Las Vegas hosts basketball’s Thanksgiving Madness
UNLV isn’t the only college basketball team playing in Las Vegas this week.
The city is welcoming several men’s and women’s basketball events across a plethora of venues before and after Thanksgiving. A handful of players with Las Vegas ties are returning to their old stomping grounds, and some of the best teams in the country are here, too — including national runner up Texas Tech.
Here are the details.
MGM Resorts Main Event
Heavyweight bracket
When: Sunday, Tuesday
Where: T-Mobile Arena
No. 23 Colorado squares off against Wyoming at 5 p.m. Sunday, and Texas Christian and Clemson follow at 7:30. The losers will play a consolation game at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The winners play for the championship at 8:30.
Middleweight bracket
When: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday
Where: Clark High School
Detroit meets UC-Irvine at noon Sunday, then Louisiana at 1 p.m. Monday. UC-Irvine and Louisiana conclude the event Tuesday at 1 p.m.
Continental Tire Classic
When: Wednesday
Where: Orleans Arena
Oregon State and San Jose State play ahead of the eight-team Continental Tire Invitational.
Continental Tire Invitational
When: Thursday, Friday
Where: Orleans Arena
Tennessee State and Cal Poly open play Thursday at 11 a.m., followed by North Florida and LIU-Brooklyn at 1 p.m. National runner up and No. 12 Texas Tech plays Iowa at 5, and Creighton tangles with San Diego State at 7:30.
The losers of the first two games play a consolation game at 11 a.m. Friday, and the winners play at 1:30 p.m. The winners of the third and fourth games play for the championship at 5, and the losers play a consolation game at 7:30.
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Women
Thanksgiving Shootout
When: Friday, Saturday
Where: South Point Arena
Ten teams from across the country congregate for two games apiece. Sacred Heart opens Friday against Detroit Mercy at 11 a.m., and Tennessee Tech and Northern Illinois follow at 1:15 p.m. South Dakota and Ohio State play at 3:30, Southern California and Nebraska play at 5:45, and Northern Iowa and Alabama conclude the first day at 8.
Detroit Mercy plays Tennessee Tech at 11 a.m. Saturday, and Northern Illinois and South Dakota play at 1:15 p.m. Nebraska meets Sacred Heart at 3:30, Ohio State and Northern Iowa play at 5:45, and Alabama and Southern California conclude the event at 8.
Lady Rebel Round Up
When: Saturday, Dec. 1
Where: Cox Pavilion
UNLV hosts Elon at 11 a.m. Saturday, and St. John’s plays Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis at 1:30 p.m. The losers meet Sunday at 11 a.m., and the winners play for the championship at 1:30 p.m.
Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Men
Tres Tinkle, Oregon State: The senior forward and All-America candidate averages 22.6 points and 10.2 rebounds.
McKinley Wright IV, Colorado: The all-conference junior point guard averages 14.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists.
Tyler Bey, Colorado: The junior forward, formerly of Las Vegas High, averages 15 points and 9.7 rebounds.
PJ Fuller, Texas Christian: The former Findlay Prep star is averaging 5.8 points as a freshman.
Jahmi'us Ramsey, Texas Tech: The freshman guard is averaging a team-high 17.5 points.
Kyler Edwards, Texas Tech: The former Findlay Prep guard averages 10 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Women
Aliyah Jeune, Southern California: The senior guard averages a team-high 11.7 points.
Dorka Juhasz, Ohio State: The sophomore forward scores 12.3 points and 10.7 rebounds.
Leigha Brown, Nebraska: The sophomore forward averages 15.6 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Cierra Johnson, Alabama: The senior guard averages 13.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.
