No. 9 Kent St (28-6) at No. 8 UNLV (26-7)

By Matt Holt
Don Best Sports

The UNLV Runnin' Rebels will play a game outside of the friendly confines of Thomas & Mack Center for the first time in three weeks when they travel to Omaha, Nebraska to take on the Kent State Golden Flashes in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Rebels Coach Lon Kruger pulled off another magic act this season leading the undersized Rebels to 26 wins and a second consecutive Mountain West Conference tournament championship. Yet Kruger almost missed the opportunity to patrol the sidelines in Las Vegas this season.

An annual stress test revealed abnormalities that led to a six-bypass, four-hour, open-heart surgery in August. Kruger was back in the office less than a week after surgery.

Upon his return, Kruger was greeted with several unfamiliar faces. This is because UNLV graduated five seniors from last season's Sweet Sixteen team. Among those who graduated included leading scorer and rebounder Wendell White, point guard and coach's son Kevin Kruger, and MWC Defensive Player of the Year Joel Anthony.

Despite the loss of so many key components from a year ago, the Rebels did not miss a beat. They went 11-3 in non-conference play with two of those losses coming against Louisville and Arizona. They went an impressive 12-4 in a conference that sent five teams to postseason tournaments.

The Rebels are led by speedy guard Wink Adams, who averages 16.1 points and over three assists per game. Joining Adams in the backcourt is leading assist man Curtis Terry.

This backcourt duo is the strength of the Rebels squad. Not only do Adams and Terry set up the offense, but on the defensive side of the ball these two are the major reason that the Rebels rank No. 2 in the nation in defending the three-pointer.

Kent State is one of just nine Division I programs to record 20-win seasons in each of the last nine seasons right along storied programs like Duke and Kansas. Unfortunately, due to their status as a mid-major, the Golden Flashes have not gotten a chance to show their prowess in the postseason on a regular basis.

The Golden Flashes were 14-3 in a tough non-conference schedule that included losses to North Carolina, Xavier, and wins against St. Mary's, Illinois State and George Mason.

The Golden Flashes started and finished strong in the MAC. They won six of their first seven in conference and closed by winning seven of their last eight including a 19-point thrashing of Akron in the conference championship.

Kent is led by 6-foot-7 senior forward Mike Scott and junior guard Al Fisher. The Golden Flashes have four players that average over 10 points per game, which makes them a tough guard for any team.

5Dimes.com opened the game with Kent -1 but the early money has come in on the Golden Flashes with rumors swirling about Wink Adams possibly suffering from flu-like symptoms.

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