Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Analysis:

Bern’s-Eye View: Forecasting Mountain West Basketball Week 2

Dwayne Polee

Associated Press

San Diego State forward Dwayne Polee II chases a loose ball as he is fouled by Cal State Bakersfield guard Brent Wrapp during the first half on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014, in San Diego.

The Rebel Room

No Sleep til Brooklyn

Las Vegas Sun sports writers Ray Brewer and Taylor Bern go over UNLV's 2-0 start to the basketball season while looking forward to this week's New York trip, plus what's next for the woeful football team.

One week in and it’s been a mixed bag for Mountain West basketball. San Diego State’s offense looks even worse than anticipated, yet the Aztecs are 3-0 with a top-25 win. Meanwhile, New Mexico already has a loss both on the court and in the injury column.

Saturday will be intriguing to see what Boise State is able to do on the road at No. 3 Wisconsin, and then on Monday San Diego State takes on BYU in the Maui Invitational. Outside of that, though, there aren’t a lot of good games, as most schools have not adopted UNLV’s nonconference scheduling model. Oh well, nothing makes mediocre matchups more interesting than gambling:

Note: Follow me @TaylorBern for daily forecasts. UNLV picks will appear in the live blog on the day of games.

FRIDAY

UNR (plus-7) vs. Seton Hall

1 p.m., CBS Sports Network

• The Wolf Pack struggled with Adams State at home so confidence not exactly high heading into the Ezybonds Global Payments U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, which I swear is the real name of the thing.

Pick: Seton Hall

New Mexico (minus-6.5) vs. George Mason

4 p.m., ESPN3

• Uh-oh. A loss to Boston College got worse with an injury to sophomore guard Cullen Neal, who’s coach Craig Neal’s son and the team’s leading scorer. Cullen Neal will be out an extended period of time with possible ligament damage in his ankle and Hugh Greenwood will slide back over to be the Lobos’ primary point guard again, at least for awhile. Tough to come back less than 24 hours later and play a great game.

Pick: George Mason

Georgia State (plus-6.5) at Colorado State

6 p.m., truTV

• Georgia State has an intriguing roster, including Louisville transfer Kevin Ware and Kentucky transfer Ryan Harrow, but I think they fade down the stretch in Fort Collins.

Pick: Colorado State

Games Saturday: Utah State at Mississippi State; Western State (Colo.) at Air Force; San Jose State at Cal State Fullerton; Colorado at Wyoming; Boise State at No. 3 Wisconsin; UNR vs. Clemson/Gardner Webb

Games Sunday: Mercer at Colorado State; UNR vs. Clemson/Gardner Webb; New Mexico vs. TBD

Last week: 10-10

Season: 10-10

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.

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