SITE: Tulsa, Okla.
TIME: 9:20 p.m.
TV: TBS
ANNOUNCERS: Marv Albert play-by-play, Steve Kerr analyst
THE SPREAD: UNLV by 2.5
RECORDS: UNLV 24-8, Illinois 19-13
ENROLLMENTS: UNLV 29,000; Illinois 41,198
THE BUZZ: Illinois has underachieved this season, but still has the talent to make some NCAA noise. These teams are extremely closely matched, with the big difference being the Illini are proficient from 3-point range (38.7 percent) and UNLV isn’t (33.1). UNLV forces almost 17 turnovers per game, and the Illini need to take care of the ball or the Runnin‘ Rebels will blitz them in transition. Illinois senior big men Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale will be going against a UNLV frontcourt that lacks true big men. That should be a big advantage (no pun intended) for the Illini. But given how Davis and Tisdale can float through games and come up small, it might not hurt UNLV all that much.
