The University Of Utah Takes On UNLV Thursday...
The Utah men's basketball team heads to Las Vegas this week for the 2010 Conoco MWC Basketball Championship, March 10-13 at the Thomas & Mack Center (18,500). The 2009 MWC Champion Runnin' Utes are the No. 6 seed this year and will face No. 3 seed UNLV (23-7, 11-5 MWC) on the Rebels' home floor in the quarterfinal round, Thursday at 9:30 p.m. The game will be heard on KALL 700 Sports with pre-game coverage beginning at 9.
Utah is led offensively by third-team All-MWC choice, junior guard Carlon Brown, averaging 12.6 points per game. The Utes' leading rebounder is senior forward Kim Tillie, averaging 5.6 boards per contest, who hopes to be back to full strength following an ankle injury that kept him out of the regular-season finale at Colorado State. Utah's leading assists-man is senior guard Luka Drca, at 3.2 helpers per game.
Sophomore center David Foster, the MWC Defensive Player of the Year, has also been hobbled by an ankle injury and hopes to be healthy enough to play for the Utes in Las Vegas.
Utah captured both regular season meetings against UNLV, including a Jan. 16 win at the Thomas & Mack Center, 73-69, as Utah topped the Rebels on their home floor for the first time since 2005. On the return leg in Salt Lake City, the Utes took down UNLV, 66-61, to earn their first regular-season sweep of the Rebels since the 2004-05 season.
Utah holds a 22-21 edge in the all-time series against the Rebels, but only 7-14 in Las Vegas.
Utah is 2-4 against UNLV in MWC Tournament games, however both wins came in Denver, Colo. All four losses were played at the Thomas & Mack Center.
UNLV's leading scorer is first-team All-MWC selection Tre'Von Willis at 17.7 points per game. Chace Stanback is the Rebels' leading rebounder with 5.8 boards per contest, while Oscar Bellfield leads them in assists with 4.6 per game. Stanback also leads the squad in steals (46) and blocks (26).
