STILLWATER, Oklahoma (UNLVRebels.com) -

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The No. 20 UNLV men's golf team improved on its first-round score by four strokes Saturday, shooting a 293 to move up five spots into a tie for 21st place with a 14-over 590 score at the 2018 NCAA Championships, which is being played at Karsten Creek Golf Club (par 72, 7,460 yards).

The third round will start at 5 am (PT) on Sunday. The top 15 teams and nine individuals not on a qualifying team following the conclusion of the third round will advance to the final day of 18 holes of stroke play on Monday, May 28 to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play. UNLV will enter the third round five strokes out of the top half of the field.

Texas Tech finished its weather-delayed first round on Saturday morning with a 284 and shot 287 Saturday to lead the overall team standings at a 5-under 571, while Oklahoma State is second (4-under 572) and Alabama is third (3-under 573) after shooting a tournament low round of 279 in the second round. First round leader Northwestern fell into a tie for 17th place after carding an 18-over 306.

Shintaro Ban continues to pace the Rebels as he is tied 28th with an even 144, while Justin Kim (2-over 146) moved up nine spots to a tie for 46th and Harry Hall (4-over 148) moved up 22 spots into a tie for 68th. Auburn's Brandon Mancheno shot a second-round tournament low 6-under 66 to move into the top spot on the leader board at 6-under 138, while six players are one stroke back in a tie for second.

REBEL OF THE DAY: Justin Kim recorded four birdies, including on his final hole of the day (9th) to record a 1-over 73 for the day, one of three Rebels to score 73 Saturday.

QUOTEABLE: "The team definitely had a much better round today. We made good choices on the course and we challenged the par 5s better then we did on Friday. Today we had patience and we put balls into play, we avoided the penalties we had yesterday. It was a much more competitive round from us, today was more of a Rebel Golf day. Our spirits are high and we're looking forward to a good round tomorrow. Shintaro didn't have his 'A' game on today, but the others picked it up for us. We know he'll be back on tomorrow, and it should be an exciting day." - UNLV head coach Dwaine Knight

REBEL SCORES:
• T28th - Shintaro Ban, senior (67-77=144, E)
• T46th - Justin Kim, sophomore (73-73=146, +2)
• T68th - Harry Hall, junior (75-73=148, +4)
• T138th - Garrick Higgo, freshman (82-73=155, +11)
• T142nd - Jack Trent, freshman (82-74=156, +12)

TOP FIVE TEAMS:
1. Texas Tech (284-287=571, -5)
2. Oklahoma State (287-285=572, -4)
3. Alabama (294-279=573, -3)
4. Duke (291-287=579, +2)
Oklahoma (285-293=578, +2)

There are a total of 30 teams and 156 individuals competing.

REBEL NOTES:
• This year marked UNLV's 30th straight appearance in a NCAA Regional, which is the national record for most consecutive appearances.
• UNLV is in the NCAA Championships for the second straight year, and third in the last four.
• In 13 events this season, UNLV has recorded 10 top-five finishes, including three team titles and two runner-up performances.
• In April, UNLV won its third straight Mountain West Conference title.
• Ban, the MW's Player of the Year, has four individual wins this season and a total of five for his career. He ranks tied for first in UNLV history for most wins in a season and is tied for third for career victories.
• UNLV captured an NCAA Regional title last year and advanced to the 'Elite Eight' at the NCAA Championship.
• Ban and Hall will both compete in this year's Arnold Palmer Cup, while Ban was a semifinalist for the highest honor in college golf - The Ben Hogan Award, as well as a finalist for the Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year Award.
• This season marks the 31st at UNLV for Hall of Fame head coach Dwaine Knight.