How much did Wednesday night’s loss at Wyoming have on the crowd for tonight’s much anticipated showdown with BYU?

None.

Tonight’s game officially sold out and the atmosphere is electric to say the least. So the Rebels have no excuse for a slow start tonight.

The crowd of 18,523 marks UNLV’s first home sellout since Jan. 23, 1993 against Georgetown.

UNLV can accomplish something that has been done just one time in school history with a victory over BYU on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Runnin’ Rebels (19-7, 7-5), who rallied for a rare 76-70 win over the Cougars (20-5, 8-3) at the Marriott Center on Jan. 21, have only swept the regular season series with BYU once and never in the 10-year history of the Mountain West Conference.

UNLV beat the Cougars twice in 1998 in the final year of the WAC, 76-63 at the Thomas & Mack and 84-76 in Provo. That was Steve Cleveland’s first year as head coach for the Cougars who finished just 9-21 that season and were coming off a dreadful 1-25 record a year earlier under Roger Reid.

Extra motivation for Lon Kruger’s squad? Not according to senior guard Rene Rougeau.

“We’re not worried about that at all,” Rougeau said after practice on Friday morning. “We’ve just got to win a game. It doesn’t matter who it is.”

Especially after a disappointing 77-68 road loss at Wyoming on Wednesday night. A regular season series sweep of BYU certainly wouldn’t hurt UNLV’s chances at attracting an NCAA at-large berth if it fails to claim its third straight Mountain West Conference Tournament title.

“A win is a win right now,” Rougeau said. “We’re not looking into anything like (the sweep). More than anything, it’s home court advantage. We know that we’ve really got to protect our home court and give the crowd something to cheer about and that’s what we’re focusing on doing.”

UNLV leads the all-time series, 15-13, and has won four of the last five meetings.

LARAMIE – Paging Dr. Phil. Do we have a case of split personalities for you.

The 2008-09 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels.

The team that won impressive road games this season at Big East heavyweight Louisville, WAC contender Nevada and BYU in the Marriott Center once again exhibited the dark side of its duo personas on Wednesday night here at the Arena-Auditorium, losing to woeful Wyoming, 77-68.

Thanks to the loss, the Rebels (19-7, 7-5) fell three full games behind Mountain West Conference leader Utah (19-7, 10-2) with just four games to go and completed what before the season seemed like the most unlikely of trifectas — losing road games to MWC bottom-feeders Colorado State, TCU and Wyoming.

Wednesday night’s loss to the Cowboys (15-10, 4-7), who had lost their previous four games by an average of 18.5 points per game, was a microcosm of the season.

The Rebels once again looked uninspired at the start, missed their first 13 3-point tries, and found themselves on the verge of getting blown out by a team they had just handled with ease (83-66) on Jan. 21 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

UNLV trailed by 17 points, 55-38, with 11:11 to go before the light seeming went on. The Rebels, who forced 24 turnovers in the game, went on a 20-6 run and cut the Cowboy lead to just three points, 61-58, on a Joe Darger 3-pointer with 3:37 left.

But that was close as UNLV would get. Wyoming guard Sean Ogirri came right back and drilled a 3-pointer from the right side of the key and the Rebels never got any closer the rest of the way.

Afterward, senior guard Wink Adams, who scored 18 points but was 6-of-16 from the floor, blamed his team’s early shooting woes on the thin air (elevation 7,220 feet). Really.

The altitude certainly didn’t affect Wyoming guard Brandon Ewing. The 6-foot-3 senior, who likely will win his third straight Mountain West Conference scoring crown, torched the Rebels for 29 points, including 5-of-8 3-pointers.

That’s the same Brandon Ewing who scored just 7 points in the first meeting against the Rebels.

“This team is tired of losing,” Ewing said. “We wanted to make a statement. Big-time players step up and in big-time games, and that’s what I wanted to do.”

And that’s what UNLV’s big-time players didn’t do. Again.

The Rebels, looking like a team lacking a true on-court leader in the Kevin Kruger or Curtis Terry mold, were plain awful offensively at the start, missing all 12 of their 3-point tries in the first half while shooting just 30.3 percent (10-of-33). Yet they only trailed by 10 points, 35-25, at intermission because they forced 15 first half turnovers.

