Oct. 24, 2004

DENVER - For the first time since the inception of the Mountain West Conference, the UNLV men's basketball team was picked first in the MWC preseason poll, which was voted on by media from around the league and announced at media day at the Renaissance Hotel Sunday.

The Runnin' Rebels, who have a new head coach in Lon Kruger, tallied 182 total points and 14-of-25 first-place votes to be projected to win the 2004-05 MWC title.

Defending MWC Tournament champion Utah earned seven first-place votes and finished second in the poll with 169 points, while defending MWC regular season champion Air Force came in third - its highest-ever pick in the MWC poll - with 142 points and four first-place votes. New Mexico placed fourth with 122 points, followed by BYU (92), Colorado Sate (87), San Diego State (71) and Wyoming (35).

Six teams were represented on the preseason All-MWC team and UNLV's Odartey Blankson was the only Runnin' Rebel included. The other members of the team were New Mexico's Danny Granger, Utah's Andrew Bogut, Colorado State's Matt Nelson and Air Force's Nick Welch. The top returning player was Granger and the top newcomer was Wyoming's Justin Williams.

UNLV finished the 2003-04 season with an overall record of 18-13 and came in fourth in the MWC at 7-7. For the third straight year, the Runnin' Rebels were within a basket of the NCAA Tournament by falling in the MWC Tournament's championship game by three points or less - last year to Utah in Denver. UNLV has played in the NIT each of the last three years.

UNLV will open the 2004-05 season with two exhibition games on Nov. 5 against the L.A. Stars and Nov.17 against the EA Sports All-Stars before starting the regular season on Nov. 23 against St. Mary's. Each game will be played at the Thomas & Mack Center at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets for the 2004-05 season are on sale now and may be purchased by calling (702) 739-FANS, online at UNLVtickets.com and at any UNLVtickets outlet.