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UNLV at California: Game Preview, TV & Radio Schedule, Live Streaming, Odds, More

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Runnin’ Rebels face first road test on Tuesday night

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Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire

UNLV looks to bounce back after OT loss

WHO: UNLV (1-1, 0-0 MWC) at California (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12)

WHEN: Tuesday, November 12th — 9:00 P.M. MT / 8:00 P.M. PT

WHERE: Haas Pavilion, Berkeley, CA

TV: Pac-12 Network

STREAM: Pac-12 Network (cable subscription required); Get a free one-week trial of FuboTV.

RADIO: TuneIn

SERIES RECORD: UNLV leads the series, 5-2

ODDS: California -4, per KenPom

Shootaround vibes pic.twitter.com/MKp2XZVkO7

— UNLV Men's Basketball (@TheRunninRebels) November 12, 2019

PREVIEW: There’s no two ways about it—UNLV’s overtime loss to Kansas State on Saturday was ugly. The game was marred by turnovers and bad shots, but one bright spot was junior guard Amauri Hardy.

Hardy paced the Rebels with 27 points on 11-of-23 shooting, while the rest of the team made just nine field goals in 35 attempts. Donnie Tillman, the promising transfer from Utah, ended up playing only 15 minutes and scored just a single point. Elijah Mitrou-Long, Jonah Antonio, and Bryce Hamilton combined to shoot just 2-for-15 from beyond the arc. Chiekh Mbacke Diong excelled on the boards and on defense, securing 11 rebounds to go along with three steals and a block. But his inability to score effectively was far too common a theme for TJ Otzelberger’s squad.

UNLV needs to fix its shooting problems immediately because they are coming up against a hot-handed club in California.

The Golden Bears were something of a laughingstock last year, finishing at the bottom of an especially poor Pac-12 Conference. But Cal came out swinging in Game 1, beating a promising Pepperdine team by 16 at home. It was an emphatic debut for new head coach Mark Fox, who came out west during the offseason after his nine-year stint as Georgia’s skipper.

With the Bears’ top two scorers from last year transferring out of the program, an extra share in the offense naturally fell to Matt Bradley, who averaged 10.8 PPG as a freshman in 2018-19. He wasted no time in getting his numbers up for this season, posting 25 points against the Waves, knocking down five three-pointers in the process.

Also in double figures for Cal were Andre Kelly, Kareem South, and Paris Austin. As a team, the Bears made ten three-pointers and shot 57.4% from the floor, while outrebounding Pepperdine, 38-30.

It could be the start of the rebuilding process in Berkeley, or it could just be one good game. Tuesday night’s tilt with UNLV will be a good test.

One of the keys for the Rebels will be getting Donnie Tillman more integrated with the team. He was a late addition, but there’s not much time for a long learning curve. UNLV has a few more tough tests in the non-conference season, so they need to be firing at full strength if they are going to be competitive.

Cal was extremely effective on opening night, but can they keep it up against the Rebels? Will somebody else besides Hardy step up for UNLV to shoulder some of the scoring load?

Andrew is a current USBWA member, covering college basketball for multiple outlets, including Mountain West Wire of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Busting Brackets of the FanSided Network. He also runs the Dieckhoff Power Index, a college basketball analytics system, and provides bracketology predictions throughout the season.

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