Josh Pastner’s whirlwind first season as UNLV’s basketball coach will end in a postseason appearance after all.
The Rebels landed a bid in the National Invitation Tournament on Sunday and will visit UC Irvine at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Bren Events Center in Irvine, California.
The winner will face No. 1 seed Tulsa or Stephen F. Austin in the second round Saturday or Sunday. The location has yet to be determined.
UNLV lost to No. 1-seeded Utah State 80-60 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center, missing the NCAA Tournament for the 13th straight season.
Before the tournament, Pastner made it clear his team would be taking any postseason opportunity they were offered.
“Obviously, the goal is to win the (Mountain West) and keep playing in the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “But if somehow you’re not, you want to keep playing.”
UNLV (17-16) is one of five Mountain West teams that will play in the 32-team NIT, joining UNR, New Mexico, Colorado State and Wyoming.
San Diego State, which lost to Utah State in the conference championship game Saturday, turned down an offer, saying it is too banged up with injuries to “benefit” from the NIT.
Irvine (23-11) won the Big West Conference regular-season title, but lost to Hawaii in the tournament championship game Saturday at Lee’s Family Forum.
UNLV, a Big West member from 1982 to 1996, has not played UC Irvine since 2012.
Guard Myles Che, who transferred to UNLV from UC Irvine this season, powered his former school’s run in the NIT last season. The Anteaters lost to Chattanooga in overtime in the championship game. Che did not play for the Rebels this season because of a foot injury he sustained during the offseason.
The Rebels played in the 2024 NIT, the team’s first postseason appearance since the 2013 NCAA Tournament. They beat Princeton and Boston College before losing to Seton Hall in the quarterfinals.
This will be UNLV’s 12th appearance in the NIT. The team is 10-12 and has not advanced to the semifinals since 1980.
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Callie__Fin on X.
