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
Seasons « 2008–09 2010–11 »

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			9		21		.300
† 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 Las Vegas, 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.

Contents 1 Preseason 1.1 Recruiting 2 Season 2.1 Non-conference schedule 2.2 Conference schedule 3 Roster 4 Rankings 5 Schedule and results 6 See also 7 References

Preseason

Recruiting

Coach Lon Kruger signed a three-man class for 2009, 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 (191 cm)	185 lb (84 kg)	Aug 14, 2008
	Scout:   Rivals:   ESPN grade: 91
Carlos Lopez PF	Lajas, Puerto Rico	Findlay College Prep (NV)	6 ft 10 in (208 cm)	200 lb (91 kg)	Mar 25, 2008
	Scout:   Rivals:   ESPN grade: 89
Justin Hawkins SG	Woodland Hills, California	Taft (CA)	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sep 30, 2007
	Scout:   Rivals:   ESPN grade: 80
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout and Rivals may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, an average of the two was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "UNLV Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. http://rivals.yahoo.com/basketballrecruiting/basketball/recruiting/commitments/2009/alabama-87. Retrieved 2009-12-31.  "2009 UNLV Basketball Commits". Scout.com. http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&cfg=bb&c=8&yr=2009. Retrieved 2009-12-31.  "ESPN". ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/recruiting/school/_/id/2439/class/2009. Retrieved 2009-12-31.  "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=9&cfg=bb&c=14&yr=2009. Retrieved 2009-12-31.  "2009 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=985973. Retrieved 2009-12-31.

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 ealy 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	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Record
Exhibition
11/10/2009*	7:00 PM	Washburn		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV		W 62–52	–
Regular season
11/14/2009*	7:00 PM	Pittsburg State		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV		W 92–51	1–0
11/18/2009*	7:30 PM	Nevada		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV	The Mtn.	W 88–75	2–0
11/21/2009*	7:00 PM	Southern Illinois		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV (MWC-MVC Challenge)	The Mtn.	W 78–69	3–0
11/25/2009*	7:00 PM	Holy Cross		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV		W 80–59	4–0
11/28/2009*	1:00 PM	#16 Louisville		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV	Versus	W 76–71	5–0
12/02/2009*	6:00 PM	at Arizona	#21	McKale Center • Tucson, AZ	FSAZ	W 74–72 2OT	6–0
12/05/2009*	7:00 PM	at Santa Clara	#21	Leavey Center • Santa Clara, CA		W 66–63	7–0
12/12/2009*	4:00 PM	vs. Kansas State	#17	Orleans Arena • Las Vegas, NV	FSKC	L 80–95	7–1
12/15/2009*	6:00 PM	at Southern Utah	#23	Centrum Arena • Cedar City, UT		W 77–59	8–1
12/17/2009*	7:00 PM	Weber State	#23	Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV		W 72–63	9–1
12/19/09*	7:00 PM	South Carolina-Upstate	#23	Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV		W 88–58	10–1
12/22/09*	7:30 PM	vs. SMU	#20	Stan Sheriff Center • Honolulu, HI (Diamond Head Classic)	ESPNU	W 67–53	11–1
12/23/09*	8:30 PM	at Hawai'i	#20	Stan Sheriff Center • Honolulu, HI (Diamond Head Classic)	ESPN	W 77–53	12–1
12/25/09*	6:30 PM	vs. Southern California	#20	Stan Sheriff Center • Honolulu, HI (Diamond Head Classic)	ESPN2	L 56–67	12–2
01/06/09	7:00 PM	at #23 Brigham Young		Marriott Center • Provo, UT	The Mtn.	L 73–77	12–3 (0–1)
01/09/10	1:00 PM	at #14 New Mexico		The Pit • Albuquerque, NM	Versus	W 74–62	13–3 (1–1)
01/13/10	7:00 PM	San Diego State		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV	CBS C	W 76–66	14–3 (2–1)
01/16/10	7:00 PM	Utah		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV	CBS C	L 69–73	14–4 (2–2)
01/20/10	7:00 PM	at Colorado State		Moby Arena • Fort Collins, CO	The Mtn.	W 80–72	15–4 (3–2)
01/23/10	3:00 PM	at Texas Christian		Daniel-Meyer Coliseum • Fort Worth, TX	CBS C	W 79–70	16–4 (4–2)
01/26/10	7:30 PM	Air Force		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV	The Mtn.	W 60–50	17–4 (5–2)
02/03/10	7:00 PM	at Wyoming		Arena-Auditorium • Laramie, WY	The Mtn.	W 78–50	18–4 (6–2)
02/06/10	1:00 PM	#12 Brigham Young		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV	Versus	W 88–74	19–4 (7–2)
02/10/10	8:00 PM	#19 New Mexico	#25	Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV	CBS C	L 66–76	19–5 (7–3)
02/13/10	1:00 PM	at San Diego State	#25	Viejas Arena • San Diego, CA	Versus	L 58–68	19–6 (7–4)
02/17/10	7:00 PM	at Utah		Jon M. Huntsman Center • Salt Lake City, UT	The Mtn.	L 61–66	19–7 (7–5)
02/20/10	3:00 PM	Colorado State		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV	CBS C	W 70–39	20–7 (8–5)
02/24/10	8:00 PM	Texas Christian		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV	The Mtn.	W 78–62	21–7 (9–5)
02/27/10	12:30 PM	at Air Force		Clune Arena • Colorado Springs, CO	The Mtn.	W 77–47	22–7 (10–5)
03/06/10	1:00 PM	Wyoming		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV	Versus	W 74–56	23–7 (11–5)
2010 Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
03/11/10	8:30 PM	Utah		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV (Quarterfinals)	CBS C	W 73–61	24–7
03/12/10	8:30 PM	#14 Brigham Young		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV (Semifinals)	CBS C	W 70–66	25–7
03/13/10	4:00 PM	San Diego State		Thomas & Mack Center • Las Vegas, NV (Championship)	Versus	L 45–55	25–8
2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
3/18/2010*	4:10 PM	vs. #24 Northern Iowa		Ford Center • Oklahoma City, OK (First round)	CBS	L 66–69	25–9
*Non-Conference Game. #Rankings from AP Poll/Coaches' Poll. All times are in Pacific Time.

