‘Challenging’ nonconference schedule awaits UNLV basketball

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Wednesday, June 5, 2024 | 2 a.m.

UNLV's nonconference basketball opponents for the 2024-25 season are set, and the school will announce the details once game dates are worked out and contracts are signed, according to coach Kevin Kruger.

“We’ve got agreements with everyone,” Kruger said. “Now we’re looking through dates, trying to get everything in order. We’re hoping to release it when the contracts are done.”

Some opponents are already known. Memphis will come to Las Vegas for a game at the Thomas & Mack Center (with UNLV playing a return game at Memphis in 2025-26), and a road game at Dayton is expected to be made up after last year’s meeting was canceled.

UNLV has also been booked into a multiteam event, Kruger said, and while he couldn’t publicly confirm the opponents, he believes that tournament will give the Scarlet and Gray a couple opportunities to notch quality wins and bolster the team's resume for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Last year, UNLV scheduled two true road games in nonconference play, plus three additional contests at neutral sites.

Kruger said he wanted to get out of Las Vegas several times again this season for nonconference games and noted the logistical considerations that go into putting together the schedule.

“More important than anything are the dates,” he said. “When you schedule challenging games, you want to go in with an opportunity to win them. We’d love to play on the biggest stage every night, but that doesn’t always allow itself, due to the calendar and school and travel.”

UNLV has its sights set on an NCAA bid this season, so the schedule has to be fitted with games that will positively affect the team’s computer rankings while also impressing the selection committee.

UNLV returns a core of starters from last year’s roster, led by rising sophomore point guard D.J. Thomas, and Kruger said the team’s relative veteran status factored into how ambitiously he scheduled.

“Of course it does,” Kruger said. “At the end of the day, the importance of the schedule trumps the roster and who you might have, but of course you look at it. This is a group we think can be very competitive.”

The 2023-24 nonconference slate featured four opponents that went on to make the NCAA Tournament: Akron, Creighton, Dayton and Saint Mary’s.

Akron won the Mid-Atlantic Conference and was a No. 14 seed. Creighton was a No. 3 seed and beat Akron in the first round, eventually advancing to the Sweet 16. Saint Mary’s earned a No. 5 seed and was upset in the opening round by Grand Canyon. UNLV also had Dayton scheduled, but that Dec. 6 matchup was canceled due to a shooting on the UNLV campus (Dayton was a No. 7 seed and eliminated No. 10 UNR in the first round).

The Scarlet and Gray showed well against their tourney opponents. They defeated Akron, 72-70, on Nov. 28 at the Thomas & Mack Center, and blew out Creighton, 79-64, on Dec. 13 at the Dollar Loan Center. They lost to Saint Mary’s in double overtime, 69-67, at a neutral site in Phoenix on Dec. 21.

Kruger believes the 2024-25 slate will give UNLV ample opportunity to make its case.

“Last year’s schedule was tough and demanding,” Kruger said, “and this year’s schedule equally so.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.