Note: This game is on Monday Night/Tuesday Morning
Coming off their bounce-back win over Tennessee State, SIU heads off to California to face 4-0 UNLV.
The Runnin' Rebels are coached by Kevin Kruger and have won 3 easy games but have a good quality win over Dayton.
Kevin Kruger is the son of former UNLV, Illinois, and Oklahoma Head Coach Lon Kruger and worked on his staff at Oklahoma before joining the UNLV staff. Kruger led UNLV to an 18-14 record last year in his first year as head coach.
Meet the Runnin' Rebels
UNLV was picked to finish 6th in the Mountain West preseason poll behind San Diego State, Boise State, Colorado State, and New Mexico. The Runnin' Rebels are 58th in the country in D-1 experience this season (2.57 years) and 288th in the country in average height (76.5"). UNLV is 46th in the country in adjusted tempo (73.4) and 41st in the country in average possession length on offense (15.3 seconds).
What UNLV does well (so far):
UNLV is currently 3rd in the country in turnover % on the defensive end (32.6%). They have 4 players ranked in the top 354 in the country in steal % so they create a lot of turnovers and UNLV is 10th in the country as a team in steal % (16.8%). The Runnin' Rebels are also really good at getting to the free throw line as they're 32nd in the country in free throw attempts per field goal attempts (44.8%) and they're 30th in the country as a team in total points coming from the free throw line (25.0%). UNLV is very similar to SIU in that their defense carries them. The Runnin' Rebels are 46th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency (92.5). UNLV is 48th in the country in 2 point % against (42.1%) and 50th in the country in block % (14.0%).
What UNLV doesn't do well (so far):
Like SIU, UNLV has really struggled from 3 this season. The Runnin' Rebels are 297th in the country in 3 point % (26.9%). Also like SIU, UNLV has turned the ball over too much as they're 292nd in the country in steal % on the offensive end (11.8%). Teams tend to take and make a lot of 3's against the Runnin' Rebels so far this season. UNLV is 357th out of 363 D1 teams in 3 point attempts per field goal attempts against them (51.6%) and they're 4th in the country in total points against coming from 3 (49.0% of points against).
The Runnin' Rebels leading scorer so far this season is 6'4 Sophomore Keshon Gilbert. Gilbert was a 3 star recruit from Vashon High School in St. Louis but only averaged 2.6 points per game in his Freshman season. This season with departures from the team, he's made a huge jump in the scoring department averaging 17.3 points per game. Gilbert is currently 21st in the country in 3 point % (64.3%) and 106th in the country in true shooting % (70.8%). Gilbert has also been great at getting to the line as he's 176th in the country in free throw rate (57.1%). Gilbert is also 159th in the country in assist rate (29.1%) and 336th in the country in steal % (3.5%).
One of UNLV's big transfers this offseason was 6'3 5th Year Senior EJ Harkless. Harkless started his collegiate career at Cal State Northridge before transferring to Oklahoma after his Sophomore season. He spent two years at Oklahoma before transferring to UNLV this offseason and he's been off to a good start this year averaging 14.3 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per game. Harkless leads the Runnin' Rebels in % of possessions (28.7%) and % of shots (28.7%). He's currently 209th in the country in steal % (4.0%) and 140th in the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (6.4%). Harkless scored 24 points on 9-19 shooting in UNLV's win over Dayton.
UNLV's leading rebounder this year is 6'10 Senior David Muoka with 6.3 rebounds per game. Muoka grew up in Hong Kong and attended Lamar his first two seasons. In his Sophomore season, Muoka was named Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year averaging 3.5 blocks per game during league play. After that season, he transferred to UNLV where he led the Runnin' Rebels in blocked shots. So far this season, Muoka is 58th in the country in block % (9.4%) and 154th in the country in offensive rebounding % (12.7%).
Other impact players for UNLV include 6'6 Senior Luis Rodriguez who is 45th in the country in steal % (5.7%). 6'4 Senior transfer from Colorado Elijah Parquet who SIU saw last year in the Virgin Islands. Parquet had 2 points and 8 rebounds in the loss to SIU last November. 5th year Senior Jordan McCabe was a 4 star recruit out of Kaukauna, WI and had a ton of hype coming out of high school. He spent 3 seasons at West Virginia and never really lived up to the hype. He's played 13.7 minutes per game this year with UNLV and missed their. last game due to an illness.
In my opinion, these are two really even teams. Both teams make a living on the defensive end but struggle a bit on the offensive end. KenPom has #95 SIU beating #98 UNLV by the slimmest of margins (65-64).
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thanks for the game notes. Does look, on paper at least, that these two teams are evenly matched. We will see how the travel affects our team and how much playing on a neutral court affects them. My hope, as was with the last game, is that someone other than Jones and Domask makes a huge impact. It would also be nice to see some 3s fall for a change. Law of averages says we are due for some.
You want to be a good team and taken seriously for any kind of postseason play, then these are the types of games you HAVE to win.
SIU, are you a contender or pretender? Time to let everyone know.
--Insert something witty here--
UNLV has forced 20 turnovers or more in each of its first four games so that will be a key stat to watch.
Definitely one of the key games of the non-conference: hoping to see some compusure against pressure, keeping UNLV from feasting on offensive rebounds and, needless to say, some improved shooting.
DirecTV channel 221 Midnight Tonight.
I'll tape it and watch tomorrow morning.
Go Dawgs.
SIU is currently +1 vs UNLV. Cal Baptist is currently favored over Minnesota by 1.5 points!!!
SIU is currently +1 vs UNLV. Cal Baptist is currently favored over Minnesota by 1.5 points!!!
That Minnesota-Cal Baptist line is pretty wild. Cal Baptist, though, appears to be on the upswing and has a power conference win over Washington. Minnesota is 3-1 but got beat bad by DePaul and has a pair of single-digit wins over MAC foes.
tomorrow morning?????? this is not acceptable.DirecTV channel 221 Midnight Tonight.
I'll tape it and watch tomorrow morning.
Go Dawgs.
I know Bob, who the heck came up with that time slot for a game? If it was in Hawaii I could understand it but even 10 pm pacific is lame.
He hasn't played all year.Isaiah Cottrell for UNLV is not playing tonight.
@resaluki-88 Fair enough. I don’t know much about them. I just saw that John Rothstein tweeted it so I figured it was important.
I have this odd feeling that our freshman center is going to play a meaningful role in our victory tonight.
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