“It’s real frustrating seeing that at the beginning of the game that it was there for the taking and we just didn’t attack,” senior guard Rene Rougeau said. “We settled for way too many jumpers tonight. It’s very frustrating.”

“It is very frustrating,” Darger said when asked about his team’s slow start. “Especially at this point of the season. Every game is huge for us and we came out and didn’t play well tonight. We’ve got to bounce back for BYU (on Saturday night).”

That’s what is whacky about this team. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them bounce back and rebound with a big win over the Cougars on Saturday night, then upset Utah in Salt Lake City before losing at home to winless Air Force.

The Rebels are this year’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of college basketball.

Here’s hoping it’s the good Doctor who shows up the rest of the season.

LARAMIE — Scratch that regular season Mountain West Conference title off the list of goals for the preseason favorite UNLV Runnin’ Rebels.

The cold-shooting Rebels (19-7, 7-5), once again playing down to the level of their competition, suffered another head-scratching Mountain West Conference loss, this time a 77-68 to Wyoming (15-10, 4-7) on Wednesday night at the Arena-Auditorium.

The latest road loss means UNLV, which fell three full games behind first place Utah (19-7, 10-2) with just four games to go, has lost on the road to three of the four lowest ranked teams in the league in TCU, the Cowboys and Colorado State.

Senior guard Brandon Ewing, held to just seven points in a 83-66 Wyoming loss to the Rebels in Las Vegas on Jan. 17, more than made up for it this time around with 29 points including 5-of-8 3-pointers.

Ewing, who is in good shape to claim his third straight MWC scoring crown, also became the second player in conference history to top the 2,000 point mark for his career joining San Diego State’s Brandon Heath.

UNLV forced 24 Wyoming turnovers in the contest but shot poorly, connecting on just 5-of-26 3-pointers (19.2 percent) and 35.5 percent overall from the floor. The Cowboys also held a huge 44-29 edge on the boards.

Wink Adams and Tre’Von Willis had 18 points each to lead the Rebels.

LARAMIE — It took 14 attempts but UNLV finally managed to extend its NCAA record for making a 3-pointer in a game to 732 games.

Wink Adams finally nailed a trey with 16:41 to go in the game to cut Wyoming’s lead to seven, 39-32. The Rebels had missed their first 13 tries behind the arc.

Wyoming still leads the game, 42-36, with 15:33 remaining.

LARAMIE — UNLV held Brandon Ewing to a season low 7 points in the first meeting between the two schools on Jan. 17 in Las Vegas, a 83-66 Rebel victory.

The 6-foot-3 senior from Chicago, shooting for his third straight Mountain West Conference scoring crown, is doing much better in tonight’s rematch at Arena-Auditorium here.

Ewing already has scored 16 points in the first half, including 3-of-4 3-pointers, in leading the Cowboys (14-10, 3-7) to a 35-25 halftime lead over the cold-shooting Rebels.

UNLV (19-6, 7-4) shot just 30.3 percent (10-of-33) from the floor and is 0-for-12 from 3-point range. The Rebels have made at least one trey in all 731 games since the NCAA adopted the rule in 1986-87, an NCAA record.

The Rebels are fortunate to be down by just 10 at intermission. Wyoming has already committed 15 turnovers which have resulted in 10 points for UNLV.

LARAMIE — One of the first things Lon Kruger’s Runnin’ Rebels saw as they exited their locker room at the Arena-Auditorium here tonight was a wall with the following message painted on it: “Welcome to 7,220 Feet — How’s Your Oxygen?”

That’s part of the home court advantage here for the Wyoming Cowboys (14-10, 3-7), who have lost just once here this year … to first place Utah, 80-70, on Feb. 7. The Pokes are 10-1 here this season.

The Runnin’ Rebels are well aware of the thin air they’ll have to overcome in defeating the Pokes.

“The first warning I got was about the altitude,” guard Tre’Von Willis, who is making his first trip to Laramie, said. “They gave me advice on eating well and making sure I get my rest. Hopefully we can go out there and just compete and focus hard and get a ‘W’.”

The Rebels have already played and won this year at Air Force which has an altitude of about 6,000 feet. So is it really that big of a deal?

“You can definitely feel the difference,” Willis said. “It’s later in the season and I think we’re in better shape right now, so we should be fine.”

