Dec. 9, 2008

LAS VEGAS - Ticket sales for the Arizona at UNLV men's basketball game on Saturday, Dec. 20, surged over the past two-plus days after the Las Vegas Bowl announced its match-up of Arizona vs. BYU. The annual football game will be held at Las Vegas' Sam Boyd Stadium at 5 p.m. on Dec. 20, five hours after the basketball game's noon tipoff, making it possible for traveling Arizona fans to attend both games.

The Runnin' Rebel game against Arizona was already anticipated to be one of the largest-drawing games of the season at the Thomas & Mack Center, which has a capacity of 18,500. Arizona and UNLV are regarded as two of the stronger basketball programs in the West and are facing one another for the third season in a row.

As of last week, single-game ticket presales for the Arizona-UNLV game had already been the strongest of any game on the UNLV home schedule. Now, with the Las Vegas Bowl announcement, there is a greater sense of urgency for fans supporting both programs to purchase tickets earlier than usual.

Sales for the game spiked late Saturday (after Arizona's football win over rival Arizona State as well as UNLV's basketball win over intrastate rival UNR) through Monday - over 1,300 tickets were sold in that short time alone - and are expected to continue throughout the week. This was caused because of increased sales from Arizona fans traveling as well as UNLV fans aware of the higher demand for the game.

The Runnin' Rebels have already enjoyed a 35 percent increase in season tickets sold this season. That, combined with the excitement for the Arizona-UNLV match-up, leaves less than 3,000 tickets available for the basketball game on Dec. 20. Tickets can be ordered through UNLVTickets.com or by phone at 866-388-FANS or 702--739-FANS.

"It should be quite an electric atmosphere in the Thomas & Mack Center that day," said UNLV head coach Lon Kruger. "When you have a unique situation like this, it only benefits college basketball and its fans."