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Tempe to Las Vegas is roughly a five hour drive, or a short 45-minute to an hour flight. It makes sense for ASU and UNLV to play each other on the hardwood. The Runnin' Rebels are a consistently competitive mid-major that can give the Sun Devils quality out of conference competition and provide the all-important strength of schedule come tournament time.
Monday, the teams renewed their home-and-home basketball series according to Jon Rothstein of CBSsports.com
Arizona State and UNLV will continue their home-and-home series next season, source told @CBSSports. Story: http://t.co/vZDfd18Y9M
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 13, 2015
The Sun Devils will visit Las Vegas on Dec. 16 next season and their will be a return game to Tempe some time during the 2016-17 campaign according to Rothstein.
New ASU head coach Bobby Hurley also has some history with the Runnin' Rebels. He helped Duke upset UNLV in the Final Four in 1991. Watch the full game here.
The Sun Devils have beaten UNLV in each of the last two seasons. Jahii Carson had a memorable night dropping 40 points at the Thomas & Mack Center two years ago as ASU won 86-80. The Sun Devils also won last season in Tempe 77-55. Eric Jacobsen starred in that game with 16 points and 12 rebounds.