Despite making the NCAA tournament last season and bringing back much of the offense, off-the-court issues made UNLV a question mark heading into this season.
The No. 24 Rebels seem to have worked through that adversity and will look to remain undefeated when they visit Illinois State on Wednesday night.
UNLV (6-0) returned its top three scorers from last season's team, which went 25-9 and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Northern Iowa. However, Matt Shaw, who averaged 7.0 points, was kicked off the team in April after failing a drug test and Tre'Von Willis, who averaged a team-high 17.2 points, had to miss the first two games after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge.
Willis has averaged 8.5 points since returning and had his best game of the season in a 71-59 win against Virginia Tech on Sunday to help the Rebels capture the 76 Classic tournament. He finished with 14 points, shooting 3 of 7 from 3-point range, and had three assists and three steals.
Chace Stanback won the tournament's most outstanding player. The second-year starter scored 17 points and added eight rebounds in the final game. He is averaging 16.2 points and 4.2 rebounds this season.
"Clearly, Chace was deserving of the award," coach Lon Kruger said. "He's making shots, which you expect him to do, but he's also covering (defensively) and he's getting more and more active on the boards."
UNLV is holding opponents to 34.9-percent shooting, among the best in Division I, and is forcing 17.3 turnovers per game.
Krueger's team is looking to improve to 7-0 for the second straight year. Before last season, the team hadn't opened with seven straight victories since 1990-91, when it won its first 34 games, eventually losing to Duke in the Final Four.
The Rebels will try to equal that mark when they visit Illinois State (5-1), which seeks its fourth straight win.
The Redbirds are coming off a 60-47 win over Jacksonville State on Sunday to win the Global Sports Roundball Classic, a four-team round-robin tournament played in their own arena.
Justin Clark scored 11 points while Alex Rubin and Blake Mishler each added 10. Illinois State held the Gamecocks to 37.8 percent from the field - the second straight opponent that failed to reach the 40 percent mark.
The Redbirds are a young team that lost their top three scorers from last season's 22-11 squad. Jackie Carmichael is the top returning scorer. After averaging 6.8 points in 2009-10, the sophomore is scoring 11.8 this season, although he was held without a point in 19 minutes against Jacksonville State.
UNLV is 2-1 against Illinois State, the most recent meeting coming in 1978 in Las Vegas. The Rebels lost their only visit to Normal, Ill. in 1977, 88-84.
Illinois State has lost 20 straight against ranked opponents since defeating No. 14 Iowa on Dec. 29, 1987.
"This will probably be the best team we've faced in our time since I've been here," fourth-year coach Tim Jankovich said. "They're not just winning, they're winning big. ... We'll have to play a sensational game."
