Associated Press
GAME: No. 10 UNLV (23-7) vs. No. 7 Tulsa (29-4), South Regional, First Round.
TIME: Friday, approximately 3 p.m. EST.
SITE: Nashville Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
The UNLV Runnin' Rebels are not used to being treated well by the NCAA.
Not only are the Runnin' Rebels back in the NCAA tournament for only the second time since Jerry Tarkanian's Final Four team of 1991, but they also may be getting a break in the seedings.
The Runnin' Rebels will face a familiar foe in No. 7 Tulsa - a team that UNLV beat twice last season when the two schools were in the Western Athletic Conference.
"We haven't seen them in a year, and they're a different team now," UNLV coach Billy Bayno said. "We're familiar with them, but the negative is they're familiar with us, too. I don't think you can worry about that or analyze that."
The Runnin' Rebels, who won their last seven games to get selected as the 10th seed in the South, lost to Princeton two years ago in the first round of the tournament.
"We've got four players who were on the team two years ago, but this is really a new experience for us," Bayno said. "We've just got to stick with what got us here."
What got UNLV to the tournament is a high-scoring offense, led by center Kaspars Kambala, that ranks seventh in the nation with 82.5 points per game. Kambala averaged 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest.
Tulsa can also put points on the board. The Golden Hurricane scored over 81 points per game and held their opponents to just 62.8 per contest.
But despite being one of only two teams in college basketball with 29 wins, Tulsa was given just a No. 7 seed because of its ties to a weak league, the Western Athletic Conference.
"I'm not excited to be a No. 7 seed, but I think our players seem to perform better when they have something to prove," coach Bill Self said Sunday. "We've got a team that has fought for respect all year long, and we'll continue to fight for it."
This will be the seventh meeting between Tulsa and UNLV. The Rebels lead the series 5-1.
PROBABLE STARTERS: UNLV - F Dalron Johnson (11.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg), F Donovan Stewart (4.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg), C Kambala (18.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg), G Mark Dickel (13.4 ppg, 9.1 apg), Trevor Diggs (15.2 ppg, 3.2 apg). Tulsa - F Eric Coley (11.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg), F Tony Heard (10.1 ppg, 3.2 apg), C Brandon Kurtz (11.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg), G Greg Harrington (11.4 ppg, 3.3 apg), G Marcus Hill (11.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE: UNLV - At-large bid, Mountain West Conference. Tulsa - At-large bid, Western Athletic Conference.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD: UNLV - 30-12, 13 years. Tulsa - 7-11, 11 years.
