UCLA to play UNLV for first round of Maui Invitational
By Matt Joye
July 28, 2015 4:13 p.m.
UCLA men’s basketball’s 2015-2016 season schedule became a little bit clearer on Tuesday morning.
At about 10:15 a.m. PDT, the bracket for the Maui Invitational was released, and UCLA found out it will be playing the University of Nevada Las Vegas in the first round. The full bracket can be found below.
“It’s probably the best preseason (tournament) field in college basketball this year,” said ESPN men’s college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg during a Maui Invitational teleconference Tuesday morning.
A tough break for the Bruins is that they will likely have to play the tournament’s top team – Kansas – if they defeat UNLV and advance to the winner’s bracket. The Jayhawks, ranked No. 8 in ESPN.com’s Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings, will face the lowest-ranked team in the tournament – the Chaminade Silverswords, a Division II team – in the first round.
UCLA, meanwhile, will face a young UNLV team in the first round. The Rebels were 18-15 last season with a playing rotation that included five freshman, including guard Rashad Vaughn, the team’s leading scorer. UNLV lost Vaughn and its second-leading scorer – forward Christian Wood – to the pros, but will have some high-profile talent coming in to replace those players. The Rebels’ recruiting class was ranked No. 16 in the nation in 2015, per ESPN, while the Bruins had the No. 25 class.
“No doubt, it’s early to play such a game of this magnitude, and we’ll have to be ready,” said UNLV coach Dave Rice during the teleconference. “And so I think that’s one of the things that’s motivated us all spring and summer into the fall – is how tough our schedule is and what a challenge it is.”
The UCLA-UNLV matchup tips off off at 8:30 p.m. PDT on Nov. 23. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
“I think we’ll get a good picture of just who we are early in the season coming out of this tournament,” said coach Steve Alford during the teleconference. “Obviously, starting with UNLV, you’re gonna get a really good idea, a good picture, of where your team is going into December.”
