Tre'Von Willis

The buzz for the 2011-12 UNLV men's basketball season has stayed consistently high ever since Dave Rice was hired as the program's new head coach back in early April.

Over the past two years, in stores around Las Vegas and bookstores on campus, Nike-produced No. 33 UNLV jerseys were available for sale, and several of them could be seen in the stands at Rebel home games.Surely, UNLV didn't bank off of Tre'Von Willis' likeness nearly as much as, say, BYU did from Jimmer Fredette's No. 32, but Willis is cashing in on it himself now that his eligibility has expired.

It's going to be a long offseason for the UNLV men's basketball program following a brutal ending Friday night in its NCAA Tournament opener.

For full pregame, in-game and postgame coverage, including a live blog, live tweets, stories, analysis, stats, photos, and "The Rebel Room" podcast, log on to lasvegassun.com/rebels.

Seven months removed from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, UNLV guard Kendall Wallace can see the improvement in his golf swing.

It was just over a week ago when UNLV's NCAA basketball tournament hopes appeared to be drifting away.

Today's game tips off at 1 p.m. For full pre-game, in-game and post-game coverage, go to lasvegassun.com/rebels.

Follow Ryan Greene at twitter.com/ryanmgreene

NEXT FOR UNLV

Willis scores 16 points as UNLV beats short-handed No. 11 Kansas State 63-59. Tre'Von Willis scored 16 points and Oscar Bellfield hit a key 3-pointer in the final 70 seconds, leading UNLV to a 63-59 victory Tuesday night over No. 11 Kansas State, whose two best players were suspended shortly before the game.

Nunnally scores 23, UC Santa Barbara beats No. 22 UNLV 68-62. James Nunnally scored 23 points and UC Santa Barbara held off poor-shooting No. 22 UNLV 68-62 Wednesday night.

UP NEXT FOR UNLV

Knowles leads second-half charge as No. 24 Louisville knocks off No. 20 UNLV 77-69. Preston Knowles scored all 20 of his points in the second half and No. 24 Louisville remained unbeaten with a 77-69 win over No. 20 UNLV on Saturday in the Billy Minardi Classic.

Chace Stanback's 16 points leads No. 20 UNLV over Boise State 75-72. Chace Stanback had 16 points and six rebounds to lead No. 20 UNLV to a 75-72 victory over Boise State on Wednesday night.

Oscar Bellfield scores 24 for UNLV, Rebels 8-0 for first time since 1990. Oscar Bellfield's sharp shooting and UNLV's stingy defense got the No. 24 Rebels to their first 8-0 start since a more famous Runnin' Rebels team did the same thing.

Just in time for its first major test of the 2010-11 season, the UNLV men's basketball team gets a boost with the return of senior guard Tre'Von Willis (pictured) from a four-game suspension. The punishment stemmed from offseason legal issues, although the Rebels have flourished in two blowout victories to start off the regular season without him. With Willis' return, though, UNLV gets back one of its most proven assets.

FOLLOW THE SUN'S RYAN Greene

On Anthony Marshall's heavily tattooed upper right arm, below a pair of flaming dice, reads "702 Raised."The UNLV sophomore guard was born in Louisiana but moved to the desert soon after. Now, on the verge of a breakout season, he has become a valuable marketing tool for a basketball program trying to further connect with the Las Vegas community.

UP NEXT FOR UNLV

1. Will ad campaign urging Hispanic voters to stay home work? A new conservative campaign is urging Hispanics not to vote.