LAS VEGAS – Keshon Gilbert scored a career-high 25 points and EJ Harkless added 20 as the UNLV men’s basketball team (10-0) defeated Washington State 74-70 Saturday afternoon in The Clash presented by The Halal Guys at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The Runnin’ Rebels are off to their best start to a season since the 1990-91 team won their first 34 games.
HENDERSON, Nev. – For the first time in its 65-year existence, the Runnin’ Rebels played a game in Henderson Wednesday night and in doing so, improved its record to 9-0 this season to mark their best start in 12 years.
Four players scored in double figures for the UNLV men’s basketball team as it defeated Hawaii 77-62 at The Dollar Loan Center.
LAS VEGAS – The largest American halal food concept and one of the world’s fastest-growing fast-casual franchises, The Halal Guys, has partnered with The Clash, a highly anticipated college basketball doubleheader of the early season. The Dec. 10 event at MGM Grand Garden Arena will showcase UNLV against Washington State before a battle between two blue-blooded programs, Arizona vs. Indiana.
The doubleheader will be a series of firsts with FOX broadcasting a college basketball game in prime time on the East Coast for the first time. The event also marks the first major sports sponsorship for new title sponsor The Halal Guys, which grew from a hot dog cart in New York City to a global restaurant chain specializing in chicken, gyros and falafel sandwiches. The event will now be entitled “The Clash Presented by The Halal Guys.”
“Seeing The Halal Guys logo on the court at MGM Grand Garden Arena will be a very proud moment for me,” said Ahmed Abouelenein, CEO of The Halal Guys. “We’re proud of the work our teams do every day to serve our guests, proud of the niche we have carved in the industry, but most of all, proud to bring American halal to the masses across the United States!”
The action tips with UNLV playing Washington State at 1:30 p.m. PT on FS1, followed by No. 4 Arizona and eighth-ranked Indiana meeting for the first time at 4:30 p.m. on FOX, following World Cup action.
The doubleheader is the latest offering from veteran Las Vegas-promoter bdG Sports which owns and operates the Continental Tire Main Event each November at T-Mobile Arena and the Vegas 4 at The Dollar Loan Center. bdG also manages the Big West Conference Tournament each March at the same venue. The agency also has managed a number of other premium games including Duke-Gonzaga last season at T-Mobile Arena, which set the state of Nevada attendance record for a college basketball game.
A limited number of tickets remain for the doubleheader and are on sale at www.axs.com. Tickets start at $49 (prices are inclusive of tax and facility fee) and are valid for both games. Complete event information can be found at www.lasvegasclash.com and on social media at @VegasMainEvent.
NASSAU, The Bahamas – UNCW erased an early deficit and called on its trademark stifling defense to rally past North Texas, 55-51, in the championship game of the Baha Mar Nassau Championship late Sunday at the Baha Mar Convention Center.
ESTERO, Fla. — Down six with 4:39 remaining to No. 21-ranked Baylor, the No. 22-ranked University of Michigan women’s basketball team ended the game on a 20-5 run en route to an 84-75 win over the Bears to win the Gulf Coast Showcase championship Sunday evening (Nov. 27) at Hertz Arena.
ESTERO, Fla. – Three days. Three wins. One trophy for the Alico Arena trophy case to begin the Pat Chambers era at FGCU.
The FGCU men’s basketball team (5-2) got a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds from junior forward Zach Anderson and 14 from senior guard Isaiah Thompson in a 73-59 victory over Kansas City (3-5) on Wednesday night in the championship game of the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase at Hertz Arena.
NASSAU, Bahamas – The UCF men’s basketball team topped Santa Clara by a score of 57-50 on Sunday night, winning the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship. The Knights earned a 60-54 overtime victory over Oklahoma State in the semifinals to reach the final, where they topped the Broncos with a remarkable defensive performance.
LAS VEGAS — — Under most circumstances, Virginia would have celebrated its tournament victory Sunday and carried the good feelings back to Charlottesville.
But after the No. 16 Cavaliers used a late 13-point run to defeat No. 19 Illinois 70-61 to win the Continental Tire Main Event, coach Tony Bennett knew the overnight trip back home would be far from joyous with the campus still grieving the shooting deaths of three football players.
HENDERSON, NEV. – Abilene Christian, UC Riverside, Weber State and Wright State will compete in the inaugural “Vegas 4” at The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson. Veteran Vegas promoter bdG Sports announced the latest addition to its college basketball line-up in the Valley which also includes the Continental Tire Main Event at T-Mobile Arena, the Las Vegas Clash at MGM Grand Garden Arena and UNLV vs. Hawaii at The Dollar Loan Center.
“As our firm assisted the Big West Conference with playing its basketball championships in The Dollar Loan Center in March, the first event in the new facility, we knew immediately that the new Henderson venue would be an attractive option for an early season college basketball event,” said bdG Sports President & CEO Brooks Downing. “We look forward to great success in building out an annual men’s and women’s event going forward, after all it’s a great location in the heart of Henderson, and the venue is an ideal size for these tournaments. We think the Vegas 4 has an outstanding future at the DLC!”
For The Dollar Loan Center, it’s yet another annual event to add to its burgeoning portfolio.
“The Henderson community and The Dollar Loan Center will be fitting hosts for the ‘Vegas 4,’ as we bring another Division I basketball event to our venue,” said Foley Entertainment Group CEO Kerry Bubolz. “With the NBA G League Ignite, the Big West Basketball Championships and events like this, we are quickly becoming a home for elite basketball in the Las Vegas Valley.”
