Game day: Rivalry resumed as UNLV basketball hosts UNR

UNLV Rebels forward Jalen Hill (1) drives to the basket against Air Force Falcons guard Byron Brown (11) during the second half of an NCAA basketball game at Thomas & Mack Center Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. Photo by Steve Marcus

Aside from tournament games, there is no single contest UNLV wants to win more each year than its home game against in-state rival UNR, so Friday’s showdown with the Wolf Pack should be a good one (8 p.m., FS1).

Three keys to watch:

Hicks out

UNLV is already without starting point guard D.J. Thomas, who has missed the last two games due to a shoulder injury, so it was alarming to see Brooklyn Hicks sit out Thursday’s practice.

Hicks, a sophomore, has moved to the starting lineup in place of Thomas, so the Scarlet and Gray will be very, very short on guard play if Hicks and Thomas are both out against UNR, which looks likely.

Expect Jailen Bedford to start, but beyond that, there’s really no one else in the backcourt rotation — at least among scholarship players. Unless Bedford, Julian Rishwain and Jaden Henley play all 40 minutes, Kevin Kruger may have to turn to walk-ons like freshman DeMarion Yap to glue things together.

Defending bigs

UNR skews big, with 6-foot-8 forward Nick Davidson leading the team in scoring (16.2 points) and Justin McBridge (6-foot-8), Brandon Love (6-foot-9) and K.J. Hymes (6-foot-10) all contributing in the frontcourt rotation.

Kruger wants to see his big men match the Pack’s physicality for 40 minutes.

“When you talk about Davidson, McBride, Love, Hymes, the size they can play with, the strength they can play with is a little bit of a unique matchup in this conference,” Kruger said. “We just got to be ready to fight, ready to guard and worry about the offensive end when we get the ball.”

Rivalry results

You can throw the records out the window when these two teams meet. It’s an old cliché, but in this instance it’s accurate.

With three games to play, neither UNLV (9-8 Mountain West) nor UNR (8-9 MWC) have a shot of moving into the top five in the conference standings, so the MWC tournament bye is out of reach for both teams. That means they’ll be playing for rivalry pride, and with UNR claiming the last three contests, there is much pressure on Kruger and UNLV to avoid a season sweep for the second year in a row.

“We know it’s going to be a high-energy, highly physical contest like it always is,” Kruger said.

Team leaders

UNLV (15-13, 9-8 MWC)

Scoring

D.J. Thomas: 15.6 points

Assists

D.J. Thomas, 4.7 assists

Rebounds

Jeremiah “Bear” Cherry: 5.3 rebounds

UNR (16-12, 8-9 MWC)

Scoring

Nick Davidson: 16.2 points

Assists

Kobe Sanders: 4.4 assists

Rebounds

Nick Davidson: 6.3 rebounds

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.