NCAA Men's Golf Championships 2017: UNLV Leads Team Play Through Saturday

UNLV took the course at 5 a.m. Central time Saturday after inclement weather and darkness shortened Friday's opening round. But the Rebels didn't let the daunting starting time stop them.

Led by strong rounds from John Oda and Shintaro Ban, UNLV shot nine-under as a team to move to 14 under overall and take the lead at the 2017 NCAA men's golf championships. The Rebels hold a one-stroke lead over Oklahoma, which also shot a nine-under 279.

Illinois (11 under), Auburn (10 under) and Vanderbilt (10 under) round out the top five. Here is a look at the full leaderboard:

1. UNLV (-14)

2. Oklahoma (-13)

3. Illinois (-11)

T4. Auburn (-10)

T4. Vanderbilt (-10)

6. USC (-9)

T7. LSU (-8)

T7. Baylor (-8)

9. Oklahoma State (-7)

10. Virginia (-5)

Oda finished his first round with a 69 and matched that score with another three-under round, putting him at six under overall. Ban posted the best UNLV score of the afternoon with a four-under 68. Taylor Montgomery (70) and Harry Hall (72) were both at par or better, while Justin Kim's 74 did not count. Only the top four scores on the five-man team count for the event.

“I told them (last night) how proud I was of them (in) how they handled all of the delays,” said Dwaine Knight, UNLV’s head coach, per Kevin Casey of Golfweek. “They didn’t let it get to them.”

UNLV Golf's Twitter feed provided some shots from Oda's round:

Oklahoma sits in second place largely off the back of some strong team-wide play. Grant Hirschman, who is one over through the first two days, is the only Sooner who is not under par. Brad Dalke, Max McGreevy and Rylee Reinertson have all shot 142 or better through the first two days.

“When I look back at it, we shot 9 under par, we’re at 13 under par and we’re in a great spot,” Oklahoma head coach Ryan Hybl said, per Brentley Romine of Golfweek. “That’s the way we’re going to look at it and try and go win a golf tournament.”

That said, none of Hybl's players are sitting better than a tie for 17th.

Scottie Scheffler of Texas, who has shot consecutive 68s, currently sits alone in first place overall at eight under. USC's Justin Suh, Vanderbilt's Matthias Schwab, Kent State's Bjarki Petursson and Ole Miss' Braden Thornberry are all tied for second place at seven under.

Here's a look at the individual leaderboard:

1. Scottie Scheffler (Texas): -8

T2. Justin Suh (USC): -7

T2. Matthias Schwab (Vanderbilt): -7

T2. Bjarki Petursson (Kent State): -7

T2. Braden Thornberry (Ole Miss): -7

T6. John Oda (UNLV): -6

T6. Shintaro Ban (UNLV): -6

T6. Dylan Meyer (Illinois): -6

T6. Hunter Shattuck (Baylor): -6

T6. Harry Ellis (Florida State): -6

T6. Will Zalatoris (Wake Forest): -6

T6. Mason Overstreet (Arkansas): -6

T6. Cam Norman (Troy): -6

The Texas Men's Golf Twitter feed provided a shot from Scheffler's round:

The top 15 teams following Sunday's round will advance to play in Monday's final round. Afterward, the field will cut to eight teams before match play determines the NCAA champion.