2009–10 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team

2009–10 UNLV Rebels men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Conference Mountain West Conference
2009–10 record 25–9 (11–5 Mountain West)
Head coach Lon Kruger
Assistant coach Greg Grensing
Assistant coach Steve Henson
Assistant coach Lew Hill
Home arena Thomas & Mack Center
2009–10 Mountain West Conference men's basketball standings
Conf     Overall
Team W   L   PCT     W   L   PCT
#8 New Mexico 14 – 2   .875     30 – 5   .857
#17 BYU 13 – 3   .813     30 – 6   .833
UNLV 11 – 5   .688     25 – 8   .758
San Diego State† 11 – 5   .688     25 – 9   .735
Colorado State 7 – 9   .438     16 – 16   .500
Utah 7 – 9   .438     14 – 17   .452
TCU 5 – 11   .313     13 – 19   .406
Wyoming 3 – 13   .188     10 – 21   .323
Air Force 1 – 15   .063     10 – 21   .323
† 2010 MWC Men's Basketball Tournament winner
As of March 20, 2010; Rankings from AP/Coaches Poll

The 2009–10 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The team was coached by Lon Kruger, returning for his sixth year with the Runnin' Rebels. They played their home games at the Thomas & Mack Center on UNLV's main campus in Paradise, Nevada and are a member of the Mountain West Conference. The Runnin' Rebels finished the season 25–9, 11–5 in MWC play. They advanced to the championship game of the 2010 Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament before losing to San Diego State. They received an at–large bid to the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, earning an 8 seed in the Midwest Region, where they lost to 9 seed Northern Iowa in the first round.

Preseason

Recruiting

Coach Lon Kruger signed a three-man class for 2008, including the #4 ranked prospect out of Nevada (#66 Rivals, #80 Scout, #85 ESPN), shooting guard Anthony Marshall of North Las Vegas, power forward Carlos Lopez of Henderson and shooting guard Justin Hawkins out of Woodland Hills, California. UNLV also signed power forward Quintrell Thomas, who transferred to UNLV from Kansas.

Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Anthony Marshall
SG		 North Las Vegas, Nevada Mojave (NV) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Aug 14, 2008 
Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 91
Carlos Lopez
PF		 Lajas, Puerto Rico Findlay College Prep (NV) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Mar 25, 2008 
Scout:3/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 89
Justin Hawkins
SG		 Woodland Hills, California Taft (CA) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sep 30, 2007 
Scout:2/5 stars   Rivals:3/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 80
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

Season

Non-conference schedule

On November 28, 2009, the team defeated #16 Louisville and became ranked nationally the following week.[1][2] After defeating Arizona in double overtime, 74–72, on December 2, 2009, UNLV marked their first 6–0 start since the 1992–93 season and defeated Santa Clara on December 5 to move to 7–0, their best start since going 34–0 in 1990–91 and losing to Duke in the Final Four.[3] UNLV would raise to #17/18 by the time they took on Kansas State on a neutral court at the Orleans Arena. As in the previous two games, UNLV's sloppy first half play allowed their opponent to jump to an early lead. Unlike in the games against Arizona and Santa Clara, UNLV was unable to move back in front and would lose their first game of the season, 95–80.[4] UNLV's loss to Kansas State would drop them to #23 in the Coaches poll and knock them out of the AP poll all together.[5] The Runnin' Rebels were able to rebound from the loss with a road win at Southern Utah,[6] and home wins against Weber State[7] and South Carolina – Upstate, before heading to Hawai'i for the inaugural Diamond Head Classic.[8]