See also

• 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
• 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada Arenas – Dula Memorial Center (1958–60) • NSU Gym (now Marjorie Barrick Museum, 1960–67) • Las Vegas Convention Center (1967–83) • Thomas & Mack Center (1983–) Coaches – Drakulich  • Gregory  • Todd  • Bayer  • Tarkanian  • Massimino  • Grgurich  • Bayno  • Good  • Spoonhour  • Kruger Honored Players – G. Anthony • Augmon • Gilliam • Gondrezick • Green • Johnson • Sobers • Theus National Championships NCAA tournament champions - 1990 Big West Conference Championships Conference tournament champions - 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 Conference regular season champions - 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 WAC Conference Championships Tournament champions - 1998 Mountain West Conference Championships Tournament champions - 2000 • 2007 • 2008 Regular season champions - 2000   Seasons (54) 1950s 1949–50 • 1950–51 • 1951–52 • 1952–53 • 1953–54 • 1954–55 • 1955–56 • 1956–57 • 1957–58 • 1958–59 1960s 1959–60 • 1960–61 • 1961–62 • 1962–63 • 1963–64 • 1964–65 • 1965–66 • 1966–67 • 1967–68 • 1968–69 1970s 1969–70 • 1970–71 • 1971–72 • 1972–73 • 1973–74 • 1974–75 • 1975–76 • 1976–77 • 1977–78 • 1978–79 1980s 1979–80 • 1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 1990s 1989–90 • 1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 2000s 1999–2000 • 2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 2010s 2009–10 • 2010–11 • 2011–12

2009–10 Mountain West Conference men's basketball season Teams Air Force Falcons • BYU Cougars • Colorado State Rams • New Mexico Lobos • San Diego State Aztecs • TCU Horned Frogs • UNLV Runnin' Rebels • Utah Utes • Wyoming Cowboys Championship 2010 Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Postseason NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament • National Invitation Tournament

References