From the Pressbox - Las Vegas Sun

Instant Analysis: Giving up 11 straight points could have spelled disaster for UNLV basketball: Wednesday, February 1, 2012; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; This scoring run could have been problematic in seasons past. When the UNLV basketball team surrendered 11 consecutive points Wednesday to open the second half against visiting Colorado State, trimming a 13-point halftime lead to just two points, the Rebels could have easily tightened up and eventually lost the game.

Instant Analysis: UNLV's blowout victory against New Mexico caps great day of hoops: Saturday, January 21, 2012; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; Talk about a great day of basketball in Southern Nevada. If you were like me, you camped out all day on the UNLV campus for the festivities. Take time to catch your breath. It was an awesome day — especially the final game for the supporters of the scarlet and gray.

Instant Analysis: No hangover for UNLV after Saturday setback, Rebels hit century mark: Wednesday, January 18, 2012; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; I expected the UNLV basketball team to come out sluggish Wednesday against visiting TCU. I was wrong. Four days after losing in the final seconds at San Diego State, the Rebels opened the game against TCU on an 18-2 run in cruising to an easy 101-78 victory.

Decision to leave high school early for college football dreams a no-brainer for local player: Monday, January 16, 2012; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; The benefits behind a high school football player graduating a semester early to enroll in college and participate in spring practice always confused me. Why rush growing up?

Don't expect the good times to stop anytime soon for UNLV basketball: Wednesday, January 11, 2012; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; I should have put my cell phone on silent. In the middle of interviewing UNLV basketball coach Dave Rice with a group of reporters in November, my cell phone rang. I couldn’t hit the silent button quick enough. The call interrupted the coach in the middle of a sentence. Rice politely asked if I needed to take it. He was unfazed, like he has been all season in leading UNLV to a 16-2 overall record and No. 12 national ranking. I told him it was my wife — and that I’d call her back. If it were the previous week, ...

Instant Analysis: Sharing the basketball key for UNLV in record-setting offensive night: Wednesday, December 28, 2011; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; One of the first stats UNLV basketball coach Dave Rice looks at when analyzing the box score after each game is the ratio of assists to field goals made. On Wednesday, it’s pretty safe to say those numbers jumped off the stats sheet.

Instant Analysis: After watching UNLV handle Cal, I'm making a bold prediction for the rest of the season: Friday, December 23, 2011; Ray Brewer:; By Ray Brewer; This might sound crazy, but … It’s not too far-fetched to think the UNLV basketball team could win 30 games this year. Seriously.

Instant Analysis: Mike Moser's dunk in transition will be replayed over and over: Monday, December 19, 2011; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; Let’s not put much stock in the UNLV basketball team’s 81-63 victory Monday against one-win Louisiana Monroe. The manner in which UNLV (12-2) dominated the second half was impressive and definitely a good indicator of the Rebels’ potential. Just remember the opposition — Louisiana Monroe has only eight wins in the last two years — wasn’t expected to put up much of a fight.

Instant Analysis: Rebels should gain confidence by winning when not at their best: Wednesday, December 14, 2011; Ray Brewer:; By Ray Brewer; Talk about an ugly start to the game for the UNLV basketball team. Anthony Marshall caught nothing but air on a 3-point attempt, Mike Moser missed an uncontested dunk and Brice Massamba was twice blocked on the same possession. That summarizes the opening 10 minutes Wednesday of the Rebels’ 65-54 win against UTEP, where they overcame another awful beginning to prevail in their first game back at the Thomas & Mack Center in 22 days.

Trying to figure out where the UNLV win against North Carolina ranks all-time: Sunday, November 27, 2011; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; One of my biggest pet peeves with sports fans is how we tend to live in the moment. We get so excited at the outcome of a game that we immediately call it the best ever for our beloved team, or irrationally rank it as one of the organization’s all-time top performances. Sound familiar, Rebel fans?

Instant Analysis: The worst loss in UNLV football history: Saturday, September 24, 2011; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; It’s time to write the obituary for the UNLV football team’s season. And it’s still September. After losing by 25 points Saturday to Football Championship Subdivision Southern Utah, the season is, for all intents and purposes, over. Sure, UNLV has eight games remaining. But after falling 41-16 at home to a team from the Great West Conference, you can chalk the season up with the ones of years past — a colossal disappointment. A 25-point loss to Southern Utah, really?

Moapa Valley gets some well-deserved attention after upset victory: Saturday, August 20, 2011; By Ray Brewer; On most Friday nights after a game, Moapa Valley High football coach Brent Lewis shakes hands with the opposing players and coaches, gives a short interview to the Overton paper and heads into his office to analyze the game with the coaching staff.

Gorman football ranked No. 7 by Rivals, wrongly classified as 'best team in a bad state': Tuesday, August 9, 2011; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; Two-time defending state high school football champion Bishop Gorman was ranked No. 7 today by RivalsHigh.com in the respected recruiting-based website’s top 100 rankings.

UNLV football rooting for ultimate Hail Mary with on-campus stadium proposal: Thursday, July 28, 2011; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; Bobby Hauck wishes he was walking through a construction site at UNLV, wearing a hard hat and clutching blueprints that he struggles to decipher. He’s more than ready to rearrange his hectic schedule to grab a shovel for a ground-breaking ceremony. He’s been thinking about it constantly since the winter, when an on-campus stadium for his football program was proposed. ore than just a football stadium, the project would span 150 acres and include 600,000 square feet of retail shopping, restaurants and student residences. The centerpiece would be the 40,000-seat domed stadium for football, which could be transformed to seat ...

The next Russell Westbrook could be playing this week in Las Vegas: Monday, July 25, 2011; ray brewer:; By Ray Brewer; Long before Russell Westbrook emerged as one of the NBA’s top young players, he was an unheralded high school senior-to-be trying to make a name for himself in the adidas Super 64 AAU basketball tournament in Las Vegas. It’s safe to say a star was born that late-July in Southern Nevada. “Russell Westbrook played for a team we had never heard off,” said Ron Montoya, the tournament’s director. “Nobody had heard of the team and nobody had heard of him. UCLA happened to be in the stands that day, loved what they saw and offered him a scholarship. That is ...