The Runnin' Rebels would enter the tournament only ranked in the coaches poll at #20.[9] UNLV's first game of tournament would come against SMU. UNLV took control of the game quickly, sprinting out to an 18–4 lead within mere minutes of tip off and never looked back in a 67–53 victory.[10] In the tournament's semifinal, the Rebels would face the tournament host, Hawai'i. Thanks to a relentless defense, UNLV was able to take Hawai'i out of the game early en route to a 77–53 victory, advancing UNLV to the Diamond Head Classic finals versus Southern California.[11] UNLV's offensive might that had helped them to big early leads against SMU and Hawai'i was silenced by a tough USC defense. The Trojans were able to keep the Rebels at bay for most of the game and came away with the 67–56 win and the Diamond Head Classic title.[12] The loss to Southern California would knock UNLV out of the Coaches poll.[13]

Conference schedule

After eleven days off, UNLV began conference play against #23/25 BYU at the Marriott Center in Provo. Despite leading the Cougars for much of the game, including a six-point lead with less than six minutes to play. Late miscues would doom the Runnin' Rebels, leading to a 77–73 defeat to BYU.[14] The following Saturday, UNLV would travel to The Pit to take on the #13/15 New Mexico Lobos. UNLV was able to keep the sell-out crowd of 14,586 quiet for most of the game, beginning by forcing New Mexico into two turnovers on their first two possessions of the game and jumping to a 9–2 lead. New Mexico would come back, taking over the lead twice in the game, but sophomore guard Kendall Wallace would pace the Rebels, going 7 of 10 on three pointers as UNLV upset New Mexico 74–62.[15] The Runnin' Rebels had their conference home opener against San Diego State, a team that swept UNLV in their three meetings the previous season. The first half of the game belonged to the bigger and athletically stacked SDSU, taking a 39–33 halftime lead. The Runnin' Rebels however, were able to take control in the second half and came away with a hard fought 76–66 victory over their rival to improve to 2–1 in the Mountain West and 14–3 overall.[16]

However, thing soon went downhill as UNLV fell to Utah at home, 73–69. The Rebels rebounded and won in both Colorado State and TCU. Returning home, UNLV came from behind to beat Air Force, 60–50.

Roster

# Name Height Weight (lbs.) Position Class Hometown Previous school
0 Oscar Bellfield 6'2" 185 G So. Los Angeles, CA Westchester HS
1 Quintrell Thomas† 6'8" 245 F So. Newark, NJ Kansas
2 Kendall Wallace 6'4" 190 G Jr. Mesa, AZ Mountain View HS
3 Anthony Marshall 6'3" 200 G Fr. Las Vegas, NV Mojave HS
5 Derrick Jasper 6'6" 215 G Jr. Paso Robles, CA Kentucky
10 Tyler Norman 6'0" 190 G Jr. Las Vegas, NV Iowa State
11 Carlos Lopez 6'11" 215 F Fr. Lajas, Puerto Rico Findlay Prep
12 Brice Massamba 6'10" 240 F/C So. Sodertalje, Sweden Findlay Prep
14 Todd Hanni 6'4" 215 G So. Danville, IN Wabash Valley
15 Mychal Martinez 6'5" 205 F Jr. Las Vegas, NV Yavapai
20 Steve Jones 6'1" 220 G Sr. Portland, OR Arizona State
22 Chase Stanback 6'8" 210 G/C So. Los Angeles, CA UCLA
31 Justin Hawkins 6'3" 190 G Fr. Los Angeles, CA Taft HS
33 Tre'Von Willis 6'4" 195 G Jr. Fresno, CA Memphis
34 Matt Shaw 6'8" 240 F Jr. Los Angeles, CA Fairfax HS
44 Darris Santee 6'8" 225 F Sr. Houston, TX Midland

Notes: † – denotes the player must sit out the 2009–10 season per NCAA transfer rules.

Rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV–Received Votes
Poll Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 Wk 18 Final
AP – – RV 24 18 RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 23 RV RV RV RV RV RV
Coaches RV RV RV 21 17 23 20 RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 RV RV RV RV RV RV

Schedule and results

Date
Time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (Attendance)
City, State
Exhibition

11/10/2009*
7:00 PM		 Washburn W 62–52  –
 Thomas & Mack Center (10,238)
Las Vegas, NV
Regular season

11/14/2009*
7:00 PM		 Pittsburg State W 92–51  1–0
 Thomas & Mack Center (14,304)
Las Vegas, NV

11/18/2009*
7:30 PM, The Mtn.		 Nevada W 88–75  2–0
 Thomas & Mack Center (13,113)
Las Vegas, NV

11/21/2009*
7:00 PM		 Southern Illinois
MWC–MVC Challenge		 W 78–69  3–0
 Thomas & Mack Center (11,651)
Las Vegas, NV

11/25/2009*
7:00 PM		 Holy Cross W 80–59  4–0
 Thomas & Mack Center (10,946)
Las Vegas, NV

11/28/2009*
1:00 PM, Versus		 No. 16 Louisville W 76–71  5–0
 Thomas & Mack Center (14,390)
Las Vegas, NV

12/02/2009*
6:00 PM, FSAZ		 No. 23 at Arizona W 74–72 2OT 6–0
 McKale Center (13,485)
Tucson, AZ

12/05/2009*
7:00 PM		 No. 23 at Santa Clara W 66–63  7–0
 Leavey Center (2,064)
Santa Clara, CA

12/12/2009*
4:00 PM, FSKC		 No. 18 vs. Kansas State L 80–95  7–1
 Orleans Arena (8,320)
Las Vegas, NV

12/15/2009*
6:00 PM		 at Southern Utah W 77–59  8–1
 Centrum Arena (4,331)
Cedar City, UT

12/17/2009*
7:00 PM		 Weber State W 72–63  9–1
 Thomas & Mack Center (15,715)
Las Vegas, NV

12/19/2009*
7:00 PM		 South Carolina-Upstate W 88–58  10–1
 Thomas & Mack Center (11,300)
Las Vegas, NV

12/22/2009*
7:30 PM, ESPNU		 vs. SMU
Diamond Head Classic Quarterfinals		 W 67–53  11–1
 Stan Sheriff Center (7,119)
Honolulu, HI

12/23/2009*
8:30 PM, ESPN2		 at Hawai'i
Diamond Head Classic semifinals		 W 77–53  12–1
 Stan Sheriff Center (6,416)
Honolulu, HI

12/25/2009*
6:30 PM, ESPN2		 vs. USC
Diamond Head Classic finals		 L 56–67  12–2
 Stan Sheriff Center (6,172)
Honolulu, HI

01/06/2009
7:00 PM, The Mtn.		 at No. 25 BYU L 73–77  12–3 (0–1)
 Marriott Center (15,546)
Provo, UT

01/09/2010
1:00 PM, Versus		 at No. 15 New Mexico W 74–62  13–3 (1–1)
 The Pit (14,586)
Albuquerque, NM

01/13/2010
7:00 PM, CBSCS		 San Diego State W 76–66  14–3 (2–1)
 Thomas & Mack Center (14,530)
Las Vegas, NV

01/16/2010
7:00 PM, CBSCS		 Utah L 69–73  14–4 (2–2)
 Thomas & Mack Center (16,594)
Las Vegas, NV

01/20/2010
7:00 PM, The Mtn.		 at Colorado State W 80–72  15–4 (3–2)
 Moby Arena (4,353)
Fort Collins, CO

01/23/2010
3:00 PM, CBSCS		 at TCU W 79–70  16–4 (4–2)
 Daniel-Meyer Coliseum (4,270)
Fort Worth, TX

01/26/2010
7:30 PM, The Mtn.		 Air Force W 60–50  17–4 (5–2)
 Thomas & Mack Center (14,175)
Las Vegas, NV

02/03/2010
7:00 PM, The Mtn.		 at Wyoming W 78–50  18–4 (6–2)
 Arena-Auditorium (4,718)
Laramie, WY

02/06/2010
1:00 PM, Versus		 No. 12 BYU W 88–74  19–4 (7–2)
 Thomas & Mack Center (18,557)
Las Vegas, NV

