Men's Basketball 1/8/2026 11:42:00 AM

Runnin' Rebels To Play At Colorado State Friday Night

UNLV's second straight Mountain West road game to be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network at 8 p.m. MT / 7 p.m. PT.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV men's basketball team, which had its three-game win streak halted with a 98-66 loss at Wyoming on Tuesday night, will play its second straight Mountain West road game as it travels to Colorado State for an 8 p.m. MT/7 p.m. PT contest on Friday, Jan. 9.

The Runnin' Rebels (7-7, 2-1), who are in the midst of a three-game stretch in six days, have started out the Mountain West season 2-1 with wins over Fresno State and Air Force in their other league matchups.

For the season, the Runnin' Rebels are averaging 79.6 points per game and have five players averaging 9.1 or more ppg: Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (16.4), Kimani Hamilton (13.1 ppg), Tyrin Jones (11.1 ppg), Issac Williamson (10.6 ppg), and Howie Fleming Jr. (9.1 ppg). Jacob Bannarbie leads the team in rebounds at 6.3 rpg, while Fleming Jr. is the team's assists leader at 3.1 apg. Gibbs-Lawhorn is the team's steals leader at 1.7 spg, while Jones leads the MW in blocks at 2.2 bpg.

The Runnin' Rebels are in their first year under head coach Josh Pastner. Although new to UNLV, he is in his 15th year as a collegiate head coach, having previously led Memphis and Georgia Tech for seven seasons each. He holds a career record of 283-194 (.593).

UNLV's roster has only one returning player, Jacob Bannarbie, and has welcomed 13 new faces. The newcomers include eight Division I transfers, a former international professional, a junior college transfer, and three freshmen.

MORE ABOUT THE ROSTER: This season's UNLV squad, which has had to deal with a rash of injuries, returned just one player from 2024-25: redshirt sophomore forward Jacob Bannarbie. The 2025-26 roster added 13 newcomers - eight Division I transfers, a former international professional, a junior college transfer, and three freshmen. The team features four seniors, three juniors, three sophomores, and three freshmen, with a position breakdown of seven guards, six forwards, and a center. Last season, Bannarbie appeared in 19 games (three starts), averaging 1.6 points and 1.8 rebounds in 6.6 minutes, and shooting 52.9% from the field on 17 attempts.

ABOUT COLORADO STATE: The Rams (10-5, 1-3) are coming off an 80-70 home loss to New Mexico on Tuesday. Prior to that, they won at Grand Canyon, 70-60, on Jan. 3. CSU started MW play with a 100-58 loss at Utah State and a 75062 loss at home to UNR. Colorado State is led in scoring by Josh Pascarelli at 12.5 ppg, rebounding by Carey Booth at 7.1 rpg, and assists by Jevin Muniz at 4.5 apg. Muniz is also the team's steals leader at 0.9 spg, while Booth leads in blocks with 0.8 bpg. The Rams are 6-3 at home this season. CSU ranks fourth in the nation in effective field goal percentage at 60.7 and fifth in 3-point field goal percentage at 40.9%. The Rams were picked to finish seventh in the Mountain West's preseason poll. Colorado State's 14-man roster is made up of seven upperclassmen. The Rams went 26-10 overall last season, finishing second in the MW at 16-4. Head coach Ali Farokhmanesh is in his first season as a collegiate head coach. He was elevated to the role after spending the previous seven seasons on the Rams bench.

BROADCAST INFO: Friday's game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network with Jack Gordon and Noah Buono calling the action. The radio broadcast may be heard on ESPN Radio 1100 AM and SiriusXM 381 with Matt Neverett, Curtis Terry, and Steve Cofield on the call. All streaming links and live stats are available at UNLVRebels.com and through the UNLV Rebels App.

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