UNLV hosts BYU this afternoon in a matchup of two of the top teams in the conference to start the second half of conference play.  Although UNLV would move into a tie for first with a win, this game is more about each team building up their resume.  A BYU win moves them that much closer to the regular season title.  If UNLV wins, the top of the Mountain West will be jumbled up for the foreseeable future.  In their previous meeting, UNLV blew a second half lead in losing by 4 up in Provo.  UNLV is anticipating a sell-out, the second straight season this matchup will produce a sellout.  Throwing it on national television will give the conference a chance to show off two of its premier programs.

BYU relatively healthy, which was not the case a month ago.  On January 6, Jimmer Fredette (All-American candidate and expected conference player of the year) only managed 7 points in 25 minutes as he was in the midst of a battle with strep throat.  In fact, he missed the non-conference games before and the game after due to the illness.  He's at full strength and prepped for what should be an intriguing battle with the UNLV guards.  While Oscar Bellfield runs the point opposite Fredette, the scoring matchup will be between Fredette (21.5 ppg) and Tre'Von Willis (17.2 ppg).

BYU doesn't rely solely on Fredette.  They get strong contributions from junior guard Jackson Emery (12.0 ppg) and freshman guard Tyler Haws (11.8 ppg), while senior guard/forward Jonathan Tavernari is coming off the bench averaging 9.5 ppg.  Tavernari was arguably the difference-maker a month ago when he poured in 17 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.

UNLV will be without do-everything man Derrick Jasper likely until the last week of the regular season, at the earliest.  They showed no signs of problems in their first game without Jasper, as they went into Wyoming and unleashed a 28-point whupping that marked the largest margin of home defeat for Wyoming in over 50 years.  BYU is just a wee bit better than Wyoming, but the Rebels have to feel fairly confident coming into this game.

This marks the beginning of the make-or-break stretch of the Rebels' regular season.  They host BYU and New Mexico before traveling to San Diego State.  While they obviously have to win plenty of the remaining 5 games, if they can go 2-1 in this 3-game stretch, they will put themselves in a very strong position to earn an at-large bid (assuming they don't win the conference tournament).

No matter who you're rooting for, this should be a fun game to watch.  The stands will be packed and these two teams rarely fail to entertain, in what has become a fairly heated rivalry.  The winner doesn't lock in anything at this point, but it's still one of the biggest games of the season for both teams.

UNLV Rebels

BYU Cougars