UNLV - UNC Capsule

Game Day

Date: Saturday, December 29, 2012

Time: 2:00 PM

Location: Chapel Hill, N.C. - Dean E. Smith Center (21,750)

TV: ESPN2 (Watch Online)

Announcers: Jon Sciambi (play-by-play) & Jay Bilas (color analyst)

Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network; SiriusXM (Sirius 91, XM 91)

Announcers: Jones Angell (play-by-play), Eric Montross (color analyst) & Dave Nathan (host)

Rankings: UNLV: AP - 20, USA Today - 17; North Carolina: AP - NR USA Today - NR

Coaches: Dave Rice (37-10 at UNLV; 37-10 Overall); Roy Williams (266-71 at UNC; 684-172 Overall)

UNLV at a glance

Location: Nevada, Las Vegas

Nickname: Runnin' Rebels

Colors: Scarlet & Gray

Conference: Mountain West

Venue: Thomas & Mack Center (18,500)

2011-2012 Record: 26-9 (9-5)

2012-2013 Record: 11-1 (0-0)

More on the Runnin' Rebels: Schedule - Statistics - Roster - Message Boards - Rivals Site - Official Site

Last Game

UNLV: Once he had seized control of the game, UNLV's Anthony Bennett smiled each time he made a basket on Saturday. Bennett, who had 21 points and seven rebounds to lead No. 21 UNLV to an 89-74 victory over Canisius, was one of five Rebels to score in double figures. [Recap]

North Carolina: UNC gave its fans an early Christmas present Saturday afternoon by playing cohesively on both ends of the floor and making a bunch of shots on its way to a 97-63 triumph over visiting McNeese State. The Tar Heels settled the issue quickly with an impressive first half, building an 18-6 lead in the first eight minutes and stretching the lead beyond 30 points (54-23) by halftime. [Recap]

UNLV-North Carolina Series

Saturday's game will be the fifth meeting between UNC and UNLV and the first in Chapel Hill. Carolina has won three of the previous four meetings entering this weekend's game. Saturday will mark the first on-campus meeting between UNLV and UNC after previous meetings in the NCAA Tournament, Great Alaska Shootout, Food Lion Classic in Charlotte and a meeting in Las Vegas last year. Last season's matchup between the Tar Heels and Runnin' Rebels came in the Orleans Arena, not at the Thomas & Mack Center (UNLV's home floor). The Tar Heels won the first three meetings in the series, including a win in the NCAA Final Four in Atlanta (on March 26, 1977), the Great Alaska Shootout (Dec. 1, 1985) and the Food Lion Classic (Dec. 4, 1999, in Charlotte). The Rebels beat top-ranked Carolina 90-80 in the title game of the Las Vegas Invitational a year ago in the Orleans Arena. UNC head coach Roy Williams is 3-1 against UNLV, including a 3-0 mark at Kansas and a loss as the Tar

Heel coach last season in Las Vegas.

UNLV-North Carolina Notes

UNLV: UNLV has won nine straight games, including its first three on the road this season.

UNLV: The Runnin' Rebels are coming off a 3-0 week: a 62-60 road win at UTEP on Dec. 17, a 73-59 homewin over Northern Iowa on Dec. 19, and an 89-74 home win over Canisius on Dec. 22.

UNLV: UNLV has been led by freshman Anthony Bennett, who is averaging 19.5 ppg and has led the Runnin' Rebels in scoring in 10 of their 12 games and nine of their last 10. He is second in the Mountain West and 27th nationally, leading all freshmen. Bennett also leads the team in rebounding with 8.5 rpg (fifth in the MW) and field-goal percentage at .557 (second in the MW).

UNLV: Junior forward Mike Moser led the team in rebounding with 8.3 rpg before he dislocated his elbow early

in the game at Cal on Dec. 9. He is third on the team in scoring average at 10.9 ppg, but has missed five of the team's last six games and is expected to continue to be out of action for a considerable amount of time. Prior to the game at Cal, Moser missed the game in his hometown of Portland because of a hip injury.

UNLV:Senior guard Anthony Marshall leads the team and the MW in the MW in assists with 5.25 apg and is

fourth on the team in scoring with 10.3 ppg.

UNLV: Freshman guard Katin Reinhardt, sophomore guard Bryce Dejean-Jones and senior guard Justin

Hawkins are all averaging between 8.3 and 10.0 ppg as the Runnin' Rebels have five players averaging double figures. Birch is at 11.7 ppg through three games.

UNLV: The Runnin' Rebels are eighth in the country in assists per game (17.8), 10th in percentage of field goals assisted (66.0), 10th in rebounding (42.3), 18th in blocks per game (5.6), 20th in field-goal percentage defense (37.1) and 21st in scoring (78.4 ppg).

UNLV: UNLV returns six letterwinners, including two starters, from last year's team that finished the season with an overall record of 26-9 and placed third in the MW with a 9-5 mark. UNLV played in its third straight NCAA Tournament last season and fifth in the last six years.

UNC: Carolina is unranked in both the Associated Press and the coaches poll this week after being as high as No. 9 in both polls in November. UNC was ranked in the first seven installments of both polls

to start this season before dropping out on Dec. 24. The Dec. 24 poll broke a run of 33 consecutive weeks in the AP poll for the Tar Heels (dating to Jan. 29, 2011). In Roy Williams' 10 seasons as the Tar Heel head coach, UNC has been ranked in the AP poll in 154 of 178 rankings (86.5 percent) During the Williams era, Carolina has been unranked by the AP for six weeks in 2005-06, eight weeks in 2009-10, nine weeks in 2010-11 and one week this season.

UNC: After Saturday's contest, Carolina will not play again until Jan. 6. In eight days, the Tar Heels will open Atlantic Coast Conference play for 2012-13 on Sunday Jan. 6 at Virginia. Two of UNC's first three ACC games this season will come on the road, including matchups at Virginia and on Jan. 12 at Florida State. Sandwiched between those two conference road games will

be a Jan. 10 home date against Miami.

Team notes courtesy of the ACC, UNLV and UNC Athletic Communications