–

A late start (8 p.m. MST) on a weeknight combined with a losing team doesn’t bode well for tonight’s attendance.

Just 25 minutes now before tipoff and there are about 100 people in the stands.

If it’s Monday it must mean a new Bracketology on espn.com from noted bracketologist Joe Lunardi.

Lunardi, who usually comes within a team or two of predicting the NCAA Tournament bracket which will officially be released on Sunday, March 15, continues to show the Mountain West Conference some love with four teams projected as in the tournament today. And yes, one of those big four is Lon Kruger’s Runnin’ Rebels.

This week Lunardi as UNLV as a No. 12 need in the Midwest Regional playing No. 5 UCLÅ in the Portland, Ore., pod. I’m sure Rebel fans would love that matchup … as long as Booker Turner wasn’t one of the officials.

Lunardi also has MWC leader Utah as a No. 8 seed playing Virginia Tech in the South Regional and Cal playing No. 11 seeded San Diego State. His fourth MWC team is BYU as a No. 11 seed playing Syracuse in Philadelphia in the East Regional.

Interestingly, Lunardi has New Mexico as his 7th team just out of the bracket. A strong finish by Steve Alford’s Lobos could mean five MWC teams in the tourney?

Of course, a lot can change in the next four weeks. UNLV, for instance, could suddenly find itself on the outside looking in with a road loss at struggling Wyoming on Wednesday night or a home loss to BYU on Saturday night.

Still, the Rebels have positioned themselves to make a nice run at no worse than an at-large bid with a strong regular season finish. And with as crazy as things have gone in the MWC this year, I wouldn’t want to put all my eggs into having to win the conference tourney this time around.

It’s kind of a shame that UNLV senior guard Mo Rutledge doesn’t have another year of eligibility.

The 26-year-old junior college transfer from Yuba City College in Marysville, Calif., is finally playing the kind of basketball many Rebel fans expected of him when he arrived two years ago after breaking Yuba College’s 3-point shooting record with 119 treys in one season.

Rutledge made just 14 3-pointers in 50 attempts (28.0 percent) last year for the Rebel while averaging less than 12 minutes per game. But the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder has stepped it up as a senior, especially during the Mountain West Conference campaign, and appears much more comfortable with his role on the team.

Rutledge was a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range and scored a career-high 12 points in UNLV’s 89-70 victory over Colorado State on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, including three treys in a little over a four minute span midway through the first half that helped break open what had been a tight game.

UNLV was nursing an 18-17 lead when Rutledge nailed his first 3-pointer with 10:37 remaining. By the time he hit his third trey, the Rebels were up, 35-25, and well on their way to a 51-34 halftime edge.

“That was clutch,” UNLV guard Rene Rougeau, who finished with 14 points and 6 rebounds, said. “I think that’s what really got us separated from them. Once (Rutledge) started hitting them, it seemed like it was all downhill from there.”

The Rebels (19-6, 7-4) led by as many 21 points early in the second half before the Rams cut it to 11, 72-61, on a Marcus Walker 3-pointer. But Rutledge jump-started a 17-6 UNLV run with his fourth trey that seemed to sap the life out of CSU’s comeback hopes.

Rutledge is shooting 46.8 percent (22-of-47) from 3-point range this year, including his last six in a row. He’s 10-for-13 (76.1 percent) from behind the arc since UNLV’s 75-65 win over Utah on Jan. 24 at the Thomas & Mack when he was 2-for-2 on treys and scored nine points.

“I was feeling it real good tonight,” Rutledge said. “I was open and my teammates were able to drop the ball to me and I was able to knock them down.”

Rutledge credited extra shooting as one of the reason’s for his current hot streak.

“I”ve been staying after practice a little bit and just getting up extra shots,” Rutledge said. “I think that’s helped a little bit. … (I’m) not hesitating at all. If I feel I can pull up and just knock it down, I’m going to go ahead and take the shot. As long as I’m not forcing anything I feel pretty confident shooting it.”

“Mo’s been shooting it great, and that’s a big lift when a guy comes off the bench like he and Kendall (Wallace) do and are able to step out there and knock down shots,” UNLV coach Lon Kruger said. “I think Mo’s confidence is really high right now and it’s really, really good to see.”

“We always talk about (Rutledge) being the leader off the bench for us,” Rougeau added. “He’s been just filling those shoes for us every game.”

