GAME NOTES: Desperate to find some consistent play, the slumping UNLV Runnin' Rebels take on the Utah State Aggies in Mountain West Conference action at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday.

Since defeating Southern Utah in a blowout a couple days after Christmas, the Runnin' Rebels have survived just one outing in seven, a 74-40 thrashing of a San Jose State program that has yet to defeat another Division I foe. Clearly UNLV is struggling, although it did play New Mexico to within two points on Wednesday night in a 71-69 home loss.

At this stage, UNLV has dropped three straight and six of the last seven, which means it is just 1-5 in conference and ninth in the MWC standings heading into the weekend.

The story is a bit more favorable for the Aggies, who are tied with Colorado State and Fresno State for fourth place in the MWC at 4-2. An even 4-4 on the road, USU topped Nevada earlier in the week by a 70-54 final in Reno, marking the team's second win in as many outings.

As far as the all-time series is concerned, UNLV has dominated with 29 wins in 32 opportunities. The Rebels swept the series in 2013-14, the first campaign for Utah State as a member of the MWC, the first meetings between the programs since 1996.

Utah State, which has won only once (1995) against UNLV in Sin City, is slated to host the Rebels a month from now in Logan to complete the regular-season series.

For the 11th time this season, the Aggies held an opponent to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor as they limited Nevada to only 35.0 percent during the win on Tuesday night at the Lawlor Events Center. Jalen Moore spearheaded the offense for the visitors, posting 22 points as he converted all four of his shots behind the 3-point line and 9-of-15 from the floor overall. Chris Smith and David Collette tacked on 10 points apiece, the latter clearing seven rebounds as well.

Moore paces the Aggies in scoring on the season with 16.0 ppg, but he has boosted his number in that department to 17.5 ppg versus the rest of the league thanks to a staggering 66.7 percent effort beyond the arc over those six outings. Because of him, and the effort put forth by Smith (12.2 ppg) with his 14-of-25 accuracy out on the perimeter, Utah State is connecting on 49.1 percent behind the 3-point line, compared to a mere 29.5 percent by its Mountain West competition.

In a game that featured 10 ties and 12 lead changes, the Rebels lost a golden opportunity to extend the game against New Mexico in the final seconds, but Jalen Kendrick was stripped of the ball on his way to the basket with the Lobos ahead by two. The Rebels were paced by Christian Wood with his 20 points and nine rebounds, but he had just a single blocked shot, while Rashad Vaughn and Patrick McCaw contributed 13 points apiece, the latter adding six assists in the losing effort.

Goodluck Okonoboh (5.2 rpg, 50 blocks) did not play for the Runnin' Rebels versus UNM due to a case of plantar fasciitis that has prevented him from practicing all week, and he is still listed as questionable for this meeting against the Aggies.

Vaughn is responsible for 17.2 ppg to lead the UNLV offense, although one could argue that Wood is the more valuable asset. The big man is close to averaging a double-double with 14.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per contest and is also first with 54 blocked shots. However, there are times when his presence is not always felt, whether it is due to foul trouble or his insistence on trying to be a threat out on the perimeter where he has made 30.0 percent of his 3-point tries.

Being at home should give the Rebels a distinct advantage, but if Okonoboh is unable to go and Wood has trouble establishing himself near the basket, this could be another long 40 minutes for UNLV.