Sixteen games into the season and three games into the conference schedule, the Lobo men's basketball team has finally found an identity.
The men play intense defense mixed with a trio of capable scoring threats. This newfound identity equals a new sense of confidence and they are eagerly looking to prove their worth in a very talented conference.
With a win over San Diego State University and a near upset on the road against conference-favorite Wyoming, the Lobos will try to sneak up from the rear and surprise the conference.
At 1-2 in the MWC, along with a weekend of wild upsets, the Lobos appear ready for the challenge.
Welcome the University of Nevada-Las Vegas to The Pit on nationally televised "Big Monday." The Lobos have struggled in nationally televised games the past few years, including two debacles versus Texas Tech and Colorado State this year.
UNM will be presented with a stiff challenge from a UNLV team (11-5, 0-3) still looking for its first conference victory. The Runnin' Rebels are the lone winless team in the conference and have fallen to the cellar after losing Saturday night to the Air Force Academy.
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Preseason polls touted UNLV as the second best team in the MWC. They return two talented seniors and possess an excellent veteran coach.
"Charlie Spoonhour is an excellent coach and they have two of the leagues best players in Marcus Banks and Dalron Johnson," head coach Ritchie McKay said.
Banks is phenomenal athlete that can cause problems on both ends of the floor. He leads the MWC in assists with 5.33 a game and steals with 3.07 per game. Banks is the second leading scorer in the MWC behind Ruben Douglas at 19 points a game. Johnson is a tall, lanky inside presence with amazing ability to score around the rim. Johnson is fifth in the conference at 15.7 PPG and fourth in rebounding. The Rebels play an uptempo game and will try to push the Lobos up and down the floor with defensive rebounding and swift transition offense.
"I think they're a great transition team with some great athletes," McKay said. "We better make sure we're ready to play because they're a team that can spurt ahead of you early and you can never catch up."
The lone senior for the Lobos knows just how competitive this UNLV team can be.
"Playing against Vegas in the past, we always go down to the wire, we always have good battles," Douglas said. "You have to respect guys like Marcus Banks and Dalron Johnson and their whole squad because they're all athletic."
The key to victory for the Lobos is to keep the rebels off the glass and prevent their transition offense from getting loose. The Lobos will again need good offensive output from their scoring trio of Douglas, Javin Tindall and Jamaal Williams to keep them in the game.
Tip-off is slated for 10 p.m., on channel 8 (ESPN) and broadcast live on 770 KOB.
