Nevada (25-6) vs UNLV (18-10)
March 9, 2024 at 10:30 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Nevada Wolf Pack -5.5 — Over/Under:
The UNLV Rebels and the Nevada Wolf Pack meet Saturday in college basketball action from Lawlor Events Center. Let’s get into our UNLV vs. Nevada prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Pick Dawgz.
UNLV Rebels
The Rebels were just .500 over their first 18 games this year, but they’ve only lost one game (versus Nevada) since then. UNLV is currently riding a five-game win streak. In that time it’s been victories over Air Force, Colorado State, Wyoming, San Jose State and San Diego State.
In the San Diego State game back on Tuesday, the Rebels came out of the break with a 33-28 edge. UNLV was outscored by one point the rest of the way but held on for the win 62-58. Dedan Thomas was the top team scorer with his 19 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Over on the Nevada side, they lost just one of their first 16 games then hit a rough 1-4 stretch in January. The Wolfpack are 9-1 in their last 10 and have beaten UNLV, Wyoming, San Jose State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Boise State during a six-game win streak.
On Tuesday versus Boise State, the Wolf Pack were ahead 35-29 going into the second half. Nevada didn’t let up on a 41-37 run from there and took the victory 76-66 in the end. Hunter McIntosh topped the team with 26 points and four steals in the win.
ANDREW’S FREE UNLV VS NEVADA PREDICTION
I’ll stick with Nevada, but you could call this one either way. It should be a great matchup. The Wolf Pack were solid on defense versus Boise State in their last outing, holding the Broncos to 41.7 percent from the field and bagging 21 points off 14 turnovers. The 3-point shooting was great (12-of-24) in that one, but not so much for the free throws (18-of-27) or rebounding (a 39-23 deficit). Still, that makes a nice 69 or more points in 10 straight games for Nevada.
The Wolf Pack took a 69-66 road victory the last time these teams met up back on February 17. Nevada started out slowly in that one and had a whopping 17 turnovers but otherwise played pretty well—outside of a rough 5-of-21 from 3-point range. Anything could happen in this rematch, but I like Nevada to have the cover advantage.