The UNLV basketball team’s upset of North Carolina Saturday has landed the Rebels in both national rankings.

The Rebels broke into the rankings for the first time this season on Monday, being ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press poll and No. 20 in the Coaches’ Poll.

North Carolina, which last week received 62 of 64 first-place votes by the AP, dropped to No. 5. Kentucky is the new No. 1 team, followed by Ohio State at No. 2.

UNLV (7-0) beat North Carolina in the finals of the Las Vegas Invitational, capping a 4-0 performance in the event. UNLV also defeated Morgan State, Cal Poly and USC.

In the 90-80 win against North Carolina, the Rebels opened the second half with 14 unanswered points to erase a four-point halftime deficit and never trailed again. Senior Chace Stanback had a game-high 28 points, while Mike Moser continued to dominant the opposition with 16 points and 18 rebounds.

Also Monday, Moser was again named the Mountain West Conference’s Player of the Week. Moser, who last week also won the league award, averaged 13.3 points, 13 rebounds and 2.7 assists in the Rebels’ three games last week. He was 14-of-15 from the free throw line.

The Rebels’ ranking will immediately be put on the line this week when they play a pair of road games — challenging contests on Wednesday at Santa Barbara and Sunday at Wichita State.

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Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21.