LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — UNLV faces Air Force on Wednesday to open the Mountain West basketball tournament.
Tipoff at the Thomas & Mack Center is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
UNLV is seeded seventh in the tournament; Air Force is No. 10. The MW tourney winner earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
San Diego State is the tournament’s top seed. The Aztecs won the regular-season championship, going 15-3 in conference games and 24-6 overall. San Diego State is No. 20 in The Associated Press Top 25 rankings.
Boise State, 13-5 in the conference, is the No. 2 seed, followed by Utah State (12-6) at No. 3. The top three seeds earned a first-round bye.
Air Force finished 5-13 in the conference, 14-17 overall. The Rebels were 7-11 and 18-12. UNLV won the only meeting this season between the two teams, 54-53 on Feb. 24.
Other games Wednesday to open the tourney at the Thomas & Mack pit Fresno State against Colorado (11 a.m.) and Wyoming against New Mexico (4 p.m.)
Games are livestreamed at the Mountain West website.
Harkless picked for second team
UNLV’s EJ Harkless was picked second-team All-Mountain West in voting by the conference’s 11 coaches and media members. The 6-foot-3 senior guard from San Bernardino, California, averaged 20.7 points in conference games, ranking No. 2, shot 43.1 percent and also averaged 5.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.6 steals.
In 30 games overall, Harkless averaged 18.6 points, leading the Rebels, and five rebounds.