When Boise State and UNLV play tonight in an opening-round NIT game, the outcome will depend on several intangibles, including motivation, fatigue, home-court advantage, preparation and athleticism.
What remains to be seen is whether those intangibles will favor the Broncos (21-9) or the Runnin? Rebels (18-12).
So, as BSU returns to postseason basketball for the first time in 10 years, here are some of the games within the game inside The Pavilion, and how they could affect the outcome ...
Motivation
It?s the postseason, and these two teams are just four wins away from a trip to the NIT?s Final Four in New York City?s legendary Madison Square Garden.
Sounds like enough motivation for anybody, right?
Well, maybe not.
For BSU, just being here is a big deal because this is a program that?s starving for postseason attention.
?It?s been 10 years, and now it?s a completely different atmosphere,? freshman guard Coby Karl said. ?There?s a different focus and different attitude in our practices because we want to keep playing.?
UNLV is making its third straight trip to the NIT. The Runnin? Rebels barely missed a trip to the NCAA Tournament this season, getting beat on a last-second 3-pointer against Utah in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
That loss and the fact that it?s the third year in a row when a capable team didn?t reach the Big Dance could be wearing on the Rebels.
Last season, an average Hawaii team thumped UNLV in the first round of the NIT in Las Vegas.
Of course, UNLV is the more-experienced team when it comes to postseason. That could loom large for the Runnin? Rebels.
The fatigue factor
Tonight?s game will be the fourth in seven days for UNLV, which had to travel on two of the three days it didn?t play.
?There are a lot of tired teams this time of the year,? interim coach Jay Spoonhour said.
The Rebels primarily used a seven-man rotation in their three Mountain West tournament games in Denver. Four players averaged at least 30 minutes a game.
At the pace BSU likes to play, fatigue definitely can be a factor.
?They really haven?t played anybody who runs as fast as us up and down the court,? BSU forward Jermaine Blackburn said.
BSU, on the other hand, played only two games in the WAC tournament and has been in Boise since Saturday. The Broncos also use a nine- or 10-player rotation, which keeps fresh legs on the floor.
Home-court advantage
The largest crowd of the season could be on hand tonight. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, more than 7,700 tickets had been sold. The largest crowd of the season came in the regular-season finale against UTEP (9,550).
?It?d be nice to get 10,000,? BSU coach Greg Graham said. ?It?d be nice to break what we had for UTEP. It?s a Wednesday night and it?s St. Patrick?s Day, but hopefully people will wait to start celebrating until after the game.?
The school has scheduled a pep rally in the ?quad? at 6:30 tonight to drum up additional support.
BSU is 11-4 in The Pavilion this season. UNLV is 4-7 on the road, and none of the teams it beat finished with a winning record.
Athletes in action
Graham pulled no punches when asked about the athletes on UNLV?s roster.
?They may be the most athletic team we?ll play,? Graham said. ?We?re not overly athletic and we?re not overly big, but we?ve played solid and that?s kind of what we?ve hung our hat on this year.?
UNLV has transfers on its roster from Georgetown (Demetrius Hunter) and Marquette (Odartey Blankson). At times tonight, the Broncos could counter with a walk-on from Borah High (Josh Bates).
?Just because they?re better athletes, doesn?t mean they are better basketball players,? point guard Joe Skiffer said.
And the Broncos are used to being the less-athletic team on the floor. Skiffer said he wouldn?t rank his team in the top half of the WAC in that category.
?We?ve been hearing that all year,? BSU junior Jason Ellis said.
Preparation
BSU assistant coach Andy McClouskey already was studying film of UNLV just minutes after the Broncos learned that?s who they would play in the NIT.
?Thank god for Big Monday,? McClouskey said.
BSU regularly tapes college basketball games that were televised for that reason. And since the Mountain West gets more television exposure than most non-BCS conferences, UNLV tapes weren?t that hard to find.
You can bet the Rebels rounded up some game films of the Broncos, too. Fellow Mountain West Conference school BYU played BSU earlier this season.
But since BSU was not televised nearly as much as the Rebels, don?t expect UNLV to have seen as much tape on the Broncos.
?I haven?t seen them play,? UNLV coach Jay Spoonhour said on Monday afternoon.
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BOISE, Idaho -- Jerel Blassingame wants to extend UNLV's season as long as possible, and the junior point guard hopes his teammates want to do the same.
After their excruciating loss in the Mountain West Conference Tournament final and Monday's introduction of Lon Kruger as their coach-in-waiting, the emotionally rattled Rebels visit Boise State today in the National Invitation Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. PST.
