Cougars Resume Rivalry With UNLV
Dec 14, 2018, 3:44 PM
BYU Men's Basketball vs Houston at the Marriott Center on November 24th 2018 Photo by Madeline Mortensen
PROVO, Utah – For the first time since 2011, when they were Mountain West Conference foes, BYU and UNLV will meet on the hardwood this weekend.
The game will take place in the relatively brand-new T-Mobile Arena, right on The Strip. It will be the first ever meeting between the two on a neutral floor.
The last game against the Rebels was on January 5, 2011. Jimmer Fredette scored 39 points with seven 3-pointers made in that contest.
“I think we’ll have a good crowd of Cougar fans there. It’s a new arena,” said BYU coach Dave Rose to Jeff Call of the Deseret News. “Since it’s opened a couple of years ago, I’ve always tried to figure out a way to get a game in there.”
It will also be the first scheduled meeting against a former Mountain West Conference foe that isn’t the University of Utah since the Cougars left the conference. They did meet San Diego State in 2014, but game came to fruition through the Maui Invitational tournament.
“It hasn’t been that we’re trying to stay away from them,” Rose said of Mountain West teams. “I don’t think they really want to come to the Marriott Center. I guess I shouldn’t say that.”
The two teams are also scheduled to play next year, at Vivint SmartHome Arena in downtown Salt Lake City.
This year’s game will tip on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and be broadcast on ESPN3.