The action tips on Monday, Nov. 21 with two games each day on Monday through Wednesday of Thanksgiving week. The schedule is as follows:
Monday, Nov. 21
Tuesday, Nov. 22
Wednesday, Nov. 23
The Vegas 4 features a balanced field led by defending Horizon League champion Wright State. The Raiders finished 22-14 last season, which included a win over NC State, and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Abilene Christian is two years removed from winning the Southland Conference title and beating Texas in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats changed conferences before last season and advanced to the WAC Championship game finishing the season with a 25-11 record. Weber State also won 20 games last year finishing the season at 21-12 while UC Riverside went 16-12 but owns wins over Arizona State and Washington over the past two seasons.
The Dollar Loan Center opened in March as home to the Vegas Golden Knights’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights. A product of a public-private partnership between the City of Henderson and a group of investors led by Bill Foley, the 5,567-seat arena is operated by the Foley Entertainment Group. The Dollar Loan Center, also home to the Indoor Football League’s Vegas Knight Hawks, NBA G League’s Ignite, Big West Basketball Championships and the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame, sits in the heart of Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas which has grown to become Nevada’s second largest city with more than 330,000 residents.
Tickets for the event will go on-sale at a later date. Full event information can be found at www.vegasocho.com and on social media at @vegassixteen.
LAS VEGAS – Arizona will face Indiana for the first time and UNLV will battle Washington State in the “Las Vegas Clash” on Saturday, Dec. 10, at MGM Grand Garden Arena, bdG Sports announced today.
The Arizona-Indiana game will tip at 4:30 p.m. PT and be televised by FOX, in a rare East Coast, prime-time college basketball game on a broadcast network during the regular season. UNLV-Washington State will tip at 1:30 p.m. PT and air on FS1.
“Playing a high-level opponent like Indiana in Las Vegas will be a great opportunity for us and our fans,” said Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd. “It will be a strong test against one of the preseason favorites from the Big Ten in an outstanding atmosphere. It’s one of those games that will have a special feeling around it and we are looking forward to it.”
Pac-12 powerhouse Arizona is no stranger to Las Vegas as the Wildcats won last year’s Roman Main Event at T-Mobile Arena which helped propel the program to a top-5 ranking and a No. 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Lloyd has reloaded quickly after having three players selected in the first 33 picks of the NBA Draft. Arizona will be led by returning First Team All Pac-12 honoree Azuolas Tubelis and fan favorite Kerr Kriisa in addition to Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year Pelle Larsson with Oumar Ballo anchoring the post. Arizona’s new faces will include high-impact transfers Courtney Ramey and Cedric Richardson along with newcomers like five-star prospect Kylan Boswell, Dylan Anderson, Filip Borovicanin and Henri Veesaar.
Excitement is just as high in Bloomington where coach Mike Woodson has reinvigorated the Hoosiers program. IU All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis tested the NBA waters before announcing his return to the Hoosiers. The third-team All-American will be the third-leading returning scorer in college basketball next season after averaging 16.9 points per game last season. The Hoosiers finished 21-14 in 2022 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016. The Hoosiers also advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2013 after knocking off Michigan and top-seeded Illinois.
“Our program is thrilled to have the opportunity to play Arizona in Las Vegas,” said Woodson. “We have fans throughout the country who are looking forward to making this trip between Thanksgiving and Christmas and I love the fact that two programs that have won a national championship will meet for the very first time. It should be one of the top non-conference matchups prior to conference play starting.”
bdG has worked for many years with UNLV to create attractive doubleheaders on the famed Las Vegas Strip when the Rebels are displaced from its own arena each December due to the rodeo.
“This is another step in helping Coach Kruger rebuild the great brand of UNLV basketball by creating a national event to showcase Runnin’ Rebels basketball,” said Brooks Downing, founder and CEO of bdG Sports. “All eyes will be on Grand Garden Arena for this doubleheader; it will be a tremendous crowd, national television and the talk of the sport that weekend.”
UNLV is coming off a successful 2021-22 season, which marked the first under head coach Kevin Kruger. The Runnin’ Rebels compiled 18 wins – its most in four years – and recorded 10 Mountain West victories, exceeding preseason expectations in the league standings. UNLV will be bolstered by the addition of transfers Isaiah Cottrell (West Virginia), Luis Rodriguez (Ole Miss), Jackie Johnson III (Duquesne), Eli Parquet (Colorado), Shane Nowell (Arizona) and EJ Harkless (Oklahoma).
“We are excited to be a part of the Las Vegas Clash doubleheader and to have the opportunity to face a strong Pac-12 team in Washington State on the Las Vegas Strip,” said Kruger. “The MGM Grand Garden Arena is a great venue for college basketball and we are looking forward to our fans joining us while the Thomas & Mack Center hosts the rodeo.”
Washington State continues to rise under coach Kyle Smith. The Cougars won 22 games last season in Smith’s third year at the helm and earned the school’s first postseason berth in more than a decade finishing the season in the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York. WSU will be led by returning starters TJ Bamba and Mouhammed Gueye and a top-40 recruiting class.
“We are excited to participate in the Las Vegas Clash,” said Smith. “This is an opportunity for us to go on the road and compete against a quality opponent in Las Vegas. It will give our kids a good prep for our conference tournament. With our strong finish last year and our growth as a program, we have made a commitment to playing in nonconference events that will get us ready for the Pac-12 and NCAA. The Las Vegas Clash is a perfect fit for our philosophy. To be associated with storied programs like UNLV, Arizona, and Indiana in a high profile event is a tribute to the hard work that our players have put into the program.”
Tickets for the doubleheader go on public sale on Saturday, Aug. 27 at 10 a.m. PT at www.axs.com. Tickets start at $49 (prices are inclusive of tax and facility fee) and are good for both games. Complete event information can be found at www.lasvegasclash.com and on social media at @VegasMainEvent.
