After late maneuvering, UNLV releases completed 2011-12 non-conference schedule

By Ryan Greene

Thursday, July 21, 2011 | 5 p.m.

After Louisville requested to postpone its upcoming trip to the Thomas & Mack Center until the 2013-14 season, first-year UNLV coach Dave Rice and his staff had to maneuver and get crafty to round out this season's non-conference schedule.

The finished product was officially released on Thursday.

"We were fortunate that the majority of our non-conference schedule was completed before we were hired, particularly the games before Christmas," Rice said in a prepared statement. "We have a lot of tough road games, but we have many experienced players returning — We will need to play well on the road. The quality of opponents on our schedule will help our strength of schedule and RPI as we enter Mountain West play."

With the MWC losing both BYU and Utah this season and only Boise State coming in in time for the 2011-12 campaign, the non-conference schedule gets a bit heftier. After playing 14 non-conference games a year ago, the Rebels will play 18 this season.

There's no question that the toughest portion of that schedule will be played on the road, adding a significant degree of difficulty to the slate as a whole.

UNLV plays its first game away from home on Nov. 30 at UC Santa Barbara, followed by the third installment of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Conference challenge at Wichita State on Dec. 4.

The Rebels' two toughest road contests will be played in an eight-day stretch, when they face Wisconsin on Dec. 10, then will play on the 17th against Illinois at the United Center in Chicago. UNLV defeated Wisconsin at the Mack last November, but was blown out of the 2011 NCAA tournament in the first round by Illinois.

Then comes an interesting pair of back-to-back road contests as final tune-ups for league play. On New Year's Eve, UNLV will play at Hawaii, then take the floor at Cal State Bakersfield on Jan. 5. MWC play begins on Jan. 14.

"It's unique for us to schedule so many non-conference games, and not playing Mountain West games this season until Jan. 14 made it challenging to find opponents, especially from Jan. 1 until the start of conference," Rice added.

The Hawaii and Bakersfield games were late adds to the schedule following the change of plans with Louisville. That marquee game not being played at the Mack leaves UNLV's home non-conference schedule quite thin and potentially less attractive to fans.

Following UNLV's annual exhibition against Washburn on Nov. 1, they'll play their first five regular season games at home between Nov. 11 and Nov. 22 against Grand Canyon, Nevada-Reno, Canisius, Morgan State and Cal Poly.

The last two are preliminary games in the Las Vegas Invitational, which will see UNLV take on USC on Nov. 25 at the Orleans Arena, followed by a meeting with either the winner or loser of a game between North Carolina and South Carolina a day later at the Orleans.

The rest of UNLV's home non-conference schedule includes games against Cal State San Marcos, UTEP, Louisiana-Monroe, California and Central Arkansas.

The entire pre-MWC schedule is as follows, with home games bolded:

• Tues., Nov. 1 vs. Washburn (exhibition)

• Fri., Nov. 11 vs. Grand Canyon

• Mon., Nov. 14 vs. Nevada-Reno

• Thurs., Nov. 17 vs. Canisius

• Sun., Nov. 20 vs. Morgan State

• Tues., Nov. 22 vs. Cal Poly

• Fri., Nov. 25 vs. USC (Orleans Arena)

• Sat., Nov. 26 vs. North Carolina/South Carolina (Orleans Arena)

• Wed., Nov. 30 at UC Santa Barbara

• Sun., Dec. 4 at Wichita State

• Wed., Dec. 7 vs. Cal State San Marcos

• Sat., Dec. 10 at Wisconsin

• Tues., Dec. 13 vs. UTEP

• Sat., Dec. 17 at Illinois (United Center)

• Mon., Dec. 19 vs. Louisiana-Monroe

• Fri., Dec. 23 vs. California

• Wed., Dec. 28 vs. Central Arkansas

• Sat., Dec. 31 at Hawaii

• Thurs., Jan. 5 at Cal State Bakersfield