If UNLV loses, a 10-game run under interim coach Jay Spoonhour will end and the Kruger era begins in earnest. If UNLV wins, the current staff and roster get to stay together for at least two more days.
"We still have games to play," said Blassingame, from Brooklyn, N.Y. "I want to get back to New York and get home."
To do that, UNLV (18-12) would need to win three straight games to reach the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden -- a tall order for a team drained physically and emotionally in the past six days.
The Rebels played three games in three nights at the MWC Tournament in Denver, losing the championship and NCAA Tournament bid to Utah on Nick Jacobson's last-second 3-pointer Saturday.
Less than 24 hours later, UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick informed the players Kruger would be their coach next season, ending any faint hopes they had that Spoonhour would retain the job.
Then, with the Thomas & Mack Center booked with a gospel show tonight, the Rebels were sent on the road for the NIT.
As if that wasn't enough, two starters -- forward Odartey Blankson and center J.K. Edwards -- were late for the team bus to the airport Tuesday. Spoonhour took them out of today's starting lineup in favor of Demetrius Hunter and Louis Amundson, but Blankson and Edwards will play.
In last year's NIT, UNLV was faced with a similarly dispirited situation, minus the coaching change. After losing the MWC final to Colorado State, the Rebels put forth a ho-hum effort against Hawaii in the NIT opener and got blown out at home, 85-68.
Spoonhour is betting against a repeat pratfall today.
"I don't think so. At least I hope not," he said. "We didn't handle it well last year. But this is a totally different group of guys."
Spoonhour is more concerned about Boise State's offensive firepower. Under second-year coach Greg Graham, the Broncos average 74 points and attempt 20 3-point shots a game.
"We got comfortable with our roles," Graham said. "We have different guys who can score. We don't rely on any one person to carry us."
Graham, a former Oregon assistant, installed a more up-tempo offense than Boise State used under former coach Rod Jensen.
"We've advanced quicker than I thought," Graham said. "The big thing is the players bought into the system and they've enjoyed playing in it. Our kids are real excited about playing in the NIT. It's a nice reward for our seniors."
? NOTES -- George Karl, who interviewed for the UNLV coaching job, might be at today's game. His son, Coby, starts at guard for Boise State. ... If UNLV wins, the Rebels could play at home Friday, depending on who wins today's NIT game between Rice and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. ... The Rebels last played in Boise in 1989 when they beat Idaho and DePaul in the NCAA Tournament en route to the West Regional final in Denver.
What remains to be seen is whether those intangibles will favor the Broncos (21-9) or the Runnin? Rebels (18-12).
So, as BSU returns to postseason basketball for the first time in 10 years, here are some of the games within the game inside The Pavilion, and how they could affect the outcome ...
Motivation
It?s the postseason, and these two teams are just four wins away from a trip to the NIT?s Final Four in New York City?s legendary Madison Square Garden.
Sounds like enough motivation for anybody, right?
Well, maybe not.
For BSU, just being here is a big deal because this is a program that?s starving for postseason attention.
?It?s been 10 years, and now it?s a completely different atmosphere,? freshman guard Coby Karl said. ?There?s a different focus and different attitude in our practices because we want to keep playing.?
UNLV is making its third straight trip to the NIT. The Runnin? Rebels barely missed a trip to the NCAA Tournament this season, getting beat on a last-second 3-pointer against Utah in the championship game of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
That loss and the fact that it?s the third year in a row when a capable team didn?t reach the Big Dance could be wearing on the Rebels.
Last season, an average Hawaii team thumped UNLV in the first round of the NIT in Las Vegas.
Of course, UNLV is the more-experienced team when it comes to postseason. That could loom large for the Runnin? Rebels.
The fatigue factor
Tonight?s game will be the fourth in seven days for UNLV, which had to travel on two of the three days it didn?t play.
?There are a lot of tired teams this time of the year,? interim coach Jay Spoonhour said.
The Rebels primarily used a seven-man rotation in their three Mountain West tournament games in Denver. Four players averaged at least 30 minutes a game.
At the pace BSU likes to play, fatigue definitely can be a factor.
?They really haven?t played anybody who runs as fast as us up and down the court,? BSU forward Jermaine Blackburn said.
BSU, on the other hand, played only two games in the WAC tournament and has been in Boise since Saturday. The Broncos also use a nine- or 10-player rotation, which keeps fresh legs on the floor.
Home-court advantage
The largest crowd of the season could be on hand tonight. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, more than 7,700 tickets had been sold. The largest crowd of the season came in the regular-season finale against UTEP (9,550).
?It?d be nice to get 10,000,? BSU coach Greg Graham said. ?It?d be nice to break what we had for UTEP. It?s a Wednesday night and it?s St. Patrick?s Day, but hopefully people will wait to start celebrating until after the game.?
