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San Diego (0-0) At U-N-L-V (0-0)
GAME NOTES: Winners of 15 straight games at the Thomas & Mack Center, the UNLV Rebels hit the floor in Sin City today versus the San Diego Toreros in non- conference action. UNLV, which has won 36 of the last 38 games at home and owns the nation's 11th-longest home win streak heading into the new season, enters its fifth season under head coach Lon Kruger. In the past two seasons, Kruger has guided the program to a strong 57-15 mark, including a 27-8 mark a year ago. The Rebels made it to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, marking the first time that's happened since the glory days of 1990 and 1991. The squad finished second in the Mountain West Conference with a 12-4 mark. As for the Toreros, directed by Bill Grier as he heads into his second season with the program, they've been picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference this season behind perennial favorites Gonzaga and Saint Mary's. San Diego finished the 2007-08 campaign strong by beating Pepperdine, Saint Mary's and Gonzaga all in the WCC Tournament, then slipped by UConn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in overtime, 70-69. Two days later the team was downed by Western Kentucky by a final of 72-63, leaving the Toreros 22-14 overall and 11-3 in league action. The Rebels lead the all-time series with San Diego by a count of 5-3 heading into today's contest. The Toreros won the first three games in the series, but since then UNLV has ripped off five in a row, including a 66-55 triumph in San Diego about this time last season.
More than anything else today, the Toreros are going to feel the sting of not having Gyno Pomare in uniform. The senior center, along with Clinton Houston and Trumaine Johnson, is serving a suspension for a violation of team rules. Pomare is only out for the opener and will be reinstated for the game with Nevada in a few days, but without him the program loses 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game from a year ago. Although the Toreros won't have their top rebounder, they do have top returning scorer Brandon Johnson who tallied 16.9 ppg in 2007-08 and was also responsible for a team-best 124 assists and an amazing 77 steals which placed him among the league's best in both departments. A starter in 32 games a season ago, Rob Jones plays a physical game that earned him 9.0 ppg and 5.8 rpg for a team that posted 65.7 ppg and beat opponents on the glass by just over one rebound per contest.
The MVP of the 2008 MWC Tournament, Wink Adams is again one of the top performers in the Mountain West this season. Adams was an All-MWC First Team choice last year and was picked as the league's Preseason Co-Player of the Year this time around after he led the Rebels and placed third in the Mountain West with a scoring average of 16.9 ppg, hitting for double digits in all but three of the 35 games in which he played. Joining Adams as a critical piece of the UNLV program are seniors Joe Darger and Rene Rougeau who a year ago averaged 11.3 and 9.0 ppg, respectively. Rougeau was the top rebounder for the group with better than six boards per game and was also the top man in terms of steals and blocked shots with 75 and 39, respectively. Darger, who accounted for 4.5 rpg, shot just 39.2 percent from the field, but was second behind only Terry Curtis in terms of made three-point baskets with 67.
Not having Pomare in the lineup today is going to hamper the Toreros quite a bit because that means that someone like Rougeau on the other side will take advantage in the paint.
Predicted OutcomeUNLV 72, San Diego 66Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network.
