Dec. 8, 2008

LAS VEGAS - UNLV senior René Rougeau was named the Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday.

Rougeau, a 6-foot-6-inch guard from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., led the Runnin' Rebels to back-to-back non-conference road wins at Fresno State (82-76) and Nevada, Reno (64-57) on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively. He led UNLV in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and field-goal percentage on the week with averages of 15.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game, while shooting 56.0 percent (14-for-25) from the field.

At Fresno State, Rougeau was 6-for-9 from the floor in scoring 12 points, while adding six rebounds, two blocks, one steal and one assist in just 27 minutes of action. Against UNR, he scored a career-high tying 19 points and grabbed a career-best and game-high 13 rebounds. He shot 8-for-16 from the field in recording UNLV's first double-double of the season. He also had two steals, two assists and made all three of his free throw attempts in 36 minutes of play to help UNLV to its third straight win over the Wolf Pack.

The MWC Player of the Week award was also the first for a UNLV player this season.

With the wins, UNLV improved its overall record to 7-2 on the year and is 3-0 in road games. The Runnin' Rebels have no games this week because of final exams and will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 14, against Western Michigan at the Orleans Arena at 4 p.m.