The school has scheduled a pep rally in the ?quad? at 6:30 tonight to drum up additional support.
BSU is 11-4 in The Pavilion this season. UNLV is 4-7 on the road, and none of the teams it beat finished with a winning record.
Athletes in action
Graham pulled no punches when asked about the athletes on UNLV?s roster.
?They may be the most athletic team we?ll play,? Graham said. ?We?re not overly athletic and we?re not overly big, but we?ve played solid and that?s kind of what we?ve hung our hat on this year.?
UNLV has transfers on its roster from Georgetown (Demetrius Hunter) and Marquette (Odartey Blankson). At times tonight, the Broncos could counter with a walk-on from Borah High (Josh Bates).
?Just because they?re better athletes, doesn?t mean they are better basketball players,? point guard Joe Skiffer said.
And the Broncos are used to being the less-athletic team on the floor. Skiffer said he wouldn?t rank his team in the top half of the WAC in that category.
?We?ve been hearing that all year,? BSU junior Jason Ellis said.
Preparation
BSU assistant coach Andy McClouskey already was studying film of UNLV just minutes after the Broncos learned that?s who they would play in the NIT.
?Thank god for Big Monday,? McClouskey said.
BSU regularly tapes college basketball games that were televised for that reason. And since the Mountain West gets more television exposure than most non-BCS conferences, UNLV tapes weren?t that hard to find.
You can bet the Rebels rounded up some game films of the Broncos, too. Fellow Mountain West Conference school BYU played BSU earlier this season.
But since BSU was not televised nearly as much as the Rebels, don?t expect UNLV to have seen as much tape on the Broncos.
?I haven?t seen them play,? UNLV coach Jay Spoonhour said on Monday afternoon.
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BOISE, Idaho -- Jerel Blassingame wants to extend UNLV's season as long as possible, and the junior point guard hopes his teammates want to do the same.
After their excruciating loss in the Mountain West Conference Tournament final and Monday's introduction of Lon Kruger as their coach-in-waiting, the emotionally rattled Rebels visit Boise State today in the National Invitation Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. PST.
If UNLV loses, a 10-game run under interim coach Jay Spoonhour will end and the Kruger era begins in earnest. If UNLV wins, the current staff and roster get to stay together for at least two more days.
"We still have games to play," said Blassingame, from Brooklyn, N.Y. "I want to get back to New York and get home."
To do that, UNLV (18-12) would need to win three straight games to reach the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden -- a tall order for a team drained physically and emotionally in the past six days.
The Rebels played three games in three nights at the MWC Tournament in Denver, losing the championship and NCAA Tournament bid to Utah on Nick Jacobson's last-second 3-pointer Saturday.
Less than 24 hours later, UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick informed the players Kruger would be their coach next season, ending any faint hopes they had that Spoonhour would retain the job.
Then, with the Thomas & Mack Center booked with a gospel show tonight, the Rebels were sent on the road for the NIT.
As if that wasn't enough, two starters -- forward Odartey Blankson and center J.K. Edwards -- were late for the team bus to the airport Tuesday. Spoonhour took them out of today's starting lineup in favor of Demetrius Hunter and Louis Amundson, but Blankson and Edwards will play.
In last year's NIT, UNLV was faced with a similarly dispirited situation, minus the coaching change. After losing the MWC final to Colorado State, the Rebels put forth a ho-hum effort against Hawaii in the NIT opener and got blown out at home, 85-68.
Spoonhour is betting against a repeat pratfall today.
"I don't think so. At least I hope not," he said. "We didn't handle it well last year. But this is a totally different group of guys."
Spoonhour is more concerned about Boise State's offensive firepower. Under second-year coach Greg Graham, the Broncos average 74 points and attempt 20 3-point shots a game.
"We got comfortable with our roles," Graham said. "We have different guys who can score. We don't rely on any one person to carry us."
Graham, a former Oregon assistant, installed a more up-tempo offense than Boise State used under former coach Rod Jensen.
"We've advanced quicker than I thought," Graham said. "The big thing is the players bought into the system and they've enjoyed playing in it. Our kids are real excited about playing in the NIT. It's a nice reward for our seniors."
? NOTES -- George Karl, who interviewed for the UNLV coaching job, might be at today's game. His son, Coby, starts at guard for Boise State. ... If UNLV wins, the Rebels could play at home Friday, depending on who wins today's NIT game between Rice and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. ... The Rebels last played in Boise in 1989 when they beat Idaho and DePaul in the NCAA Tournament en route to the West Regional final in Denver.
