GAME NOTES: Now in its third year, the Governor's Series adds another installment on Wednesday night as the UNLV Runnin' Rebels host the Nevada Wolf Pack in Mountain West Conference action at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The Wolf Pack has shown signs of life recently, not only bringing an end to an eight-game slide, but also winning three straight outings. The latest triumph for the program was an 80-62 rout of Air Force on Saturday, kicking off the MWC schedule in a positive manner. However, of the five victories registered by Nevada, two have come against opponents outside of the Division I ranks (Adams State and Northwest Christian), so there is still much work to be done in Reno.

As for the Runnin' Rebels, they've been a bit of an enigma in recent weeks. The team celebrated a huge upset of third-ranked Arizona just before Christmas, then demolished Southern Utah before losing to Wyoming on New Year's Eve in the conference opener. It then came up short against 13th-ranked Kansas on Sunday, 76-61.

This is a spot for UNLV to generate some momentum, as the next game on the schedule has the team hosting lowly San Jose State on Saturday.

UNLV leads the series by a 56-21 margin, although the Pack swept the two games last season, snapping an eight-game slide versus the Runnin' Rebels and marking the first series sweep by Nevada since the 1994-95 campaign.

The Governor's Series, won by UNLV the first two years, is an annual competition between the two Silver State schools that rewards head-to-head challenges both athletic and academic.

All of a sudden Nevada has shown signs of life, turning in a very strong performance against the Falcons in the conference opener. The Pack scored the first points of the contest and never looked back, converting 48.0 percent from the floor and 25-of-35 at the free-throw line in order to secure the 18- point home win at the Lawlor Events Center.

Marqueze Coleman converted 6-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-4 beyond the arc, as he finished with 18 points, while D.J. Fenner tacked on 17. AJ West recorded a double-double for the hosts with 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, nine of those boards coming at the offensive end of the floor as Nevada beat Air Force on the glass, 38-25.

Fenner, who is shooting only 39.1 percent from the field, leads a trio of double-digit scorers for the Pack with his 12.5 ppg. West places second in that department with 11.3 ppg and is first with both 9.0 rpg and 32 blocked shots, but still it is tough to get beyond the fact that he has been credited with a mere six assists, even by accident that number should be greater for someone who is closing in on 300 minutes of playing time. Coleman, a dismal 24.0 percent shooter out on the perimeter, adds another 10.9 ppg to the attack.

In the final non-conference outing of the season for the Rebels, the trip to Lawrence, Kansas proved to be too much of a struggle as the squad suffered the 15-point loss versus the Jayhawks. Christian Wood and Cody Doolin both tallied 12 points, the former also pulling down eight rebounds, followed by Rashad Vaughn and Jelan Kendrick with only 10 points apiece. Fellow starter Goodluck Okonoboh, finished with six points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots for a group that led at halftime but was eventually outscored (38-28) and outrebounded (45-31) in the paint.

Vaughn and Wood have been tasked with carrying the Rebels for better or for worse this season and so far they've managed to get by, particularly at home where UNLV is still a perfect 7-0. Vaughn leads the offense with 17.3 ppg, although his production could be even greater if not for the fact that he has made only 60.3 percent of his free-throw attempts. Wood, who checks in at 69.2 percent at the stripe, is close to averaging a double-double with 15.4 ppg and 9.6 rpg, not to mention being responsible for 41 of the team's 102 blocked shots. Okonoboh (5.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg) has come up with another 38 rejections.

The Wolf Pack caught lightning in a bottle in the last outing, but going up against a major rival is a completely different story and one that will not end well for Nevada on Wednesday.