Rutledge wasn’t the only Rebel shooting the ball well on Saturday night. UNLV shot a blistering 64.5 percent (20-of-31) from the floor in the first half, including 72.7 percent (8-of-11) from 3-point range. The Rebels shot 54.1 percent for the game and had 23 assists. Six Rebels finished in double-digits led by sophomore guard Tre’Von Willis (21 points, 6 assists).

“I thought the first half we had real good ball movement,” Kruger said. “Off the dribble we made a lot of good players for each other and guys stepped up and made shots and finished plays. I thought it was maybe one of the better offensive halves of the year.”

Too bad the Mountain West Conference couldn’t find room on its Mountain TV Network to show tonight’s UNLV-Colorado State game.

Unlike the first meeting in Fort Collins when the Rebels came out sleep-walking, UNLV came out smoking hot from 3-point range en route to a 51-34 halftime lead.

The Rebels connected on 8 of 11 3-pointers (72.7 percent) while building up a 17-point lead.

Tre’Von Willis has 14 points and three assists to lead the Rebels while Mo Rutledge was 3-of-3 on treys en route to nine points. Oscar Bellfield also has nine points and five assists for the Rebels who shot 64.5 percent (20-of-31)  from the floor.

UNLV already has a remarkable 15 assists in the game. The Rebels, who have forced eight turnovers while just coughing it up twice themselves, hold a 14-0 edge in points off turnovers and a 22-7 advantage in points in the paint.

UNLV started the day in fifth place in the Mountain West Conference with a 6-4 record. But with a good week, the Rebels could find themselves in second place a week from tonight.

The Rebels, who host Colorado State in a few minutes at the Thomas & Mack (no TV), travel to Wyoming (3-6 going into tonight’s game at San Diego State). Then they host BYU (7-3) here next Saturday night.

Meanwhile, New Mexico (7-3) plays at BYU on Tuesday night and hosts San Diego State (7-3) next Saturday.

Depending on how things shake out, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Rebels at 9-4 and the Lobos, Aztecs and BYU all 8-4 by the end of the day next Saturday. That’s if UNLV can take care of business tonight against the Rams tonight, win on the road at Wyoming and then keep their Thomas & Mack magic alive against the Cougars next Saturday.

Stay tuned.

Wink Adams scored 21 points and dished off four assists and Joe Darger added 14 points and six rebounds and UNLV’s pressing defense forced a season-high 26 turnovers as the Rebels (18-6, 6-4) snapped their two-game losing streak with a 71-57 win over TCU (13-11, 4-6) on Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Rebels actually received a smattering of boos early in this one while falling behind, 17-7. That crowd reaction, along with a nice half-court trap which forced 17 first half Horned Frog turnovers, and sent UNLV on a 23-2 run over the next eight minutes en route to a 40-31 halftime lead.

The Rebels extended their lead to as many as 18 points, 66-48, in the second half.

UNLV, which finished with 13 steals, held a 23-13 edge in points off turnovers.

It didn’t look good for UNLV early on Tuesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center as the Rebels fell quickly behind, 17-7, to the hot-shooting TCU Horned Frogs.

Picking up where they left off in last year’s Mountain West Tournament quarterfinal game when the Frogs hit an amazing 17-of-23 treys, TCU hit its first three shots behind the arc to make them 20-of-26 over the two-game span.

Then the Rebels decided to play a little defense. Uh, a lot of defense.

UNLV outscored the Frogs, 23-2, over the next eight minutes en route to a 40-31 halftime lead.

The Rebels used a half-court trap to perfection and forced 17 turnovers. That helped UNLV to a 15-8 edge in points off turnovers.

UNLV also shot the ball well connecting on 6 of 10 3-pointers. Joe Darger led the way with 14 points, including 4 of 7 treys, while Wink Adams added 10 points including 2 of 3 3-pointers.

UNLV head coach Lon Kruger juggled his starting lineup for the second straight game Tuesday night against TCU.  Kruger stayed with a four-guard lineup  but replaced Tre’Von Willis with fellow sophomore guard Kendall Wallace.  It is the first start in Wallace’s 52-game career.

Getting ready for tipoff for tonight’s TCU game at the Thomas & Mack Center and easily the smallest crowd of the conference season right now. Can’t be more than 4,000 in the stands.