GAME NOTES: The UNLV Runnin' Rebels hope to follow up a monumental win by taking care of business against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in non- conference action at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday night.

The Rebels remained perfect at home earlier this week, notching their sixth win in as many opportunities, as they stunned third-ranked Arizona by a score of 71-67. For UNLV, the win was the first over a team ranked as high as third in the nation at the Thomas & Mack Center since 1988 when it defeated No. 3 Temple.

The victory for UNLV was the fourth in the last five outings, the one setback during the stretch being a 59-46 final versus 14th-ranked Utah during the MGM Grand Showcase last weekend. While the Mountain West Conference schedule kicks off on New Year's Eve versus Wyoming, the Rebels still have a meeting with 10th-ranked Kansas slated for Jan. 4.

Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds are off to just a 3-7 start, but while that may sound disappointing, it is important to remember that the squad logged only two wins all of last season. Two days before Christmas, the program defeated South Carolina State, 66-56, in the final game of the Las Vegas Classic, giving the T'birds one more win than they had all of 2013-14. The victory at Orleans Arena snapped a three-game slide by SUU.

Not surprisingly, the Rebels have a huge advantage in the all-time series with SUU, 20-7, winning 20 in a row over the Thunderbirds. The most recent of those triumphs came in Cedar City last season by a score of 73-51. The last time Southern Utah faced off against UNLV at the Thomas & Mack was in 2010.

Against SCSU, the Thunderbirds finished with 45.7 percent shooting from the floor overall and was 7-of-14 behind the 3-point line, compared to just 1- of-13 out on the perimeter for the opposition. A.J. Hess produced a game-high 21 points, followed by reserves Tyler Rawson and James McGee who both tallied 12 points, the former also clearing eight rebounds and blocking four shots for a team that held South Carolina State to just 38.6 percent shooting from the floor.

The leading scorer in two of the last three outings and five times overall so far this season, Hess is responsible for 13.7 ppg to pace the program. A 90 percent shooter at the free-throw line, Hess is shooting almost as well from three-point range, just over 45 percent, as he is from the floor overall (.462). Heading into the meeting with UNLV, the only other double-digit scorer for the Thunderbirds is McGee with his 10.8 ppg in his eight appearances.

Trailing by as many as eight points midway through the first half, the Rebels stayed close to Arizona at the break and then made their move late in order to snap a 39-game win streak for the Wildcats against non-conference foes in the regular season. Christian Wood registered a double-double for the hosts with 24 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Rebels to a considerable 46-33 advantage on the glass. Rashad Vaughn contributed another 21 points and Patrick McCaw 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench as UNLV overcame 15 turnovers and just 15-of-24 shooting at the free-throw line.

Unfortunately for the Runnin' Rebels, their issues at the foul line could cause some major problems once conference play begins, seeing as how the unit is hitting attempts there at a woeful 59.6 percent clip. When you consider the program is getting to the stripe about 20 times per game, that's quite a few points being unrealized.

Vaughn (17.7 ppg) has had trouble connecting on free-throws, converting just 62.5 percent, the same going for Wood (13.9 ppg) at 64.4 percent, but keeping either of them off the floor at crucial moments would be foolish, particularly since the latter paces UNLV with 9.6 rpg.

Certainly it would not be uncommon to see the Rebels have a let down in this meeting, but even if that were to happen the hosts still have far too much talent for Southern Utah to score an upset. Then again, that's what Arizona thought when they stopped in Sin City as well.