UNLV here closes out the season

On Saturday, UNLV comes to town to close out the 2014-15 season for the Spartans. Back on January 10 in We-Have-Thought-Of-Every-Possible-Way-To-Extract-Money-From-Your-Wallet City, it was 74-40 in favor of the Running Rebels. Coach Dave Rice's guys owns a 16-13 overall record, 7-9 overall in the Mountain West Conference and, maybe most importantly, 2-6 in league on the road. Hmmmm.

Freshman Rashad Vaughn, the top Rebel scorer, has been out for a while now after undergoing surgery for a torn meniscus. UNLV is presently down to six scholarship players available at the moment due to injuries and transfers, meaning SJSU will suit up more players than its opponent.

Vegas' two best remaining talents however are frontcourters -- 6-foot-11 Christian Wood and 6-foot-10 Goodluck Okonoboh. The former is stronger offensively but his effect on games waxes and wanes, the latter is a defender and shotblocker. Cody Doolin at the point is solid.

To the credit of the players still standing, UNLV is coming off a two point home loss, 60-58, to San Diego State.

Here's our earlier game report:

"UNLV was 'on' enough tonight to handle San Jose State University handily 74-40. The Spartans were consistent though with 20 points in each 20 minute period. Senior forward Jaleel Williams led with 17 but required 19 shot attempts. Junior forward Ivo Basor grabbed 10 boards.

In their return home, Darryl Gaynor II shot 2-16 and Rashad Muhammad 0-11. Overall, the Spartans shot 14-60, 2-19 from beyond the arc and were credited with just two assists."

Our earlier preview:

"So UNLV has the top scorer, top rebounder, top shotblocker and top assist players in the Mountain West Conference. That's a shuddering thought.

But which Vegas team will show up Saturday?

After all, the Rebels are 0-2 right now with 76-71 losses at Wyoming and most recently 64-62 to Nevada at the Thomas and Mack.

Will it be the squad that earlier defeated Arizona 76-71? Or the crew that needed overtime to beat Portland by two and eeked past Morehead State by just a single point? Or the guys who have committed 19 more turnovers than their collective opponents this season?

6-foot-9 Christian Wood is going to be a load with his best-on-the-team 15.5 points and 9.9 boards a contest. Goodluck Okonoboh at 6-foot-10 has 42 shot rejections 14 games. 6-foot-3 point Cody Doolin is Mr. Steady in the backcourt. 6-foot-6 freshman Rashad Vaughn is the wildcard as he can go off (17.5 points an outing) or become a non-factor."