Sleepy J -- UNLV minus 7.5 over Hawaii ... We are backing the Running Rebels tonight. Hawaii is in a tough spot. First road game of the season and that typically doesn't go well. It's a long travel and the body clocks are off for the Rainbow players. UNLV is coming off a nice road win and they now remain undefeated. Plus, the Rebels had a few days off to marinate and digest that nice road win. Hawaii has more than a few issues in this game. First is the FT line. They don't get to the FT line and UNLV doesn't put teams on the FT line. So that part of the game will favor UNLV by a few ticks. One of Hawaii's strengths is 3pt defense, but UNLV can shoot the rock from the outside, so that massive advantage might not be in there favor. Plus Hawaii always playing at home vs subpar teams at the pace in which they run can really bolster that 3pt defense stat. Hawaii bench is bad. They can run on the fast break and it's the opposite with UNLV. UNLV is is a huge favorite in these areas as well..Assists and rebounds favor the Rebels also by a few ticks. Nothing major, but it does move the needle¿ a little bit. I feel like the biggest advantage here for UNLV is the turnovers. They are the #1 team in the nation turning teams over. They rely on that so much and they get teams to turn the ball over. Hawaii is very good on paper at not turning the ball over, but again, they played every game at home. The home team dictates pace and Hawaii is #344 out of 363 teams...It's a snail pace. Bottom of the barrel in pace. UNLV will dictate the pace and the Rainbows will play faster than they want too. That will take one of the strengths for them and turn it into a slight positive for the Rebels. I can see UNLV getting some steals and some ugly Hawaii passes into the bleachers. UNLV might find themselves cracking the TOP 25 with a 9-0 record with a nice win tonight. That's also on the menu as well. Hawaii has beaten 1 team with a winning record and that was Texas St. Big deal. Hawaii just lost at home to Texas A&M CC Lions. Now this game isn't at Thomas and Mack and that is UNLV home court, but it will just up the road in the new arena in Henderson. I expect it to be sold out tonight. Hawaii is in trouble. I got this one in that 78-62 area.
