Louisville, Arizona and UNR top hoops schedule

UNLV released its 2009-10 men’s basketball non-conference schedule this afternoon and it appears to be an attractive one for Runnin’ Rebel fans.

The Rebels will host Rick Pitino’s defending Big East champion Louisville Cardinals on Saturday, Nov. 28, in a rematch of last year’s nationally televised New Year’s Eve thriller won by UNLV, 56-55. The time of the game has not been released but will likely be around 1 p.m. because the Rebel football team hosts San Diego State later that day at 6 p.m. at Sam Boyd Stadium.

In-state rival Nevada visits the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, Nov. 18. Other key local games include Southern Illinois on Nov. 21 in the inaugural Challenge Series between Mountain West Conference and Missouri Valley Conference schools, Patriot League runnerup Holy Cross on Nov. 25 and Big 12 power Kansas State on Saturday, Dec. 12, at the Orleans Arena.

The road schedule includes games at Arizona (Dec. 2), Santa Clara (Dec. 5), Southern Utah (Dec. 15) as well as a spot in the eight-team Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu (Dec. 22-25). That made-for-ESPN tournament also features schools like USC, Saint Mary’s, SMU, College of Charleston and Hawaii.

The Rebels once again open their season with an exhibition against Washburn (Kan.) on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

The marquee game, however, will be the Nov. 28 contest against Louisville and one-time UNLV head coaching candidate Pitino, who left the court at Freedom Hall on Dec. 31 without shaking UNLV head coach Lon Kruger’s hand after his team’s stunning home loss.

“I think that got kind of blown out of proportion,” Kruger said of the incident.

As for the overall schedule …

“It’s a challenging schedule that will prepare us for conference play,” Kruger said. “It’s a good mix of strong programs from bigger conferences along with competitive programs from smaller conferences. We’ll be tested at home, on the road and at neutral sites.”

Here’s the entire non-conference schedule. The Mountain West Conference usually doesn’t release it’s part of the schedule until July.

Day Date Opponent Location
Tues. Nov. 10 Washburn (exhibition) Las Vegas
Sat. Nov. 14 Pittsburg State Las Vegas
Wed. Nov. 18 Nevada, Reno Las Vegas
Sat. Nov. 21 Southern Illinois Las Vegas
Wed. Nov. 25 Holy Cross Las Vegas
Sat. Nov. 28 Louisville Las Vegas
Wed. Dec. 2 at Arizona Tucson, Ariz.
Sat. Dec. 5 at Santa Clara Santa Clara, Calif.
Sat. Dec. 12 vs. Kansas State (at Orleans Arena) Las Vegas
Tues. Dec. 15 at Southern Utah Cedar City, Utah
Thurs. Dec. 17 Weber State Las Vegas
Sat. Dec. 19 South Carolina-Upstate Las Vegas
Tues. Dec. 22 Diamond Head Classic * Honolulu, Hawaii
Wed. Dec. 23 Diamond Head Classic * Honolulu, Hawaii
Fri. Dec. 25 Diamond Head Classic * Honolulu, Hawaii

* Eight-team tournament run by ESPN Regional Television, Inc., a subsidiary of ESPN. Participants include: host Hawaii, UNLV, USC, SMU, College of Charleston, Saint Mary’s and Western Michigan. The eighth team is yet to be determined.

BULLETIN: UNLV signed 6-10 center Henry Buckley of Houston Wheatley to a national letter of intent today. Buckley will attend prep school next fall, however, and not enroll at UNLV until the fall semester in 2010.