Stanford and UNLV MBB to Meet for Home and Home Series

Next season, Stanford will host Mountain West opponent UNLV in Palo Alto at Maples Pavilion. The following season, the Cardinal will travel down south to Las Vegas to play at Thomas Mack Center. An official date has not been announced at this time.

According to College Basketball Reference, the two teams have played each other four times. In those matchups, the Cardinal have three victories while the Rebels have just one.

Taking a look at UNLV, it would appear as though the Cardinal have a leg up on them talent-wise. Last season, the Rebels finished 18-15 overall, and 11-9 in Mountain West Conference play. They played three power six opponents, losing each one by an average of 15 points. In 2023-24, they went 21-13, going 2-2 against power conference opponents, and in 2022-23, they went 19-12, going 1-0 against power conference teams.

Over the past few seasons, the Rebels have been a victim of mediocrity. Each season, they have great non-conference starts, even occasionally beating power programs, but through the vigorous environments in the Mountain West, staying consistent throughout the whole season is a test the Rebels have yet to conquer recently.

This past season, UNLV was led by Dedan Thomas Jr., a sophomore guard who averaged 15.6 points and 4.7 assists per game. However in the transfer portal, Thomas Jr. was picked up by LSU after being rated as one of the highest players in the portal. Their second best player, Jaden Henley, also left, committing to Grand Canyon after a stellar 12 point per game season.

In fact, the Rebels will be without their top nine scorers, losing many to the portal and others to graduation. Their best returning player is Isaiah Cottrell, who averaged just 1.7 points per game in just 11 games played.

In the transfer portal, they brought in just one player, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn from Illinois. He will play a big role this season, but with so many departures, it’s just not enough talent coming in to make up for the the players they'll be without.

In recent years, UNLV has had some solid teams, but never have been able to make it over the hump. This year, the losses of many starter and depth talents hurt the Rebels even more, and put a halt to their rebuild.

Next season, the Rebels will have to come to Maples Pavilion, where Stanford went 17-3 last season, and will surely struggle to come out on top. Even at Thomas Mack Center, it's tough to see UNLV giving the Cardinal much of a battle without some roster additions.

Stanford will be returning Ryan Agarwal, Chisom Okpara, Benny Gealer, and more, to go along with a solid recruiting class and solid transfer pickups. The Cardinal should not only win at home this season, but will take the Rebels down on the road the following season as well.