UNLV continues tough road as they head to San Diego State

Last season the UNLV managed to be swept by the San Diego State Aztecs, in a set of games that arguably cost them an NCAA tournament bid.  A year later, UNLV finds themselves in a bit of a tricky situation.  At 19-5, UNLV seems on the precipice of a tournament bid, even if they can't win their conference tournament.  Even if the Rebels lose to the Aztecs, there are at least 4 games they should easily win, not including their battle at Utah.  Of course, the Rebels want to force the committee's hand and take care of business today.

San Diego State, now 6-4 in league play, host their second-consecutive home game after defeating Wyoming, 88-57, on Wednesday night.  The Aztecs are 11-1 at home this season with its only home loss being to BYU by two points.  Kawhi Leonard leads San Diego State with 12.4 ppg and 9.5 rpg.  Three other players average double figures in junior guard D.J. Gay (10.8 ppg), junior forward Malcolm Thomas (10.5 ppg) and junior forward Billy White (10.4 ppg). Thomas also collects 8.2 rpg.

Earlier this season, the Rebels opened their home conference scheduled with a 76-66 victory over the Aztecs.  In that game, San Diego State led by as many as eight points in the first half and took at six point lead into halftime before being outscored 43-27 in the second half by the Runnin' Rebels.  Kawhi Leonard put up a double-double, but it was not quite enough to overcome a tough effort from UNLV at home.

UNLV is 8-1 on the road this season.  Tre'Von Willis remains their primary offensive weapon and will need to step up big down in San Diego.  He's had some monster performances in conference play and will need another big one to propel UNLV past San Diego State on the road.  As was the case with the New Mexico game, a win would seemingly lock up an NCAA bid for the Rebels at this point.  There are some games remaining, but a 4-2 performance against the top "other three" in the conference shouldn't be denied.

The game will be airing live on VERSUS at 1pm pacific.  There is no game prior, so we won't have a recurrence of the TCU-Utah 4OT game that CBS College Sports aired on Wednesday.