# 2018–19 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team

The 2018–19 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Runnin' Rebels were led by third-year head coach Marvin Menzies and played their home games at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada as members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 17–14, 11–7 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament to San Diego State.
On March 15, head coach Marvin Menzies was fired. He finished at UNLV with a three-year record of 48–48.
On March 27, UNLV hired South Dakota State head coach T. J. Otzelberger as their next head coach.

## Previous season

The Runnin' Rebels finished the 2017–18 season 20–13, 8–10 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They defeated Air Force in the first round of the Mountain West tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Nevada. Despite having 20 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament after declining an invite to the CBI Tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jordan Johnson | 24 | G | 5'11" | 175 | RS Senior | Waukegan, IL | Graduated |
| Brandon McCoy | 44 | F | 7'0" | 250 | Freshman | San Diego, CA | Declared for 2018 NBA draft. Went undrafted |
| Jovan Mooring | 30 | G | 6'2" | 200 | Senior | Country Club Hills, IL | Graduated |

### 2018 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Bryce Hamilton #61 SG | Pasadena, CA | Pasadena High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Oct 23, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Joel Ntambwe #39 PF | Kernersville, NC | Forest Trail Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | N/A | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua PF | Douala, Cameroon | NBA Global Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Trey Woodbury #50 SG | Las Vegas, NV | Ed W. Clark High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 1, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 78 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 UNLV Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 30, 2018. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 30, 2018. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2019) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ethan Anderson #29 PG | Los Angeles, CA | Fairfax High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 1, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 UNLV Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 30, 2018. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 30, 2018. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 2, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Montana State Billings | W 83–81 | | Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, NV |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2018* 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Loyola Marymount | L 50–61 | 0–1 | Thomas & Mack Center (8,501) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 13, 2018* 7:00 pm | | UC Riverside | W 72–51 | 1–1 | Thomas & Mack Center (7,327) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 16, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Oakland | W 74–61 | 2–1 | Thomas & Mack Center (7,439) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 20, 2018* 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Pacific | W 96–70 | 3–1 | Thomas & Mack Center (7,338) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 23, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Southern Utah | W 76–71 | 4–1 | Thomas & Mack Center (7,567) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 28, 2018 7:30 pm, ATTSNRM | | Valparaiso MW–MVC Challenge | L 64–72 | 4–2 | Thomas & Mack Center (7,587) Paradise, NV |
| Dec 1, 2018* 3:00 pm, CBSSN | | Cincinnati | L 61–65 | 4–3 | Thomas & Mack Center (9,572) Paradise, NV |
| Dec 8, 2018* 11:00 am, BTN | | at Illinois | L 74–77 | 4–4 | State Farm Center (12,268) Champaign, IL |
| Dec 15, 2018* 5:30 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. BYU MGM Resorts Showcase | W 92–90 $^{OT}$ | 5–4 | T-Mobile Arena (5,107) Paradise, NV |
| Dec 22, 2018* 2:30 pm, ESPNU | | at Hawaii Diamond Head Classic quarterfinals | W 73–59 | 6–4 | Stan Sheriff Center (6,049) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec 23, 2018* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Indiana State Diamond Head Classic semifinals | L 79–84 | 6–5 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,470) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec 25, 2018* 3:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Bucknell Diamond Head Classic 3rd place game | L 72–97 | 6–6 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,752) Honolulu, HI |
| Mountain West regular season ||||||
| Jan 2, 2019 7:30 pm, CBSSN | | Colorado State | W 78–76 | 7–6 (1–0) | Thomas & Mack Center (7,881) Paradise, NV |
| Jan 5, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Wyoming | W 68-56 | 8–6 (2–0) | Thomas & Mack Center (7,903) Paradise, NV |
| Jan 9, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at New Mexico | W 80–69 | 9–6 (3–0) | Dreamstyle Arena (10,242) Albuquerque, NM |
| Jan 16, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Air Force | L 88–106 | 9–7 (3–1) | Clune Arena (3,761) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Jan 19, 2019 4:30 pm, ATTSNRM | | San Jose State | W 94–56 | 10–7 (4–1) | Thomas & Mack Center (8,623) Paradise, NV |
| Jan 22, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | New Mexico | W 74–58 | 11–7 (5–1) | Thomas & Mack Center (8,432) Paradise, NV |
| Jan 26, 2019 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | at San Diego State | L 77–94 | 11–8 (5–2) | Viejas Arena (11,254) San Diego, CA |
| Jan 29, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 8 Nevada | L 70–87 | 11–9 (5–3) | Thomas & Mack Center (15,786) Paradise, NV |
| Feb 2, 2019 1:30 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Utah State | L 65–82 | 11–10 (5–4) | Smith Spectrum (7,157) Logan, UT |
| Feb 6, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Boise State | W 83–72 | 12–10 (6–4) | Taco Bell Arena (3,200) Boise, ID |
| Feb 9, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Fresno State | L 65–83 | 12–11 (6–5) | Thomas & Mack Center (8,324) Paradise, NV |
| Feb 12, 2019 7:30 pm, CBSSN | | Air Force | W 77–72 | 13–11 (7–5) | Thomas & Mack Center (7,550) Paradise, NV |
| Feb 16, 2019 2:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at San Jose State | W 71–64 | 14–11 (8–5) | Event Center Arena (1,658) San Jose, CA |
| Feb 20, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Wyoming | W 66–56 | 15–11 (9–5) | Arena-Auditorium (3,432) Laramie, WY |
| Feb 23, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | San Diego State | L 59–60 | 15–12 (9–6) | Thomas & Mack Center (10,427) Paradise, NV |
| Feb 27, 2019 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at No. 12 Nevada | L 73–89 | 15–13 (9–7) | Lawlor Events Center (11,289) Reno, NV |
| Mar 2, 2019 7:30 pm, CBSSN | | Boise State | W 85–81 $^{OT}$ | 16–13 (10–7) | Thomas & Mack Center (9,301) Paradise, NV |
| Mar 9, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Colorado State | W 65–60 | 17–13 (11–7) | Moby Arena (3,505) Fort Collins, CO |
| Mountain West tournament ||||||
| Mar 14, 2019 5:30 pm, CBSSN | (5) | (4) San Diego State Quarterfinals | L 55–63 | 17–14 | Thomas & Mack Center (7,309) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||