San Diego State at UNLV

When: 1 p.m. Saturday

Where: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas

On the air: CBS; 760-AM

Records: SDSU is 13-5, 7-1; UNLV is 10-8, 5-2

Series history: SDSU leads 44-40, including 22-18 at Thomas & Mack. After the Aztecs had won 23 of the previous 26 meetings, the Rebels swept the series last year – 77-76 in overtime at Viejas Arena and 74-67 in Las Vegas.

Aztecs update: The conference race has suddenly tightened. Despite Wednesday’s 70-69 loss at Grand Canyon, the Aztecs still own sole possession of first place at 7-1. But five two-loss teams are breathing down their necks: Utah State, New Mexico and Nevada at 6-2, and UNLV and Grand Canyon at 5-2. Remember, this season only the top four get byes to the quarterfinals of the conference tournament; everyone else would need to win four games in four days to claim the automatic NCAA Tournament berth. There’s something about Phoenix that brings out of the worst in SDSU’s 3-point shooting. In two games there this season, against Grand Canyon and a month earlier against Arizona, they shot 3 of 18 and 1 of 14, or a combined 12.5%. In any other venue this season, they’re shooting 39.1%. After a brief spell where they ranked higher in offensive efficiency than defensive efficiency, the numbers have returned to more typical levels: 86th in offense, a Mountain West-leading 24th in defense. Magoon Gwath will miss his second straight game with a hip issue.

Rebels update: They are playing their best basketball after a rocky start to the Josh Pastner era, winning six of their last eight games after opening 4-6. That included three home losses in “buy” games to Tennessee-Martin, Montana and Tennessee State. In the past two weeks, they beat Boise State at home and won 86-76 at Utah State on Tuesday. They began the season 107th in the Kenpom ratings, dipped into the 140s and are now 117th. They draw a lot of fouls, ranking seventh nationally in the ratio of free throws to field goal attempts. They just don’t shoot them well, ranking 300th in free-throw accuracy at 67.9%. The Rebels have been hit hard by injuries, losing transfers Miles Che (UC Irvine) and Ladji Dembele (Iowa) for the season. Illinois transfer guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn is fourth in the Mountain West in scoring (17.1). Kimani Hamilton (12.1), Tyrin Jones (11.2) and Issac Williamson (10.2) are also averaging double figures. Kenpom projects an 80-74 SDSU win. The game at Viejas Arena is March 6, the regular-season finale.

Next up: Wednesday vs. Colorado State (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1)

— MARK ZEIGLER