Plenty of tickets remain for Wednesday showdown with No. 15 BYU

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Monday, Jan. 3, 2011 | 5:39 p.m.

The 18,500-capacity Thomas & Mack Center could have a few empty seats Wednesday night when the UNLV basketball team opens Mountain West Conference play against No. 15 BYU, stopping the short sellout streak for the rivalry game at two years.

There were roughly 3,000 tickets remaining as of 5 p.m. Monday, with a majority of the seats in the upper level and priced at $20.

D.J. Allen, UNLV's senior associate athletic director of external affairs, said that while the matchup between the two schools always is appealing, other factors could prevent the game from selling out.

The past two BYU games have been played Saturdays in the thick of the league season when interest in college basketball was high, Allen said.

This year's game is in the middle of the week and during early January when the university isn't in session. Not included in the remaining ticket count is a significant amount of passes in the student section that haven't been claimed, Allen said. Those tickets aren't available for sale.

"Even though school is not in session, we are hoping our students who are in town come out in full force," Allen said. "We need them to pack the Mack."

There were a little more than 500 tickets sold Monday. Last year, the sellout was reached hours before tip-off. It was followed by a near sellout the following game, with an attendance of 18,044 for a midweek contest with ranked New Mexico.

The strong day-of trend — for instance, 1,900 tickets were sold last Thursday on game day for the Central Michigan contest — leaves Allen and others hopeful the BYU game will be sold out.

Tickets can be purchased at unlvtickets.com or at 739-FANS.