02/10/2010
8:00 PM, CBSCS		 No. 23 No. 15 New Mexico L 66–76  19–5 (7–3)
 Thomas & Mack Center (18,044)
Las Vegas, NV

02/13/2010
1:00 PM, Versus		 No. 23 at San Diego State L 58–68  19–6 (7–4)
 Viejas Arena (9,224)
San Diego, CA

02/17/2010
7:00 PM, The Mtn.		 at Utah L 61–66  19–7 (7–5)
 Jon M. Huntsman Center (9,122)
Salt Lake City, UT

02/20/2010
3:00 PM, CBSCS		 Colorado State W 70–39  20–7 (8–5)
 Thomas & Mack Center (13,626)
Las Vegas, NV

02/24/2010
8:00 PM, The Mtn.		 TCU W 78–62  21–7 (9–5)
 Thomas & Mack Center (11,408)
Las Vegas, NV

02/27/2010
12:30 PM, The Mtn.		 at Air Force W 77–47  22–7 (10–5)
 Clune Arena (2,430)
Colorado Springs, CO

03/06/2010
1:00 PM, Versus		 Wyoming W 74–56  23–7 (11–5)
 Thomas & Mack Center (14,116)
Las Vegas, NV
2010 Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

03/11/2010
8:30 PM, The Mtn.		 vs. Utah
Quarterfinals		 W 73–61  24–7
 Thomas & Mack Center (12,405)
Las Vegas, NV

03/12/2010
8:30 PM, CBSCS		 vs. No. 14 BYU
Semifinals		 W 70–66  25–7
 Thomas & Mack Center (18,500)
Las Vegas, NV

03/13/2010
4:00 PM, Versus		 vs. San Diego State
Championship Game		 L 45–55  25–8
 Thomas & Mack Center (12,728)
Las Vegas, NV
2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

03/18/2010*
4:10 PM, CBS		 vs. No. 24 Northern Iowa
First round		 L 66–69  25–9
 Ford Center (N/A)
Oklahoma City, OK
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll/Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Pacific Time.

References

  1. ↑ http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/naj
  2. ↑ http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=293322439
  3. ↑ Youmans, Matt (December 6, 2009). "NARROW ESCAPE: Rebels get by on road". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on 8 December 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  4. ↑ Greene, Ryan (December 13, 2009). "K-State pesters and flusters No. 18 UNLV in 95–80 victory". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  5. ↑ Greene, Ryan (December 14, 2009). "Rebels drop from AP poll, ranked 23rd by coaches". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  6. ↑ Greene, Ryan (December 16, 2009). "UNLV explodes in second half to beat Southern Utah, 77–59". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 20 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  7. ↑ Greene, Ryan (December 17, 2009). "UNLV uses consistency to get by Weber State, 72–63". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 22 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  8. ↑ Greene, Ryan (December 20, 2009). "Rebels avoid pitfall, keep focus in 88–58 blowout". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  9. ↑ Greene, Ryan (December 21, 2009). "Rebels still unranked in AP poll, rise to 20th in ESPN/USA Today". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  10. ↑ Greene, Ryan (December 23, 2009). "Marshall steps up again, helps UNLV dance past SMU, 67–53". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  11. ↑ Greene, Ryan (December 24, 2009). "Hawaii K-O: Rebels smack host Warriors, 77–53". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  12. ↑ Greene, Ryan (December 26, 2009). "Trojans out-muscle Rebels in Diamond Head Classic finale, 67–56". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 29 December 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  13. ↑ Greene, Ryan (December 28, 2009). "After USC loss, UNLV unranked in both polls". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  14. ↑ Greene, Ryan (January 7, 2010). "Late miscues doom UNLV in 77073 loss to BYU". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  15. ↑ Greene, Ryan (January 9, 2010). "Wallace gets 'the feel,' UNLV gets the win, 74–62". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  16. ↑ Greene, Ryan (January 14, 2010). "UNLV surges late to chop down SDSU, 76–66". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
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