Rebels climb two spots to No. 12 in AP rankings, No. 15 in coaches’ poll

Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun

UNLV forward Carlos Lopez strips the ball from New Mexico forward Cameron Bairstow during their Mountain West Conference game Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 at the Thomas & Mack Center. UNLV won the game 80-63.

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 | 10:29 a.m.

The UNLV basketball is ranked for the sixth straight week, jumping two spots Monday to No. 12 in the Associated Press poll after a pair of double-digit wins last week. In the coaches’ poll, the Rebels climbed five spots to No. 15.

Mountain West Conference leading San Diego State, which topped UNLV Jan. 14 by two points, was ranked ahead of UNLV at No. 12 in the coaches’ poll. In the Associated Press rankings, the Aztecs are No. 13 — about 54 votes behind the Rebels.

This is the seventh time this season UNLV (18-3, 2-1) is ranked in the top-25, which is the highest total number of weeks the program has been ranked since the 1992-93 season when they were ranked every week.

UNLV remained undefeated at home last week, topping TCU last Wednesday 101-78 and New Mexico last Saturday 80-63.

This week, the Rebels play Wednesday at Boise State and Saturday at Air Force.

Murray State, the last undefeated Division I program, is ranked one spot ahead of UNLV at No. 11. Kentucky is the nation’s new No. 1 team, taking over for Syracuse, which lost at Notre Dame. Missouri is No. 2, Syracuse, No. 3 and North Carolina (which UNLV beat in November) No. 7.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or ray.brewer@lasvegassun.com. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21.