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UNLV hopes to take advantage of home floor in MWC tournament

Mar 8, 2007 - 4:15 PM Utah (11-18) at No. 25 UNLV (25-6) 9:00 pm EST

LAS VEGAS (Ticker) -- UNLV will be looking for a little home cooking when it begins play in the Mountain West Conference tournament.

The 25th-ranked and second-seeded Rebels will have a big advantage when they face Utah on their home floor in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

After Denver hosted the event for the last three seasons, the MWC tournament will return to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas - UNLV's home court - this campaign. This is good news for the Rebels, who went 16-1 at home this season, including 10 straight wins over conference opponents.

UNLV (25-6) has not reached the NCAA tournament since the last time it won the MWC tournament title in the first year of the event in 2000.

Winners of 11 of their last 13 games, the Rebels are primed for another run this season. UNLV won its last four contests to slide into the the second seed, including a 65-47 win over Colorado State on Saturday.

The reigning conference player of the week, Kevin Kruger, scored 16 points and defensive player of the year Joel Anthony collected 10 points, seven rebounds and eight blocks.

Seventh-seeded Utah (11-18, 6-10) may be playing its last game under coach Ray Giacoletti, who announced he would resign after the team's final game.

The Utes, who finished with a losing record for the season in a row, will not play in the postseason unless they can secure the automatic bid with a miraculous run in the MWC tournament.

The winner of this contest faces either Colorado State or San Diego State.