seven assists.