Wednesday night features a battle of Mountain West rivals as the Wyoming Cowboys (23-6, 12-4) take on the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels (17-12, 9-7). The Rebels will host this one at the Thomas & Mack Center, with tipoff scheduled for 10:30 pm ET.
The Cowboys currently sit third in the Mountain West, trailing just Boise State and CO State. They are trying to bounce back from a 73-66 home loss on Monday.
For the Runnin’ Rebels, they currently sit fifth in the conference. In their last game, they lost 86-76 at home to the top-seeded Boise State Broncos.
Wyoming at UNLV Stats
Matchup Information
Looking at the Wyoming Cowboys stats
At 23-6 overall, Wyoming has been solid both at home (13-1) and on the road (8-4). After dropping their last game, they will look to get back into the win column on Wednesday.
Offensively, they rank 90th in the nation as they are averaging 73.4 points per game (68.6 on the road). To date, they have a scoring margin of +7.3 and average 35.6 rebounds per game.
On the defensive side, they are allowing just 66.1 points per game to opponents, ranking 67th overall. Their opponents’ effective field goal percentage is 47.3%.
Graham Ike and Hunter Maldonado have been the keys to the Cowboys’ success this year. Ike leads the team in scoring (20.3) and rebounds (9.8). The sophomore forward is also shooting a whopping 52.9 percent from the field.
Not to be outdone, Maldonado is averaging 18.9 points on 50 percent shooting. The senior guard is also chipping in 5.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.
In the loss against San Diego State in their last outing, Ike and Maldonado struggled a bit from the field as they combined for just 23 points. With that being said, they still had an exceptional game as Ike had a double-double (10 points, ten rebounds) and Maldanado had a triple-double (13 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists).
Other key contributors for the Cowboys include Drake Jeffries (10.7 points, 5.3 rebounds), Jeremiah Oden (8.2 points, 4.6 rebounds), and Xavier DuSell (7.8 points, 2.3 rebounds). Oden (17 points) and Jeffries (14 points) were actually the Cowboys’ leading scorers in their last game.
Looking at the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels stats
At 17-12 overall and 9-7 in the conference, this hasn’t exactly been the season that head coach Kevin Kruger was looking for. Still, at 11-4 at home, the Rebels would love to take down their conference foes as the regular season winds down.
It has been a bit of a struggle for the Runnin’ Rebels on offense this season. They are averaging just 69.6 points per game, good for 191st in the nation. They have had some success from the outside, though, as they rank 78th in three-pointers made per game at 8.3.
Senior guard Bryce Hamilton has been a one-man wrecking ball on offense as he is averaging 21.9 points on 44 percent shooting for UNLV. He is also averaging 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.
The only other player averaging double digits is forward Donovan Williams. He is putting up 13.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.
In their loss to Boise State, Hamilton had a team-high 25 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists. Williams added 17 points on the night.
Rounding out the top scorers for UNLV are Royce Hamm Jr (8.4 points, 9.3 rebounds), Jordan McCabe (6.8 points, 4.9 assists), and Michael Nuga (6.7 points, 3.2 rebounds).
On the defensive side, they have been better. They rank 87th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing an average of just 66.5 points per game. Their opponents’ shooting percentage averages at 42.2 percent, good for 97th overall.
Betting Trends for Wyoming Cowboys at UNLV Runnin’ Rebels
- In their last 18 games, the Cowboys are 14-4 SU.
- In the last seven games against UNLV, Wyoming is just 2-5 ATS.
- When playing on the road against UNLV, the Cowboys are 0-10 SU in their last 10.
- The Runnin’ Rebels are 4-1 ATS in their last five games.
- In four of UNLV’s last six games, the total has gone UNDER.
Wyoming at UNLV Prediction
The top sportsbooks odds have the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels as the 1.5-point favorites. Given the fact that Wyoming is winless in its last ten games on the road against UNLV, it isn’t surprising to see the Runnin’ Rebels as the favorites.
UNLV is going to have its hands full trying to contain Graham Ike and Hunter Maldanado. These two make up one of the most dynamic duos in all of college basketball.
Of course, UNLV has its own pair of stars in Bryce Hamilton and Donovan Mitchell. With so much talent, it may come down to which team can control the boards and limit second shots. In rebounding, Wyoming holds a slight edge at 35.6 to 35.3.
This should be a tight game throughout and might come down to just a possession or two. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Wyoming finally pick up that road win at UNLV, but at the very least, there is a lot of value in the Cowboys +1.5.
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