Dayton adds Runnin’ Rebels to early-season schedule
The Dayton FlyDAYTON — ers will play UNLV on Nov. 15 in Las Vegas, according to a source, and the Runnin’ Rebels will come to UD Arena for a game in the 2023-24 season.
Dayton Athletic Director Neil Sullivan said Monday he expected two homeand-home series to be announced soon, and this is one of them, though neither school has made an official announcement.
The UNLV game will likely be Dayton’s second or third of the season. Teams can play as early as Nov. 8.
Five of Dayton’s 13 non-conference opponents on the 2022-23 schedule are now known: UNLV (Nov. 15); Robert Morris (Nov. 19 at UD Arena);
Western Michigan (Nov. 30 at UD Arena); Wyoming (Dec. 17 in Chicago); and
Virginia Tech (in Blacksburg, Virginia, date to be announced).
Dayton also knows it will play three teams from this group Nov. 23-25 in the Battle 4 Atlantis: Kansas, Tennessee, Southern Califor- nia, N.C. State, Wisconsin, Butler and BYU.
That leaves five opponents to be announced.
Dayton and UNLV have never played. It will be the first of two Mountain West opponents on Dayton’s schedule. The Flyers play Wyoming on Dec. 17 at the United Center in Chicago.
The game in Las Vegas will also be the first of at least two true road games on the non- conference schedule with the game in Blacksburg being the second. Dayton also played two true road games last season in non-conference play: at Southern Method- ist and at Mississippi.
UNLV finished 18-14 last season, the first for coach Kevin Kruger. The Runnin’ Rebels ranked 97th in the
NCAA Evaluation Tool and 90th in the Ken Pomeroy ratings. They last played in the NCAA tournament in 2013.
UNLV lost their top three scorers from last season: Bryce Hamilton (21.8 points per game); Donovan Williams (12.7); and Royce Hamm (8.6). They add five transfers: Elijah Harkless (Oklahoma, 10.0); Jackie Johnson III (Duquesne, 9.5); Elijah Parquet (Colorado, 6.9); Luis Rodriguez (Ole Miss, 6.6); and Isaiah Cottrell (West Virginia, 4.2).
UNLV p lays home games at the 18,000-seat Thomas & Mack Center, the third-largest Division I arena.